This bee house was only put in May 2019 and a female Red Mason Bee has been hard at work filling each cane and hole with mud, eggs and pollen. She lines the hole with mud, then lays an egg and provides the larvae when it hatches with pollen and nectar. When the egg hatches, the larvae feeds on the nectar and pollen. When the larvae has moulted 4 or 5 times, it spins a silk cocoon where it develops into a Red Mason Bee and emerges in early Spring the year after. Been solitary bees, they never see their offspring.
There has been various stories regarding the plight of bees in the wild and their is plenty you can do for them. You can put up bee houses like this in a South facing aspect or more importantly you can ensure you have bee friendly plants that will provide nectar for them. You can sow native wild flowers or you can use the RHS Perfect for Pollinators Garden Plants (rhs.org.uk/perfectforpollinators). Even on the lawns, let the daisies etc. grow to provide nectar for insects. If everyone did their bit, it would make a huge difference to the plight of these insects. In the Seventies I remember the car windscreens being covered in insects this time of year, but not so much now. In one sense it can be viewed that a windscreen full of insects would be annoying but the bright side means that there is plenty of food for other species such as Willow Warbler, that depend upon them.
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