Build it and they will come.
This has certainly been true for our solitary bee hotel. It went up in spring and it's proven very popular. The first kind of bees to visit it were mason bees - a species I hadn't even known existed. They seal their holes with earth – hence their name. I counted eleven holes already sealed up and yet more are being colonised. I looked up mason bee and found out that the female lays one egg at a time, deposits pollen and nectar with it, then seals up the cavity. Then lays another egg and repeats the process till the hole is filled up. The young bees will emerge next spring - the next generation pollinators for our apple trees!
This has certainly been true for our solitary bee hotel. It went up in spring and it's proven very popular. The first kind of bees to visit it were mason bees - a species I hadn't even known existed. They seal their holes with earth – hence their name. I counted eleven holes already sealed up and yet more are being colonised. I looked up mason bee and found out that the female lays one egg at a time, deposits pollen and nectar with it, then seals up the cavity. Then lays another egg and repeats the process till the hole is filled up. The young bees will emerge next spring - the next generation pollinators for our apple trees!
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