Bee-box challenge

Bee guardian Val reports on red mason bee box activity

- Val Bourne

I’M a bee guardian and I have been for many a year now. Every March, I get red mason bee cocoons sent to me. Their bee houses are on the south-facing wall of the cottage and they hatch out in April. I like to watch these industrious bees coming back and forth, with pollen on their undersides and mud in their mouths. They’re active until late June and they use cardboard tubes placed in bee boxes. In September, I post the tubes back to Red Mason Bees ( masonbees.co.uk) using Freepost, and then I get sent another free lot the following spring.

Every bee guardian gets a yearly report, and Guardian Bourne (that’s me) only received a B for her red mason bee tubes of 2020. Yes, a measly B.

I returned 114 full tubes last September and they contained 493 red mason bee (Osmia bicornis) cocoons and 10 leafcutter species. This averaged out at 4.4 cocoons per tube, but you need to get over 6 to get an A. I must try harder.