Hatching Female Mason Bee Set

Technique: The weather has been fluctuating a lot, but when it's warm and sunny I've been taking the cocoons harvested from my Mason Bee house out and letting them hatch. They're not all hatching at once, but when they decide to come out it's fast.

I think that this is a Red Mason Bee O. bicornis (= O. rufa), but I could be wrong. What's throwing me off is how different a solitary bee can look even after a short time. Amazing how fast they "age".

Tech Specs: Canon 70D (F11, 1/250, ISO 100) + a Canon MP-E 65mm macro lens (around 2x) + a diffused MT-24EX (both flash heads on the Canon flash mount) and I had to switch to manual mode (E-TTL metering was getting confused by this scene). These are single, uncropped, frames taken hand held.

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/EQ4a​nH

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/FKwD​C1

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/F8S9​hC

Lovely captures John
Question - what do you mean harvesting the cocoons - when do you do this ?

Brian v.

LordV wrote in post #17954258
Lovely captures John
Question - what do you mean harvesting the cocoons - when do you do this ?

Brian v.

Thanks

In the late fall you either open up the cardboard tubes (or take apart the wooden trays like I did) and take the cocoons out. You can then store them in your fridge, in a container that will keep them from getting too humid. Then in the spring, when daytime temps are hitting 15C or so, take them out and let them hatch. They generally pupate and are fully formed adults by the late fall. Crown Bees has all the info, as well as complete starter kits including cocoons. But I don't think that they ship the bees outside of North America. What I like about my bee house is that the wooden trays are held together with a cinch strap, so it's pretty easy to take them apart. The cocoons are really durable and can be scraped out with a small screw driver. Seems that there are a lot of orchards that use solitary bees to fertilize their fruit trees because they're actually better pollinators than honeybees.

Also I think that Leaf Cutters use the same size nests as Mason bees.

Dalantech wrote in post #17954294
Thanks

In the late fall you either open up the cardboard tubes (or take apart the wooden trays like I did) and take the cocoons out. You can then store them in your fridge, in a container that will keep them from getting too humid. Then in the spring, when daytime temps are hitting 15C or so, take them out and let them hatch. They generally pupate and are fully formed adults by the late fall. Crown Bees has all the info, as well as complete starter kits including cocoons. But I don't think that they ship the bees outside of North America. What I like about my bee house is that the wooden trays are held together with a cinch strap, so it's pretty easy to take them apart. The cocoons are really durable and can be scraped out with a small screw driver. Seems that there are a lot of orchards that use solitary bees to fertilize their fruit trees because they're actually better pollinators than honeybees.

Also I think that Leaf Cutters use the same size nests as Mason bees.

Thanks for the info John .
My bee houses use bamboo sticks so I think I'd have trouble getting them out. I have seen the cardboard tubes on sale though.

Brian v.

LordV wrote in post #17954295
Thanks for the info John .
My bee houses use bamboo sticks so I think I'd have trouble getting them out. I have seen the cardboard tubes on sale though.

Brian v.

Crown Bees sells some accessories that I've ordered, namely the net bag to keep parasitic wasps away from the tubes (as well as the tubes) and a tray to store the cocoons in the fridge. I'll be placing some cardboard tubes out as soon as they arrive (hope to get them this week). Me thinks that the tubes might be a better option. I got lucky this year and didn't see a single mite on my Masons. I have seen "wild" bees covered in them.

Wonderful shots John - fascinating stuff.

Linda

Beautiful! Thank you for sharing the photos and background info.

Thanks Linda and Bob

Very nice series!
Hatch

Hatch1921 wrote in post #17957241
Very nice series!
Hatch

Thanks Hatch

Wonderful set.

BasAndrews wrote in post #17957833
Wonderful set.

Thanks Bas

Managed to get a shot of female coming out of her nesting reed yesterday -had to catch her early, just as she was waking up for the day.