Bees 2000-2001

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Tips on raising Osmia

Remember to place nests inside after they have finished nesting, apply flypaper around the windows or use light traps to catch all the emerging insects over the summer and fall. Most other species have two cycles per year ( or more) and will emerge over the summer - leaving the empty holes for your bees. I seldom see any of the scavenger carpet beetle larvae (Anthrenus verbasci) consuming any old unused nests because the nesting tubes we make are too slippery for them to grasp, however they can be destructive to active nests that are in plain paper tubes or wood blocks.


	Top; Dermested carpet beetle larvae (Anthrenus verbasci) Bottom; Female Monodotontomerus wasp

Refrigeration, I normally only have to refrigerate for 2 - 3 weeks in the spring. If you don't have a temperature and humidity controlled cooler room, you might consider this. I have installed a room air conditioner in my insulated shed, then I put a low range remote thermostat on the front of it. Works great, with little or no icing (using a large 220V air conditioner). Then for deliveries (I travel over 1000 miles each year delivering bees) I place a small window air conditioner and a generator on the tailgate of my little 4WD pickup. The air condi


	tioner sits in the slot at the base of the tailgate and the lid of the cap closes over the top of the air conditioner, then I seal off the area beside the air conditioner and place the generator on the tailgate beside the air conditioner. This keeps the bees cool (and dormant) while I am delivering them. Most people can just pull them out of refrigeration and place them in their orchards - but if you have a ways to take them and you have a lot of bees, this works great. Be sure that your area has at lease 20 days below 32° F. low temperatures - these bees will emerge sporadically if you don't. See Humidity Map page. It is best to let the bees re-nest in the same nests no more than 3 - 4 years and then trap the bees out and dispose of their nests. This will help prevent a build up of old nesting materials that prohibit re-nesting and it also reduces the number of grain mites that eat the excess pollen from around the cocoons and leftover pollen from old nests. These mites can get so numerous so as to prevent some of the bees from flying after they emerge - they like to cling to the bees so as to get into the new pollen balls inside of the new nests. They will then lay eggs in the pollen inside the nest cells and after the bee larvae has spun it's cocoon the eggs hatch and consume the excess pollen in the cell. The mites then develop and adult mites emerge the following year with the bees. These mites do not affect honey bees nor do they harm the solitary bees (except when there are just too many on the bee for the bee to fly). Be sure to keep nests dry - dampness can cause molds and fungus to develop - these will contaminate the pollen in the nests and can kill the bees affected. Bees will usually avoid nesting in previously dampened and moldy nests. When you purchase your bees from Orchard Bees we insure an accurate nest count by X-ray examination of every nest. For answers to other frequently asked questions please go to our FAQ PAGE