Solitary bees are great for the ecology of their environment. They are focused on what is important to them as they know life is short – living only 6 weeks in their flying form before dying exhausted, but what are solitary bees?
According to the experts, some solitary bees (mason bees) can pollinate up to ten times more flowers than a honey bee. However but they are in no way aggressive to those in their midst. Over here in France, they are often misunderstood – locals here refer to them as lazy bees because they don’t produce honey (and thus appear to be of no exploitable value).
Trying to be an advocate of solitary bees and homeless mason bees
For me however they are a source of inspiration, flowers and fruit. From their few weeks of flying, they leave the world in a much better shape. So this is my little blog dedicated to recording my experiences of them, and to those ecology-minded solitary b’s who work selflessly to make the world a better place.
I wish you a Happy ‘Have-bee’ New Year.
Paul B.
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P.S. I’m entering my 8th year of my solitary bee activities, and have spent a year refining a mason bee hotel design & test bee chalet which I make in my workshop. The designs have been informed and well-tested by my experiences of going from 30 to 2,500 mason bees. So if you are thinking of getting into mason bee hotels consider taking a look at what I have designed. Thanks.
