Saturday

Honey Bees Part II

As noted in a previous post, this year has been full of honey bees.  I made the mistake of using caulk to try and seal hive entrances where new colonies of honey bees were establishing themselves.  The bees made fast work of the caulk and reopened sealed entrances requiring a layer of stucco to permanently seal up entrances.  Despite the aggravation of new colonies trying to establish themselves honey bees are good for the landscape.  Reports of the decline in bee colonies is in the news prompting the Painted Pony Resort to do its' part in maintaining local bee populations.  Habitat restoration as part of the grassland restoration project is one of the goals of the resort so honey bees are a natural target for restoration activities.  To that end a 2 tiered bee box was placed in the riverbed as a home for a honey bee colony.  Under the shade of a large mesquite and with the entrance facing southeast (away from the predominate winds) the site is well suited for a colony of honey bees.  Located in the middle of the riverbed the area is surrounded with grasslands and wild native flowers.  Although I have missed this springs movement of new queens the location is ready for any wandering queen looking for a new home.

For more information on habitat restoration for Honey Bees see the Great Pollinator Project.

Honey Bee habitat restoration
A new home for some local honey bees

2 comments:

  1. Did you see the story about the thousands of bees looking for a new home in Washington DC? The 3 who caught them did not wear protective gear, saying the bees weren't going to sting, were just looking for a home. It's good to hear the bees are out there in numbers.

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  2. No I missed that article. Helen brought up a good point though, while this helps support the honey bees, many bee species in the desert southwest are solitary and have different requirements, so I was working on that all day.

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