Anybody use these bee houses? Was buying some plants yesterday and could not resist buying the attached photo. Trying to figure out where to place it.

@memays My son-in-law built several bee houses for me; not as fancy as yours, Meredith, but they work! Hang it on a south-facing wall or fence. Native bees are not "fuzzy" like honey bees so need the morning sun to warm up before they fly. Also make sure there are no plants obstructing the openings. I'll try to post a photo later today showing that some of the bamboo tubes are now sealed off, meaning there's a baby bee larva inside.

The hardware cloth is to prevent squirrels from stealing the bamboo for their nests.

I'm thrilled to see the bee boxes gaining popularity. Our bees need all the help they can get! The little native, or solitary, bees do most of the pollinating. And, because they're not defending a 'hive', they aren't aggressive.

Good posting GrammaChar: I bought two similar bamboo "bee" houses, three years ago. You are right, they do not attract "fuzzy honey bees" but they do attract the much smaller "Mason Bees", and you are right again about same being very aggressive "pollinators" , and that one can tell by the stuffed "waxed" tubes as Fall approaches, whether the houses are being used or not. Excellent posting! Cheers!

Some "occupied" tubes. More will fill as the summer progresses.





Wish I could get a photo of the mama bee...

The problem with a lot of commercial bee houses is that the manufacturers often use stems with aperatures far too large for native bees and wasps. The good part is that you can often rip out the unused sizes and replace them with better sizes.