It was quite a surprise!
We came back after a long weekend to find 2 chambers occupied.
As mentioned in this previous post, we put this box up in February hoping we might attract a few female mason bees to use it for their offspring, but it has remained empty until a few days ago.
 |
| Our bee-box has 8mm & 10mm wide chambers |
However, the lower two central 8mm wide chambers now appear to have been filled by one or more leaf cutter bees.
Just think on this; because the males will eventually emerge before the females, the female laying the eggs starts by producing 'female eggs', and as she gets nearer the front of the cavity, she lays eggs which will produce males.
This ensures that the males can emerge without disturbing the females.
Leafcutter bees cut circular and elliptical pieces from leaves, often from rose bushes, to line and cap their egg chambers. I had a good look at the nearby rose bushes but have been unable to find any evidence of their handy-work.
One of the adjacent 10mm holes has also been half filled, but its not clear whether this happened at the same time or a few days later, or even if it has been populated by the same type of bee!
Further reading:-
Bee Life: Leafcutter bees
NestBoxTech: Solitary Bee Box
No comments:
Post a Comment