On 06/08/2019 12:49, Bob Williams wrote:


Last year, about 20% of the tubes were used. This year it's more like
80%, which is great.

Year one perhaps two bees fill a five tubes each. Year two each tube
produces, say, 4 female bees, each of which will attempt to fill 5
tubes, but not necessarily in your hotel.

Around a dozen years ago I started off with 100 tubes and the population
built up to fill all tubes in around 4 years. Since then I have around
1000 tubes populated however last year was very wet/cold at the time
when the bees were about to hatch and I think that the contents of many
tubes died. This year I put up 200 new tubes (jumbo plastic drinking
straws inside containers made from cut down plastic foul water drainage
pipe). Around 10% of the new tubes were filled along with an unknown
number of old tubes.

From what I've read mason bees don't like plastic tubes because they
are too smooth so perhaps the new generation in my new tubes is not an
indication of population mortality or growth. My older tubers are
cardboard and showing signs of cardboard degradation.

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