leafcutter bees

well I saw what I thought was a honey bee hauling a piece of leaf into a hole in the lock of a patio door (we don't close it ..in the summer..it closes off part of our back porch..)....well we watched and it brought more and more leaf pieces..so I took a photo of it and then downloaded it and looked them up on the computer..leafcutter bees.

[/img]

http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/insect/05576.html
here is a link to the site where I looked them up.

well they are harmless and the door isn't needed..we will let them safely next inside the door..and then in the spring they can hatch out and go where they please..happily pollinating our plants..will have to warn people about them..as they aren't dangerous..but look "beeish"..some people around here are afraid of bees..not me.

Ron found her dead...dont know if she had finished her work and died..or if she was kiilled or diseased..? so glad I saw her the day I did..what a blessing.

They only live for a month, and their season is close to ending.

Sue

well I THOUGHT she was dead but it must have been a mate or another bee, as she was back making her nest yesterday..she is so cool to watch..i know they die when they are done..but i was pretty sure she wasn't done.

I just finished listening to today's podcast on mason bees and was happy to hear about how helpful these bees are, I know we probably have raised several broods around here without even knowing it. We also have tons of the mason bees that love the mud as we can find thousands of them playing in the mud in the spring. I always leave a lot of standing reeds and perennial plant parts all year long as well as brush piles and standing dead trees with woodpecker holes..I didn't realize I was creating so much habitat for mason bees.