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  • #16
    Mine don't:

    a. not seen a wp for years
    b. 3 cats
    c. the tubes are too long for even WP beaks

    The important thing is to hibernate them properly in the winter, I forgot last year and -18C killed them all.

    Now up to 15 tubes filled up.
    The cats' valet.

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    • #17
      [ATTACH=CONFIG]24752[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]24753[/ATTACH]

      :d
      Attached Files
      Last edited by mrbadexample; 07-07-2011, 10:47 PM.
      Our England is a garden, and such gardens are not made
      By singing-'Oh how beautiful!" and sitting in the shade,
      While better men than we go out and start their working lives
      At grubbing weeds from gravel paths with broken dinner-knives. ~ Rudyard Kipling

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      • #18
        Originally posted by endymion View Post
        This is a brilliant idea, but do they ever get emptied by woodpeckers?
        An old post, but only just noticed.....

        Apparently, the first egg laid in each tube (i.e. the deepest compartment in the hole) is female. Most of the remainder are male.
        This is an anti-woodpecker strategy because the male egg chambers get eaten or damaged first and the females last.
        One male will happily mate with several females and each female is capable of producing several nest chambers in each of several holes during her short lifespan.
        .

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        • #19
          Here's a photo of my solitary bee house it had only been up a couple of days before the first cane was filled
          http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...&thumb=1&stc=1
          Attached Files
          Location....East Midlands.

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          • #20
            My new bee house:



            Two drilled blocks of wood, some dry, hollow plant stems and a couple of bits of bamboo. I'll fill in the gaps as and when suitable material becomes available.

            Just got to hope it gets used now.
            Attached Files
            Our England is a garden, and such gardens are not made
            By singing-'Oh how beautiful!" and sitting in the shade,
            While better men than we go out and start their working lives
            At grubbing weeds from gravel paths with broken dinner-knives. ~ Rudyard Kipling

            Comment


            • #21
              Looks good, I'm sure they will be put to good use.

              One thing I don't think we have mentioned yet is there are Red bees and Blue bees, one fills the tubes up early in the year the other later in the year so empty tubes are important towards year end too.
              The cats' valet.

              Comment

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