Spring is in the air, thoughts turn to ……bees

here are some examples of Mason Bee houses, you can easily make your own or purchase one 

Spring is in the air, thoughts turn to ……bees 
By Meg Brager


Birds are doing mating dances in my yard and I’m looking forward to seeing what has survived the winter in my garden, and also to the lovely buzzing of bees.  Must be the season, all kinds of blogs and articles are out there about the fascinating world of bees.  Read about the “bee whisperer” here:  

http://www.beautifulwildlifegarden.com/at-the-bee-whisperers-apiary.html

I was interested to read that you can build a bumble bee hive, and it sounds like a much less work-intensive undertaking than European honey bees.  If you have talked to any of our Franklin County beekeepers (visit their FB page here) you know what a commitment honey bees are.

Interestingly, when I googled bumble bee hives the first site that came up was “Terminex” !  Don’t kill them….they’re the good guys !

Mason bee houses is something we've been talking about in Master Gardeners, they are easy to construct and attract small blue mason bees which are excellent pollinators.  They also nest in the hollow stems of certain plants, all that stuff we usually cut down when we’re cleaning out in the Spring.  Instead of throwing them away, gather them into a bunch to make low-cost housing for mason bees.

Here is an example with the "HOW -TO" easy to make mason bee houses!

Losing our bees is a threat right up there with global warming, so do your part!