Comments for Solitary Bees http://solitarybee.com/blog Orchard Mason Bees and other native bees Sun, 07 Mar 2010 02:20:55 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 Comment on Cacoxenus indagator flies & bee mites: the main parasites of solitary bees by Omie http://solitarybee.com/blog/2010/02/parasites-of-solitary-bees/comment-page-1/#comment-455 Omie Sun, 07 Mar 2010 02:20:55 +0000 http://solitarybee.com/blog/?p=224#comment-455 Waiting for your next excellent post on solitary bees. Wonderful blog! Can't wait for my cocoons and bee tubes I ordered from a supplier to arrive in a couple of weeks. :) Setting my best friend up with some too- she's a half mile away. More bees better! Waiting for your next excellent post on solitary bees. Wonderful blog!
Can’t wait for my cocoons and bee tubes I ordered from a supplier to arrive in a couple of weeks. :)
Setting my best friend up with some too- she’s a half mile away. More bees better!

]]> Comment on Cacoxenus indagator flies & bee mites: the main parasites of solitary bees by gord hutchings http://solitarybee.com/blog/2010/02/parasites-of-solitary-bees/comment-page-1/#comment-446 gord hutchings Mon, 22 Feb 2010 20:41:39 +0000 http://solitarybee.com/blog/?p=224#comment-446 Hey Paul, Just remembered about this little article I wrote for out gardening centre here in Victoria. Thought it might bee interesting for you perhaps? Anyways, here it is at: http://www.compost.bc.ca/newsandevents/newsletters/The%20Latest%20Dirt%20Fall%202008.pdf Cheers, Gord Hey Paul,
Just remembered about this little article I wrote for out gardening centre here in Victoria. Thought it might bee interesting for you perhaps?
Anyways, here it is at: http://www.compost.bc.ca/newsandevents/newsletters/The%20Latest%20Dirt%20Fall%202008.pdf
Cheers,
Gord

]]> Comment on Counting Cocoons – the population has tripled! by Eugene Riesterer http://solitarybee.com/blog/2009/08/counting-bee-cocoons/comment-page-1/#comment-422 Eugene Riesterer Sun, 07 Feb 2010 16:52:47 +0000 http://solitarybee.com/blog/?p=200#comment-422 The videos of the cleaning process was very interesting and really got me fired up about getting more houses up and trying to manage a home for these wonderful bees. Thank you. The videos of the cleaning process was very interesting and really got me fired up about getting more houses up and trying to manage a home for these wonderful bees. Thank you.

]]> Comment on Cacoxenus indagator flies & bee mites: the main parasites of solitary bees by gord hutchings http://solitarybee.com/blog/2010/02/parasites-of-solitary-bees/comment-page-1/#comment-412 gord hutchings Wed, 03 Feb 2010 00:49:23 +0000 http://solitarybee.com/blog/?p=224#comment-412 The non-condo population can bring the mites, but essentially any visitor that comes to the condo that has picked up mites (Chaetodactylus sp.) whilst visiting flowers, or during mating can introduce them to the condo. The mites consume the pollen/nectar pillow which competes with the developing larva within each cell. The trays are cleaned with a stiff brush, either wire or plastic etc. We don’t use bleach or “cook” the trays to kill the mites as this can warp the trays. Yes, please pass on, but hopefully you’ll give us credit. That’s why we put this up on the net. We’ve had professionals over the years essentially steal our ideas/inventions and claim that it’s theirs. Not a biggy, but quite annoying on a personal level. This way, we can point to Youtube for evidence when we actually put it “out there”. We’ve been using it for years. Our Hutchings Peek-a-Boo trays really revolutionized my research when I did counts of egg-laying efficiency over the Spring and Summer. I could document how many eggs were laid over time that way. Extracted cocoons were placed individually in test tubes in the exact position that were originally in the channel which when emerged, I could be guaranteed of a sex determination to prove scientifically. This was specifically helpful in showing the most efficient length of channel for this species of bee for female progeny that were laid down, and I could free the bees from the tubes so no mortality for science. I wrote a paper but have yet to publish it. Many years old now and wish I could get someone else to take up the thesis. If interested, I could send to you in its unfinished state complete with graphs. Gord The non-condo population can bring the mites, but essentially any visitor that comes to the condo that has picked up mites (Chaetodactylus sp.) whilst visiting flowers, or during mating can introduce them to the condo. The mites consume the pollen/nectar pillow which competes with the developing larva within each cell. The trays are cleaned with a stiff brush, either wire or plastic etc. We don’t use bleach or “cook” the trays to kill the mites as this can warp the trays.

Yes, please pass on, but hopefully you’ll give us credit. That’s why we put this up on the net. We’ve had professionals over the years essentially steal our ideas/inventions and claim that it’s theirs. Not a biggy, but quite annoying on a personal level. This way, we can point to Youtube for evidence when we actually put it “out there”. We’ve been using it for years.

Our Hutchings Peek-a-Boo trays really revolutionized my research when I did counts of egg-laying efficiency over the Spring and Summer. I could document how many eggs were laid over time that way. Extracted cocoons were placed individually in test tubes in the exact position that were originally in the channel which when emerged, I could be guaranteed of a sex determination to prove scientifically. This was specifically helpful in showing the most efficient length of channel for this species of bee for female progeny that were laid down, and I could free the bees from the tubes so no mortality for science. I wrote a paper but have yet to publish it. Many years old now and wish I could get someone else to take up the thesis. If interested, I could send to you in its unfinished state complete with graphs.
Gord

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