April 13, 2002
I spent a lot of money on bugs this week. But in a good way. Seriously.
I went to Portland Nursery to get some mason bees for my orchard. One buzzed past Don and me in the parking lot, wouldn't you know, and luck was with me for once--the bees were on sale. And they're CUTE!
Let me explain briefly about the bees. Well, first of all, you can go here and get some REAL information on them if you're interested (which you probably aren't, since you're not me, haha). Last year we got surprisingly few apples from our trees. Of course, not knowing a thing about orchards, we chalked it up to the drought (which I'm sure played a large part). After doing some reading, however, I realized that there seemed to be a real lack of pollinators in the area, I think because of the nursery and all the large-scale orchards nearby--spraying pesticides. Anyway, I had my heart set on mason bees all winter-- they are non-aggressive, solitary bees-- and this week I finally made it to the nursery to pick some up. And not a moment too soon--they only had three sets of bees left. They were on sale, $12 for three tubes, containing approximately 20 bees. I also picked up a packet of beneficial nematodes for the lawn. They kill all sorts of soil-borne pests, especially FLEAS!
They were completely sold out of the mason bee homes, but as we all know by now, you can find instructions on how to do anything on the internet. After coming home and setting my bee tubes out to hatch, I hopped online and found the specs for an orchard mason bee "home." Basically, they want a chunk of wood with 5/16" diameter holes drilled in it; 6 inch deep if possible, since female eggs are laid deeper in the wood, and females are more efficient pollinators than males. Bored yet? We only had a three inch long drill bit, so off to Home Depot I went, and purchased a 12" long drill bit, since that was the only kind they had. Came home and drilled me some mason bee holes! I knew all this scrap lumber would come in handy some day! The good news (and point) to this story is, this morning I finally saw some of the bees using the nest, which means--more bees for me next spring! Pretty soon I'll have a good-sized colony.
I had something else to add to this update, but what was it? |
