School is out for the summer. What to do with those kids that have nothing to do but stare at a glowing screen all day. Try to entice them outside with hands-on activities that keep their interest. Here is one of a couple I will share in the coming weeks.
Making Bee Houses
Building simple housing for solitary bees and wasps is as easy as finding a couple of pieces of bamboo or drilling holes in a scrap piece of wood. Nothing fancy, mind you. The insects that take up residence will not judge your child’s construction skills. The reality is that the structures you provide will be as good as, if not better than they can find in nature.
Your target tenants are any number of so-called solitary bees and wasps that normally seek out hollow stems of plants or cracks and crevices on or around structures, within which they build their nests. These nests are basically a linear series of small chambers, arranged along the length of the stem, that is lined with mud or plants tissues, within which the female bee or wasp deposits food for their young.
In many cases, these insects seek out other insects, like caterpillars, spiders, or crickets that they immobilize with a sting and place in each chamber, often a couple per cell. Leaf Cutting Bees stash pollen for their young. A single egg is laid in each cell before closing. Additional cells are formed along the length of the hollow stem to form the overall nest. Immature larvae feed on the stash of food, pupate, and wait their turn to emerge, with the last cell’s occupant emerging first.
Short pieces of dried or fresh bamboo are perfect linear chambers. Each piece should be at least 5-6 inches long, that includes the solid joint that will represent the back of the chamber. The diameter of the bamboo used should be between ¼ and ½ inch. Your Bamboo Bee Hotel should be anywhere from 5-10 pieces of bamboo securely tied together with twine (front and back). Place your bee hotel in a secure location where your kids can safely watch the activity of the bees that take up residence.
By the way, most solitary bees and wasps are not as aggressive as social bees and wasps, like paper wasps, so not much to worry about. Having each child make their own bee hotel will allow them to track their own and have a bit of fun with their siblings over which one is a better bee landlord.
For the more industrious builders, making what could be called Block Housing for bees is as simple as drilling ¼ to ½ inch holes in a block of wood. Each cell should be at least 3 inches deep. If using standard 2×4 boards, drill holes into the wide part of the board or into the end of boards that are 6-8 inches long. Single or multiple boards can be set out as houses or several secured together to resemble a little house.
As for common tenants, several species of potter’s wasps will show up for the smaller chambers that they use mud to fill. In larger chambers, Grass Carrying Wasps will be evident by the long pieces of grass that are stuffed into the opening of the chamber. It’s fun to sit and watch a gangly wasp (non-aggressive) flying around with long pieces of grass. Leaf Cutting Bees may also be spotted carrying perfectly round pieces of leaves that they use to build their nest.
So, get to work Mom and Dad! Grab those bored children and give them a project to do by making and watching what uses their Bee Houses.
Hope to see you in our great outdoors!