Hives and barns

Our new neighbors across the street just put up this honey bee hive and purchased a "swarm." From all the activity, it looks like the bees are settling in. The husband works for Amazon; the wife is a physician who treats immigrants and refugees. Only in their 30's, they're the perfect example of young, successful, progressive Seattle.

The previous owner was a big gardener, always puttering around outside and weeding. These kids have a laissez faire approach to their big yard, letting things go more natural. True, they don't have time to garden all day, but it's also for the sake of the environment, insects and birds.

Nature thrives with just a little benign neglect. Some neighbors might not agree, but I think it's great. There's nothing worse than seeing the Washington Tree Service spray truck spewing yards with pesticide. Poor bees.

A few years ago, I did some research on urban honey bee keeping and realized it's a rather complicated and expensive pastime. Cultivating native Mason bees is a piece of cake by comparison. Not to be outdone by the new neighbors, I purchased this nifty Mason Bee Barn at Costco yesterday. 

Native Mason bees are small and often mistaken for flies. They are very docile and rarely sting. They don't produce honey or wax.  Mason bees are such effective pollinators that just two or three females can pollinate a mature apple tree.  Or a plum tree! They also work in cool or rainy weather in early spring when honeybees take the day off.

With the serious decline in honey bee populations, Mason bees are absolutely essential these days for orchard and other agricultural pollination because they are so efficient. What's not to like?

Mason bees are solitary and attracted to nesting holes – reeds, paper tubes, nesting trays, or drilled blocks of wood. Or hopefully, a deluxe condo.  All they need are flowers and a bit of mud.

If we're lucky, they just move in, but typically people purchase the larvae at nurseries and insert them into the nest box. So I need to make a few calls today. With these barns flying out of Costco, Seattle might well be sold out for the year.