On Sun, 09 May 2004 11:30:22 -0500, RoyDMercer wrote:

wrote in message
...
On Sun, 9 May 2004 03:17:10 -0500, "RoyDMercer"

I too heard that bees were good to keep you flowers happy and blooming,
and mason bees being so docile, they were cool for even kids to watch.

Once someone said by also introducing doctile bees into an area, yhou
will help to displace unwanted insects like wasps, bumble bees. But
I'm guessing this is made up.

Most wasps eat other insects (including bees). You can attract mason bees
by taking a piece of 2x4 and drilling several 3/16" holes into the wood
(deeply but not all the way through). Nail the 2x4 vertically to a fence
or building. This is how commercial orchards attract them. I have some
hedges in the front of my house that will be blooming in a week or two.
The mason bees love them and they will be all over them during this time.
I forgo keeping my hedges trimmed during this time so they bloom well.
The bees make my wife go apey and it's fun to watch her as much as the
bees. I was raised around bees so they don't bother me in the least.

I would suggest that you use a 4X4 or even a 6X6 piece of NoN-treated
wood. Pine, fir or cedar is best. I would also suggest that you drill
serveral holes of different sizes from 9/32 to 5/16 in size about a 1/2
inch to 3/4 inch apart. The term "mason bee" is a catch all for a range of
solitary bees that live around you. These bees will be of differing sizes
and with the varied hole sizes you'll get a broader collection of bees.
The different bees will emerge at different times and will give you a bit
of a longer season to enjoy your bees. With a few blocks, you'll soon see
which hole sizes are best for your area and that will direct you in the
furture when making new blocks. I was told to scorch the block's front to
make the block more atractive to the bees. This may or maynot be true.
Both my blocks filled up. Here's a good link:
http://www.pollinatorparadise.com/So...s/SOLITARY.HTM