Comments on: Solitary bee expansion project – cascades

By: Solitary Bees » Blog Archive » 2010 Mason Bees are emerging

Solitary Bees » Blog Archive » 2010 Mason Bees are emerging — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 23:50:34 +0000

[...] year I convinced a few people around me to consider putting in place solitary bee habitats. Sylvain’s project was the most successful. His living a few hundred metres away from my bees [...]

By: sb

sb — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 22:50:49 +0000

Hi Lorinda,
When the larvae spin their cocoons, they metamorphose with their heads facing the front end/entrance. They then hatch out by chewing through the cocoon wall and then the mud cell. If they find that they are at the back of another cocoon cell they can ‘motivate’ the bee in front to get going by chewing at their cocoon.

An amazing thing about bees in general is that the female after mating will store the sperm in a sac and choose (or otherwise) whether the eggs she has will be fertilized (becoming male) or will have just the female chromosomes.

We can see the results of this honey bees where workers are female, and the drones are male. However for solitary mason bees it allows the female to place fertilised eggs (females) at the back of the tunnel (protected from parasites and early emergence where late frost can kill them), giving them a better chance of coming out in ideal conditions, as well as finding mates.

And yes I am hoping to get more people involved – I am launching in the spring a campagn for raising solitary bees, so I hope you get involved if it interests you!

By: Lorinda

Lorinda — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 22:50:42 +0000

I’m interested to know how they hatch out when they’re stacked like that. Just it just go from the outside in?

Very cool that you’re able to get others involved in your project.

By: sb

sb — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 10:48:46 +0000

Thanks Andrew – it’s a simple shot, but it shows the essential revelatory moment.

I am saving up for a decent macro camera, so we’ll be taking a closer look at the detail of the cocoons, how they relate to the male / female difference, the orientation of the bee inside (because there are features to the form of the cocoon surface), and the difference between cocoons of different solitary bee species.

I look forward to hearing your further comments.