My
mason bees are done for the year (SW Washington state). Looks like they filled about 140 tubes, which is less than previous years. I put out lots of extra tubes (probably 250 total), so apparently tubes are not the limiting factor.
I don't really need the
bees for pollination, I just think they are interesting, and I am always happy to help out
native species that are having a hard time. I use mostly teasel stems which grow in my
yard, so the only cost is a bit of my time. I did spring for about 70
cardboard tubes this year, to see what the
bees thought of those (they liked them). I also made them couple bundles of bamboo tubes because I inadvertently gave away too many of my teasel stems and I could see that the bees were going to use up all the teasel stems. I think I got the bamboo stems put up too late though, the bees did not use many of the bamboo tubes.
When does mason bee season end in your area? How many full tubes do you have?
