Mason Bee House - Some Occupancies - June 2020

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This is the third season with our Mason Bee house/hotel in our yard.  I was gifted it for my birthday in April 2018.  Hung it that year and documented the population/residents in May of 2018 when some of the cavities were filled.  That first year, there were 14 tubes filled or packed with mud.  And eggs.

I don't seem to have posted about the occupancy rate in 2019, but I'm happy to report that we're seeing a big jump in occupancy for 2020.  At the top of this post, you can see the bee hotel as it stands now.  I went ahead and made it easier on all of us with the annotated version of the photo below. 

It shows 36 little red circles that are filled with mud.  I haven't done a scientific analysis, but it seems that the larger bamboo is NOT being used - rather they seem to prefer a mid-sized bamboo piece or hole. But...with 36 sets packed in, that's a more than a 100% increase in occupancy.  Now, there's lots of coverage about the decline of bees, but just based on my yard - something is working as I'm seeing a big increase.


One other thing to note is the spread. 

10 in the left side. 
6 in top middle.
14 in bottom middle.
8 on the right side.

I'm hoping that this means we'll see a nice class of pollinators come next Spring.
Location: Downers Grove, IL, USA

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