Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum

BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => REPRINT ARTICLE ARCHIVES => Topic started by: Understudy on March 03, 2007, 11:28:36 pm

Title: Orchard mason bees
Post by: Understudy on March 03, 2007, 11:28:36 pm

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/nwgardens/305592_smith03.html (http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/nwgardens/305592_smith03.html)

what bees were like before honeybees came along.

sincerely,
Brendhan

Title: Re: Orchard mason bees
Post by: Michael Bush on March 04, 2007, 12:04:45 pm

They still are.  They are all over my pear trees every year.

Title: Re: Orchard mason bees
Post by: Mici on March 04, 2007, 06:52:43 pm

making home for bees like these for the past few days! i'll post a pic or two in the next week.
did a little research, around here there are around 500 species of mason/carpenter bees, so...there still are, let's help 'em

Title: Re: Orchard mason bees
Post by: Kathyp on March 04, 2007, 07:41:05 pm

my husband "keeps" mason bees.  he has for years.  his beekeeping consists of drilling holes in log halfs and nailing them to the back wall.  he started keeping them when he started growing fruit trees.

Title: Re: Orchard mason bees
Post by: Apis629 on March 05, 2007, 04:31:49 pm

Would you consider that to be more along the lines of beeHAVING as opposed to beeKEEPING?  Is he actually manipulating them like we do honeybees?

Title: Re: Orchard mason bees
Post by: Mici on March 05, 2007, 06:07:18 pm

you can't manipulate them, all you can do is give them suitable housings and clean those yearly.

beehaving is the same as beekeeping, the bee-breeding is the thing that stands out.