I have a solitary beehive and would like to know a bit more about them.

I sited the box in my garden around February time, and it appears to have been occupied quite soon afterwards There are currently 8 little tunnels which have been plugged.

I have read the info that came with the box and have had a quick google search for more details, but all I seem to find is a plethora of websites wanting to sell me one!

Some of the things I would like to know are :

It is recommended the box is dismantled annually to clean it - what time of year should I do this?

I saw a honey bee fly into one compartment a few days ago and have been waiting avidly to see that hole plugged - how long does it take?..

Or.. Is one tunnel used to lay more than one egg?

How long until hatching - do new bees wait for their wings to dry out like newly emerged butterflies, or just climb out and fly off immediately? (Just wondering what my chances are of seeing one as it emerges )

I would be interested to hear more about this.

Thank you

Amethyst

Hi

Try contacting the bumble bee conservation trust:
http://www.bumblebeeconservationtrust.co.uk

I found them very helpful when trying to identify what happened to my injured bee.

This post was last modified: 27-06-2007 08:27 PM by wild canon.

From what I have read, it is useful to have two bee boxes. In the Spring, cover the bee box that has bees in it with a paper bag (or something similar), and make a hole in the cover so the bees inside can see light and can get out but won't go back into the holes. When you do this place the second bee box close by so the bees can find it for the summer.

Once your sure the bees have all left the first box, you can safely clean it. Its very important to clean the box because of all the bacteria and fungus that will start to grow in it.

I can't help you with the other questions but I'll do a bit of reading and get back to you!

Edit: Sorry my original infromation was for bumble, not honey bees!

After the honey bees eggs are laid, they hatch into larvae after about 3 days. They are fed by worker beeds for a further 6 days, before being enclosed in wax where they undergo metamorphosis. Approximately 3 weeks after the egg was initilally laid the bee emerges as a sterile female.

Hope that helps!

This post was last modified: 27-06-2007 08:45 PM by riana.

Hi Amethyst, welcome to the forums!

I have never had a bee box either, would it be possible to get a picture of it? How many bees do you have in it at the moment? I would love to see one.

Unfortunately, I don't think our neighbours would be very happy if I was to get one, even though I know it would pose no danger to anyone.

Thank you for the quick replies

I saw your post on the injured bee - that makes me shudder - poor poor creature . I seem to be growing a nice selection of the plants they recommend on the website

The second box sounds like a very good idea - I was worried about dismantling it at the wrong time when they hadnt hatched yet!

The scant info with the box descibes that the female bee lays an egg and then makes pellets of "bee bread" (pollen/nectar food). This must be the stuff I can see at the end of the plugged up tunnels. But they dont give much info apart from that! It sort of suggests that maybe there are several egg 'cells' per tunnel but its not clear!

Here is a picture of my bee box - It is not a bustling hive like social bees, but I am happy to know I am helping give them somewhere to live

I have only once actually seen a honey bee go in - then struggle out again backwards a couple of minutes later.

This post was last modified: 14-07-2007 04:48 PM by Amethyst.

Thanks for the photo, the box looks great and blends in well. Where did you get yours from?

Your right in that the egg is "cocooned" in a sort of wax cell, which is probably what you can see. After about 3 weeks they will emerge as female bees.

I am fascinated by your bee boxes. We don't have anything like that for our honey bees here. What it does resemble is the sort of box sold for use by mason bees, and when I went looking for examples, I found this very interesting (commercial) site:

http://www.bucknur.com/acatalog/Index_Po...es_27.html

Kingfisher

I had a look at the website, and the ladybid nests look very interesting. They are probably my favourite insects, and they can help out with aphids and things too.

I got my bee box as a Christmas present from my parents . I think they are quite widely available from garden centres and online stores.

That is a very helpful website and gives a lot of information to the questions I have been pondering.

Red mason bees are one of the solitary species which could be possible inhabitants - but I didn't think I'd seen any round the garden - they're described as having "dense gingery fur".

It seems :- The red mason bees have an annual life cycle (so I probably wont see any for a while yet). The female lays 6-10 eggs per tunnel each time making 10 - 15 trips to build up food stores. The larvae hatch feeding on their food stores and moulting 4-5 times, then pupate and over-winter in the cocoon until the next spring.

It would be good to get a picture of a bee using the hive so I can properly identify the species! But I think that will have to be a long term project!

What a good Christmas present!

A picture would be great, but your right it might be a while before you get the chance to take one and identify the species properly. That's interesting about the red mason bees, I don't recall seeing them around our garden either.

It's amazing how the pupation times for different bees vary so greatly from a few weeks to a whole year.

I have yet to see a mason bee! We have red-tailed bumblebees, good old honey bees, bald-faced hornets, yellowjackets. Even though the mason bees are to be found in my state of Washington, I don't recall seeing one. Perhaps I need to put out a box for them?

Kingfisher

Hows the bee box going Amethyst? Hope its going well. I would love to see some more pictures if there is some more activity now.

Well there is no sign of any activity recently. I dont know if the rain put them off, or they have just finished their work for the season!

I haven't seen many around on the flowers lately either - just one bumble bee last week on the geums - when I didnt have my camera lol! The aqueligia (sp??) have finished now which was the thing they most enjoyed! There will be lots of oregano flowers soon - they adore that too!

I will let you know if I see any changes - or ever catch any photo's.

The rain probably doesn't help bees at all, I haven't seen many around this year compared to most years. Thanks for keeping us up to date on the box.

I'm sure if there isn't much more activitiy this year then by next year the bees would have found it. I am also going to get one for next year and see if I have any success.