After building up a sizable japanese hornfaced bee colony only to have it devoured by barn swallows in a single season I'd like to start over either with hornfaced or blue orchard bees for my fruit trees. I will spread smaller "homes" around in pvc pipe rather than one large one which was soon surrounded by hungry birds sitting in all the branches waiting to snack.
I was fortunate enough to have most of my original colony provided to me free of charge. I was part of a study and also was fortunate enough to correspond with Suzanne Batra who introduced the hornfaced bees to this country and gave me a "starter set".
Looking around I have been struck by the price of just a few straws and am curious if anyone knows a good affordable source for these interesting bees. I'd like start a new colony this spring. Thanks Seth Jones