Sunday 20 April 2008

The sun came out.

Five little mason bees left a unit today. Unfortunately I was out to lunch so missed the first four. I was lucky enough to get two photographs. Look at the one with the tubes and you can see the bee carrying out a piece of soil. They will take out every piece of soil and clean the tube thoroughly and more than likely reuse the same tube. Anyway he finished his chores and took himself of to catch some sunshine. By the way mason bees are only half an inch long. The males come out first, and jostle for the best position. They will have to wait several days before the females come out. I am hoping in the next few days that I will see lots of bees coming out and will have a lot of photos to upload.

17 comments:

Michelle said...

Wow! what fantastic pictures mum. How patient are you? To capture the moment when one pops out to say hi!! You must be soo pleased that they seem to be okay after weeks of moving them around to make sure they are in the best possible place. Well done you!!!!
Mich
xxx

Q said...

Dear Cheryl,
Oh my, oh my, oh my!!! I am so happy to see Mr. Mason. So happy they are coming out and all seems to be well. How very exciting.
They are beautiful you know...just beautiful.
Thank you so very much for sharing your Mason Bees. The thought of them has helped me this past month to keep my sunny dispostition.
I am looking forward to when the Orchard Mason Bees awake at my house.
Bzzzz....
Bees, beautiful, beautiful bees.
Happy Full Pink Moon.
Sherry

Cheryl said...

Thank you Mich, it is a photo in a million.

Hi Sherry...wanted you to be one of the first to see them on my blog. I wonder if yours will look similar? They are so tiny and pretty, the photos do not do them justice, trust me. Can't wait to see when yours come to visit.

Mark said...

You are not wrong Cheryl, I am enjoying them. The weather is suppose to warm up next week so you could be in for a busy time.
I'm going to make some signs to direct any that live around here to the habitat tower.

Cheers Mark

Anonymous said...

Cheryl, that is just wonderful. So amazing and fun! I don't have mason bees this year but some day i would like to have them in my garden.
Keep me posted. I love to see your photos etc.
~Becky

Dawny P said...

I am so pleased that They are starting to come out as I know you were worried about them, and what a great picture. I have never seen one before - how sweet they are. Mich is right - you must have the patience of a saint!!

Cheryl said...

Hi Mark, I am sure you will get plenty in your tower with all those fruit trees ready to come into bloom.

Hi Becky,
Glad you like them, keep you posted.

Hi Dawny

They are such lovely bees. Remember they don't sting so are safe with the little ones. Good to show them how insects can live with us without any problems.
Tks for dropping by.

Lisa at Greenbow said...

What great pictures Cheryl. The sun is out here this afternoon. I still haven't seen any bees here. I think all is slow to show this season with all our rain and cooler weather.

Cheryl said...

It has been a strange spring, hasn't it Lisa.

Aiyana said...

Guess I'll have to read up on mason bees. I'm unfamiliar with them. Very interesting and great photos.
Aiyana

Mary said...

HI Cheryl,

I've been away too long! I was going to say I hope Sherry sees this post. Bees are so important and few of us in this world realize it. I knew a beekeeper and haven't seen him in 6 years. His name is Thorkild Paaby, an AP English teacher at the high school I worked in. He was amazing but, sadly, most people thought him a bit weird. I should e-mail him and send him your blog link and Sherry's, too!

I look forward to seeing so much more!

Mary

Rose said...

This is really fascinating, Cheryl. And so amazing that you were able to get such great pictures. I like the idea that they clean out their tube completely before leaving. What great house guests!
Looking forward to seeing more about their activities.

fiona said...

oh, brilliant!

what a wonderful thing to observe.. thank you for sharing it :-)

i'm really interested in finding out about these lovely bees, as you say they don't sting (mr. hedgewitch is allergic to bee stings)

my mother-in-law is a bee-keeper and i am fascinated by what she tells me about bee behaviour, they are so clever and hard-working, lol!

she is very poorly in hospital at the moment, I might print off your picture and take it to show her, as I know she'd love to see it.

beckie said...

Cheryl, The tubes have given birth! I can just imagine your relief at seeing them finally start to come out. I guess they just knew it wasn't time before. Isn't nature amazing?! Your pictures were wonderful. I don't think I have that much patience.

Your new header is breath taking!

Cheryl said...

Thank you all so much for your wonderful comments. I am so glad that people are reading about the bees. There is a disease amongst honey bees, and they are now seriously affected. Bees pollenate at least a third of our food. So the importance is obvious. Treasure our bees, take care of them, we really do need them.

Libbys Blog said...

How brilliant! Wildlife in action in your own garden, can't beat that!!!

Cheryl said...

Couldn't agree more Libby.