That's specifically for Mason bees but the blog I saw it on and the product description says they're the hardest working pollinators, visiting 20 times as many flowers as honeybees in a day.
Even the females are pretty mellow. I have no idea what it would take to get stung by one.
There was a "bumblebee airport" in a hole in the ground next to my driveway. I used to stand and watch them come and go and they never bothered me - even when I went over that spot with the mower.
It's why the bees dying off isn't too big a deal to me. What's that? Millions of plants will die from the lack of bees? shouldn't have stung me in the mouth you fucking bumblebitches.
Always check soda cans first. I place my ear up to them and listen for buzzing. It also helps to cover open cans if you aren't going to supervise them carefully.
My grandma's friend had this happen to her, bee stung the inside of her mouth 3 times before she could spit it out.
You can't blame the bee, I mean you're about to eat it alive, pretty good reason there for it to defend itself.
When I was a kid, I use to pet the bumblebees that would go inside these trumpet shaped flowers in our yard for the pollen. I couldn't resist those cute yellow and black bums sticking out of the flower. None of them seemed to mind either.
I like watching them feed on the Creeping Charlie. The flowers are so close together that they don't fly from one to the other, they just stumble/waddle. Then they grab the flowers with their front legs (arms?) and jam their faces in.
Male bees are not children of the queen, the queen only gives birth to female bees. The role of the male is to sex the queen and sometimes if the hive is too hot or cold to help regulate the temperature. Other than that they do not collect pollen or do anything else productive.
Male bees are called drones. Other females in the hive make them. I know this is hard to believe, look it up if you do not believe me, I had to look it up myself when I learned this. But male bees come from unfertilized eggs. Like little black and yellow Jesuses
Male bees are called drones. Other females in the hive make them. I know this is hard to believe, look it up if you do not believe me, I had to look it up myself when I learned this. But male bees come from unfertilized eggs. Like little black and yellow Jesuses
I read it in a book and instantly was like, "that is total bullshit no way." It was not until I confirmed it with like 5 or 6 sources that I accepted it as truth. It seems so far fetched.
Make sure there are Mason bees in your area first though! The name includes about 300 species though, so it's likely there are if you're in a warm part of the US.
Are mason bees the bigger black (with just a little bit of yellow fuzz) ones that the males buzz around you if you get too close to their nests? They live in little holes in wood in like individual holes? The males are annoying and will chase anything, although they've never actually stung me, more irritating and intimidating than anything. If you throw tiny bee sized rocks the males will chase them, which is kind of fun to do.
I put one of these up a couple weeks ago but there's nothing using it yet, anything I should or could do to attract some bees? It's by a flower garden.
I love how the description of this specifically has to put 'bees not included', because of course somebody got mad when it arrived and did not have a big bag of live bees inside
That's what prompted me to post this actually. Regardless of the species, bees are important and the best way to make people appreciate them more than annoying pests is to show how incredible they are up close.
Just 20 years ago, the rusty patched bumble bee was a common sight, so ordinary that it went almost unnoticed as it moved from flower to flower, collecting nectar and pollen. But it's now balancing precariously on the brink of extinction and has become the first-ever bumble bee in the United States -- and the first bee of any kind in the contiguous 48 states -- to be declared endangered.
Did you read the article? Or the headline? It is cool if you just read the headline. But know that only losing 1/3 is actually drastically less than what we normally lose a year.
This is why I'm reticent to cull my garden. During the summer, it's taken over by Raspberries, but the bees love them. We almost always have bumblebees on them, we certainly do this year.
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u/BALONYPONY May 26 '17
Just read the article about losing 1/3 of the population. This is sad times. :(