On 8/22/2014 6:50 PM, Frank Miles wrote:
On Fri, 22 Aug 2014 15:53:11 -0500, George Shirley wrote:

[snip]
I have some untreated pine four by fours laying around and will probably
start boring the correct size holes in them this fall. Way to hot to
work in the garage or outside for that matter in August. Did that at our
old place and the carpenter and mason bees were always busy.

George

My dim recollection is that the holes should be 5 to 6" deep, else you get
too many males. Or perhaps you were going to drill sections of the 4x4s
lengthwise?

I've got a set of downloaded plans here on my desk somewhere. I remember
the holes as being somewhat shorter than that. The mason bees usually
build a nest of dirt/clay and water on masonry or cement board and lay a
single egg in each one to the best of my memory. I've always liked the
native bees and other pollinators over European honey bees. One year the
bee flies are all that saved our crops, not a bee in sight, suspect it
was mosquito spraying by aircraft. That's when I saw what looked like
tiny bees buzzing around, sat down and watched carefully and realized
they were actually flies. So I researched them and started protecting them.

We've haven't seen more than one or two European honey bees this summer.
I still suspect the new subdivision going in behind us. Today I watched
some fifty year old yellow pine trees being knocked over by bulldozers
just so some more folks could move to Texas. I wish them well but I
would prefer the bees. G

George