Comments on: 3rd weekend – the solitary bees got their wings on! http://solitarybee.com/blog/2009/04/solitary-bees-now-with-wings/ Orchard Mason Bees and other native bees Tue, 31 Aug 2010 22:02:10 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Paul Bee http://solitarybee.com/blog/2009/04/solitary-bees-now-with-wings/comment-page-1/#comment-630 Paul Bee Fri, 04 Jun 2010 18:42:25 +0000 http://solitarybee.com/blog/?p=183#comment-630 Hi Jerry, Sorry to hear you lost those cocoons - I had a similar disappointment in 2008 when a third of mine that I naively thought weren't going to emerge, were placed in an open tray on a shelf in my workshop overnight and were gone without a trace by morning! I don't know about your location, but here are simply lots of animals love that fresh protein. Plus if you ever sniffed a cocoon up close (or several empty ones - I have stored all mine in a jar from this year), you'll realise they have a very, very strong and sweet (almost nauseous) smell of partially digested nectar. So it wouldn't take long for any rodent to get wind of them and have a feast. Best thing I did for my cocoon release, was to drill a hole in the end of an old flat cigar box and weigh it down with a heavy bee block (to avoid problems with the wind as much as for birds), and then place it high up on my first floor windowsill. I do hope you have better luck for next years emergence - please do come and share your stories on our Facebook "Campaign for Solitary bees" page if you have a chance. Cheers, Paul. Hi Jerry,
Sorry to hear you lost those cocoons – I had a similar disappointment in 2008 when a third of mine that I naively thought weren’t going to emerge, were placed in an open tray on a shelf in my workshop overnight and were gone without a trace by morning!

I don’t know about your location, but here are simply lots of animals love that fresh protein. Plus if you ever sniffed a cocoon up close (or several empty ones – I have stored all mine in a jar from this year), you’ll realise they have a very, very strong and sweet (almost nauseous) smell of partially digested nectar. So it wouldn’t take long for any rodent to get wind of them and have a feast.
Best thing I did for my cocoon release, was to drill a hole in the end of an old flat cigar box and weigh it down with a heavy bee block (to avoid problems with the wind as much as for birds), and then place it high up on my first floor windowsill.

I do hope you have better luck for next years emergence – please do come and share your stories on our Facebook “Campaign for Solitary bees” page if you have a chance.
Cheers,
Paul.

]]> By: jerry http://solitarybee.com/blog/2009/04/solitary-bees-now-with-wings/comment-page-1/#comment-629 jerry Fri, 04 Jun 2010 12:51:45 +0000 http://solitarybee.com/blog/?p=183#comment-629 I have been reading your preceding info and was hoping you might comment on my experiences with with mason bees. I placed 50 cocoons in a plastic cup next to my bundles of paper coat hanger tubes in a 5 gal. bucket on its side. Many started to emerge but over a 7day period the cocoons totally disappeared. I have a nice home 40miles west of Seattle and don't like to think I would have forest rats running around on my elevated deck at night. I do have an occasional Douglas squirrel romping around on deck. Do you have any knowledge of what sort of creature eats mason bee cocoons? I have been reading your preceding info and was hoping you might comment on my experiences with with mason bees. I placed 50 cocoons in a plastic cup next to my bundles of paper coat hanger tubes in a 5 gal. bucket on its side. Many started to emerge but over a 7day period the cocoons totally disappeared. I have a nice home 40miles west of Seattle and don’t like to think I would have forest rats running around on my elevated deck at night. I do have an occasional Douglas squirrel romping around on deck. Do you have any knowledge of what sort of creature eats mason bee cocoons?

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