Bees Removal Preparing  Mason Winter. Weep Holes Weep
Gently remove cocoons from the stacking trays. Firstly, carefully examine the chimney weep holes. For a down-the-flue application, permethrin powder doesn’t need to be applied with pressure. They’re efficient pollinators in the garden and orchard, even considered to be more efficient than honey bees. Sometimes people worry about them causing damage to their homes by nesting in existing holes and cracks, but they don’t cause any damage while nesting.

Place it in a very sunny, southeast facing position, protected from wind and in the shade, especially if you have warm springs and summers. They are burrowing into the ground and swarming around. Removing cavity bees – any ideas? Finally the bee plasters a thick mud plug at the entrance. Mason bee is active she can produce one or 2 eggs each day. In some cases, this nesting may cause structural damage over time.


Solitary Masonry Bees living in weep holes in house wall.Masonry Bees – Masonry Bees Removal

Bees Removal Preparing  Mason Winter. Weep Holes Weep

Cocoons can also be carefully washed in a mild bleach solution to remove mites and maintain a healthy population. New clean straws can then be inserted in the block. Keep the container in a dry location. If your environment is more extreme, the bees may not survive the winter outdoors. Put the cardboard box of cocoons or filled wood block inside a plastic bag that you put several small holes in, along with a barely moist paper towel.

They are made of a breathable cardboard which can be replaced each season. However, they can be used as educational projects and have the potential to protect the environment. If a nest is outside or underground then there shouldn’t be a reason to really move it. Since wax melts at a low temperature, it is liable to liquefy and run down the flue. Depending on your house construction, there are a quite a few possibilities for bee entrances, so observe the bees carefully to find out where the bees are entering.

Look for the weep holes about knee high just above the damp course of bricks. Molten wax running down the chimney can catch fire like a blow torch, and you could lose your house to fire. In this case, use permethrin dust to exterminate the bees. This will discourage further infestation, but will not deter scavenging of the honey by other colonies. The mulch has washed away leaving bare ground. The does and do nots about removing cavity bees?

I have been told by two builders and quantity surveyor who is costing me a fortune that these are indeed cavity bees. Morter between the outside bricks plus a few bricks have been reduced to sand – marking there entrances. I will take up your suggestions and report back. Having as close to a year-round food source for pollinators (pollen and nectar producing plants like flowers and herbs) will be of enormous benefit to the bees and butterflies.

Being solitary bees, they don’t have honey bees’ homing instinct, which tells them to return back to a colonized hive. Mason bees most often nest in wood, using holes created by other insects and birds or even old nails; they don’t drill into wood themselves.

They’re not the sturdiest option, but with the right cover, the bees will enjoy using them.

The Mason Bees by Jean Henri Fabre

Masonry Bees Removal
Dogterom, is really two trays with channels cut out with a table saw for the bees to nest in. If you don’t have a drill press, don’t sweat it and just keep your holes farther apart to avoid crossing them over by accident.

In the spring when the weather has warmed up sufficiently, the males begin to emerge by chewing their way out of the cocoons and through the mud plugs.

During cool weather one or two weeks may be required for all bees to emerge. Position nests where they will receive morning sunlight. Their spring emergence makes them an excellent pollinator of many deciduous tree fruits. Pesticide use should be minimized or stopped during the orchard mason bee foraging period. Mason bees like so it’s a natures way of recycling!

During this time she will mate so fertile eggs will be produced as the nest is constructed. This plaster is usually made from mud or some cellulose product like paper or old wasp nests. Once sealed, the eggs will have all they need to develop and grow and one day they will emerge ready to continue the process.

For this reason northern territories may only have one generation active per year but southern regions could have several develop.


By spraying the plants every 2 or 3 weeks will chase bees away while the concentrate is odorless and has no negative impact on the plants.

The damage done to plants, flowers and crops can be real and have extreme effect on the reproduction of plants. Some of the methods used to keep bees off homes include relocating their nests to far places and changing the substance that is put between bricks and stones in walls of homes.

I cant say it is the right way or even the way to go but it worked for me. If you don’t, plan to put your whole mason bee house into a lidded bucket or box in the fall with a single hole drilled into it so the bees can escape when they’re hatched.

Dogterom suggests making sure that the box is painted dark, because the bees will be less likely to return to it if it’s not brightly lit.

Watching the bees set up during the year and emerge in the spring is truly a joy. What about and insect fogger aimed up the chimney? People often don’t realise that the improvised method of removing the bees by lighting a fire is extremely dangerous. Look for the weep holes about knee high just above the damp course of bricks. However, there will be bees hanging around the area for another hour or two. Fortunately there is another option. I use a cardboard shoe box place inside a rubbermaid tote. Store outside in a shed, carport or some such structure where they will stay dry and not heat up above outside ambient temperatures. You can fill the tubes with several cocoons, but the small cocoons should be towards the front of the tube as these are the males and they will hatch prior to the females.

Morning sun exposure will encourage your bees to start foraging earlier in the day without needing to extend excess energy. Once cocoons are harvested, however, those tubes will need to be replaced. Mason bees require mud with a heavy clay texture. They are sensitive to the moisture level of the mud, so be sure to water it frequently. They seem to prefer pea plants, roses, lilacs, and dahlias. Native bees have spent thousands of years co-evolving with native plants so they are best at collecting nectar and pollen from those flowers. Place the cocoons on a ledge near the habitat or leave enough space above the tubes and set the cocoons there. Male mason bees are smaller than females, and emerge first. Before releasing portions of your population, make sure you have more small than large cocoons. You can choose to move capped and sealed tubes into a protective and breathable bag to prevent predation and parasitism. Otherwise, leave sealed tubes in place and undisturbed until fall cocoon harvest. To harvest, simply open the tubes or nesting blocks and scrape out nesting materials. Be sure to do this in a cool place—you do not want your bees to wake up early after being moved into a warm house!

Wash the cocoons in a cold water bath. Any cocoons that sink in the bath should also be separated and discarded. These may have been parasitized by wasps, and should remain separate from the healthy bees. Should the tube be closed at the back end?

Damage will happen quickly since these bees work around the clock. Permethrin can be applied to any plant, fruit or vegetable. This will be needed because if you treat only one the bees will simply move to the untreated plant since it is the same species.

Since you cannot be sure there is no need to broadcast your applications. The areas where nesting is happening dictates just what products you should use and how they should be applied. Bee nests will quickly clog them and prevent proper water drainage. Use a bit which is slightly smaller than the tubing. The flutes of the drill bit will remove all the parts of the nest quickly. This is why the drill works well at nest removal. Pyrethrin which is both fast acting and effective. Even trace amounts will keep them away. In most cases, new nests will cease to be formed after a month. This can happen because female pheromones may still be present and males are doing what they naturally do: seek females. Cypermethrin will prevent them from landing on the structure and usually within a few days or a week they will be forced elsewhere and should be gone.

This is very important if you are having a problem with them infesting weep holes. Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes. I also discover that they are probably stingless – this obviously pleases me. I don’t particularly like flying things. Therefore little flying bee like insect flying around my back door provides me with a problem. Its usually via old mortar that has softened and needs re doing. You should see me going out the back door. They do go for old mortar, trouble is there isn’t always enough around, hence they will be finding other ways to survive. Please look after them, they are a gift, you already know they won’t hurt you or your family.


Mason Bees Remove And Protect

Blue orchard mason bees(Osmia lignaria) and horned-face mason bees(Osmia cornifrons) both only produce one generation of …