North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["JAMES ELIE" <tomelzear@earthlink.net>]

Hey Robert,

Here are the plans for a wild bee home that I discovered on the net a few
weeks ago.  I am quite interested in trying it myself but, as is everyone
else, I have been too busy to implement the plans.  The plans are listed in
a newsletter and are in pdf form. 

Good luck,

Jim Elie
Green Bay WI
z4/5


> From: <mullins@gaelicmysts.com>
> To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
> Date: 4/4/2008 8:31:34 AM
> Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Fwd: Creating Homes for Wild Bees
>
> This is quite cool!  Anybody have any 'bee house' designs.  I used to work
> as an entomology aid (but my focus was beetles)  at a college.  Some of my
> buddies were into apiaries, but they were just using single cardboard
> tubes for collection purposes.
>
> -Robert C. Mullins M.S. IT
>
>
>
>
> > Begin forwarded message:
> >
> > From: ARS News Service <NewsService@ars.usda.gov>
> > Date: April 4, 2008 6:48:07 AM PDT
> > Subject: Creating Homes for Wild Bees
> > Reply-To: ARS News Service <NewsService@ars.usda.gov>
> >
> > STORY LEAD:
> > Creating Homes that Please America's Wild Bees
> > ___________________________________________
> >
> > ARS News Service
> > Agricultural Research Service, USDA
> > Marcia Wood, (301) 504-1662, marcia.wood@ars.usda.gov
> > April 4, 2008
> > --View this report online, plus photos and related stories, at
> > www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr
> > ___________________________________________
> >
> > Just like people who are looking for a perfect place to live, some
> > female bees search for the ideal place to build their nests.
> >
> > Agricultural Research Service (ARS) entomologist Theresa L.
> > Pitts-Singer is discovering more about the "nesting cues" that
> > influence wild bees' house-hunting decisions. It's information that may
> > help entice more of the hardworking pollinators to take up residence in
> > new, ready-to-occupy nesting structures that growers and beekeepers
> > provide.
> >
> > Some bees like living in snug, dark recesses called "nesting cavities."
> > These range from deep holes drilled into wooden boards, to bundles of
> > cardboard tubes or hollow reeds. Growers and beekeepers place bee
> > housing in orchards and fields where they need the bees to live and
> > work.
> >
> > Wild bees augment the work of the European honey bee, currently plagued
> > by a puzzling problem known as colony collapse disorder.  That's
> > according to Pitts-Singer, with the ARS Pollinating Insect Biology,
> > Management and Systematics Research Unit in Logan, Utah.
> >
> > Scientists already know that female blue orchard bees (Osmia lignaria)
> > and certain other wild bees prefer to nest in cavities that other
> > females of their species once occupied. That's problematical because
> > old nests may be contaminated with disease-causing spores.
> >
> > To find out what's making old nests alluring, Pitts-Singer is
> > investigating components from the old homes, including old pollen,
> > leaves, mud, and a fluid bees apply to cavity walls.
> >
> > In one test, Pitts-Singer and colleagues used glass tubes to
> > approximate drilled nesting holes, then collected the now-dry fluid
> > that bees had left on walls. The scientists are using sophisticated
> > laboratory instruments to glean some of the first-ever information
> > about the chemical composition of the fluid.
> >
> > Perhaps secreted by bees to differentiate one home from another, the
> > fluid may also add to the overall appeal of a previously occupied
> > nesting site. If that's the case, Pitts-Singer's investigations might
> > lead to using synthetic versions of the fluid to make tomorrow's new
> > nesting structures more inviting.
> >
> > ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific research
> > agency.
> >
> > ___________________________________________
> >
> > This is one of the news reports that ARS Information distributes to
> > subscribers on weekdays. Send feedback and questions to the ARS News
> > Service at NewsService@ars.usda.gov.
> >
> > * Other ARS news products are available by e-mail. For details about
> > them or to subscribe, please contact the ARS News Service or visit
> > http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/lists.htm.
> > __________________________________________
> > ARS News Service, Information Staff, Agricultural Research Service
> > 5601 Sunnyside Ave., Room 1-2251, Beltsville MD 20705-5128
> > NewsService@ars.usda.gov | www.ars.usda.gov/news
> > Phone (301) 504-1636 | fax (301) 504-1486
> >
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