Blog 14

 

April 7 2025

Before we beegin: This Friday - 11th April - the documentary - Wilding is being shown in Winsley Village Hall - please see https://www.winsley.org.uk/news/film-club for full details 

Bee hotels

Getting ready for the ‘Meet and Greet’? 


This is what it’s all about! A tiny face emerging into a new world of April flowers... apple blossom in waiting to be pollinated, optimistic males squabbling over potential fatherhood, creating a safe haven for the next generation!

This solitary bee, a Red Mason Bee, has spent the winter protected from wind and weather in our ‘store everything shed’ – an eighteenth century animal shelter


. It’s rough old stone walls offer shelter for others too, unofficially... Once a robin’s nest in the coil of a stored hose, a Brown Long-eared Bat hanging on the vertical wall... and, of course, spiders and others emerge from the crevices eager for a meaty bee snack. Hence the protective wrappings of veggie mesh, remnants of a thin cotton skirt, loose weave old canvas bag and old tights

. Protection against predators still had to allow easy passage of air for the treasured pollinators breathing within.

Wildlife Tips: Now is the time, now where to put the hotel(s)?

In full sun, south facing and it should be securely fastened against wind (and being knocked down by animals or humans). At least one metre off the ground is ideal, positioned near or in a flower bed or a very floriferous meadow, so the bees are surrounded by food.

If space is short, Lungwort (Pulmonaria)


 is a great early nectar plant which continues on, beloved by all early fliers -

 here a Beefly. Note: it hovers, has a non-retractable straight tongue, is tubby, with no waist which differentiates it from a real Bee. First visitors were the Bumbles 

There needs to be a clear flight path into the hotel, without plants obstructing the front. Where practical, I wrap a single layer of wire netting around the front of the entrance to keep off hungry birds, even maybe woodpeckers, from prying in to grab a quick meal. The bees manoeuvre that ok.

Males emerge first and await the emergence of females a few days later, sometimes guarding their mating rights ferociously.


 - two males battling it out; they tumbled and somersaulted still grappling with each other and then flew off.




 After mating the female finds a vacant tube, lays a sequence of eggs, separating each by a food supply and ‘wall’ making ‘nurseries’, and she finally seals it with a door of mud and pollen.

In your shed you may also find others about to emerge – delicate lacewings



 – handle with care, they are the gardener’s friends, they eat plant enemies!

Position a garden chair by the hotel, sit back and watch the action while you chill out with a cuppa! Guaranteed mindfulness and wellbeing.






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