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Build a solitary bee house - PEP BB animal.sand.bee

BB animal care - sand badge
posted 6 years ago
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This is a badge bit (BB) that is part of the PEP curriculum.  Completing this BB is part of getting the sand badge in Animal Care.

In this Badge Bit you will make a house for mason bees or other types of solitary bees.



Crown Bee's "Native Bee Guide,"--offered through the dailyish freebies--has a lot of great information for how to make a solitary bee house.

To complete this BB, the minimum requirements are:
  - it must be designed to satisfy the cavity nesting characteristics of a solitary bee species in your area
  - it must be designed/located to protect the tubes from rain
  - natural/found materials and steel/wood fasteners (no glue, plastic, cardboard, plywood, stain, paint)

To show you've completed this Badge Bit, you must:
  - post a pic of your solitary bee house under construction
  - post a pic of your finished solitary bee house either:
       - in its final mounted location, or
       - not in a final location if the design can handle the weather without additional protection
  - describe what solitary bee species you're making a home for
COMMENTS:
 
Mike Haasl
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posted 5 years ago
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I made a mason bee house!  I used cupplant stalks, some other stalk (possibly milkweed), twigs and pieces of paper rolled around a pencil.  The housing is a #10 can.  It's under a roof overhang and facing south.  
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SKIP books, get 'em while they're hot!!! Skills to Inherit Property
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Staff note (Dave Burton) :

I hereby certify this BB as complete!

 
Leif Ing
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posted 5 years ago
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Built a mason bee hotel today, from scrap 1x4s and finish nails, using a hand saw to cut the chunks of board. The reeds were courtesy of Jocelyn, and it was mounted today to the base camp garage!
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Staff note (Dave Burton) :

I hereby certify this BB as complete!

 
Leif Ing
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posted 5 years ago
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One note on this BB, for consistency, this one is listed as last picture needing it to be mounted for completion , but the birdhouse BB is not... just requests a photo showing completion. Can we change the wording on one of them? Or is there a logical reason to require one mounted and the other not, since the projects are essentially the same idea but for different species?
 
Mike Haasl
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posted 5 years ago
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My unbinding position is that a bird house is usually built to withstand the elements so you can mount it anywhere (as long as it's right-side-up).  A mason bee house could be built to go out on a wall without rain protection or it could need to be under an eave.  For instance if paper tubes are used, I believe they need to stay dry.  So your house has a good overhanging roof and could be mounted anywhere.  Mine (coffee can above) has tubes that go all the way to the opening of the can.  If I didn't mount it in a protected place, it wouldn't function.  

I'll edit the requirements to reflect this for now.

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Dave Burton
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posted 5 years ago
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This is my in-progress construction picture of my solitary bee habitat. I observed solitary bees trying to enter the holes similar to the size of the screws we used on Allerton Abbey's facade, so I made the holes in my solitary bee habitat about that size (which is about the size of a pencil). I also made some holes smaller and some bigger to provide diversity of habitat.



This is my completed solitary bee habitat that I made to withstand being outside without additional protection.



This is my completed solitary bee habitat hanging on a tree by the hugelkultur that I built.

Dave's SKIP BB's / Welcome to Permies! / Permaculture Resources / Dave's Boot Adventures & Longview Projects

Staff note (Mike Haasl) :

I certify this BB complete!

 
Chris Sugg
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posted 5 years ago
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Built a mason bee house last winter. Put it in my 3 sided potting shed. It filled up with mason bees!

Building-supplies-2x4-screws-drill-drill-bit.jpeg
Building supplies 2x4, screws, drill, drill bit
Building supplies 2x4, screws, drill, drill bit
Mounted-in-my-potting-shed-full-of-mason-bees-.jpeg
Mounted in my potting shed, full of mason bees!
Mounted in my potting shed, full of mason bees!
Staff note (Mike Haasl) :

I certify this BB complete!

 
Ashley Cottonwood
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posted 5 years ago
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Perry the Purple PEP Platypus is back at it!

Check out the awesome Bee House he made!



Just kidding! Perry is a prankster! That was one a purchased. I needed to move it as it was facing West instead of East.

Here is the start of our Bee house:



I drilled 3 different sized holes. The first ones where about the same size as the bee house I purchased. That bee house was designed for mason bees, they are the most common solitary bee aroundhere.







I made a roof to shelter them from rain and hung the log with rope... super awesome knot skills, I know.

Like my shiny badges? Want your own? Check out Skills to Inherit Property!

Staff note (Mike Haasl) :

I certify this BB complete!

 
Ash Jackson
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posted 5 years ago
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I got a Mason Bee kit from Crown Bees  they specialize in solitary bees (they're in Paul's mason bee video: https://youtu.be/V8vAQ1B5Zj4 ). With the kit, came some mason bee cocoons! Leafcutters come in may.

My son helped/supervised me; he selected the site, from the two south facing fenceposts we have here at the rental. At his direction, I added some wood to protect it from the rain and canted it to also protect from afternoon sun.

We made sure to give lots of texture to the tube-ends, as crown bees says to: apparently the bees find home visually. Neat!
IMG_20200408_144702.jpg
Under construction
Under construction
IMG_20200408_141138.jpg
Texture!
Texture!
IMG_20200408_144951.jpg
More construction
More construction
IMG_20200408_145714.jpg
Final location, with weather protection
Final location, with weather protection

My PEP Badge Tracker - An easier way to track your PEP Badge Progress. | Wait, wait, wait; What is PEP? | How Permies.com works.

Staff note (Mike Haasl) :

I hereby certify this BB complete!  And we'll be updating the requirements to specify no cardboard or plastic.  Thanks for finding that loophole!

 
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