Nesting Leafcutter bee.

[Ferret75]

I had to ban everyone from using the sun umbrella again this year... there were loads of these beautifully made tubes in the crease lines of our fabric sun umbrella last year and this (despite two insect shelters being hung up in the garden!). I sat and watched fascinated for hours as a solitary bee kept appearing with perfectly cut sections of leaf and taking them up inside the parasol cover.

Unfortunately a parasitic Ichneumon wasp has found the larvae tubes each year, made the tiny little holes in the walls of the tubes with its long ovipositor to lay its eggs. When the wasp eggs hatch their own larvae eat those of the bee. What is left inside is just a dessicated husk and a store of waste pollen....but hey, that's what nature watching is all about! Maybe next year some actual young leafcutters may make it!

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[Robson Valley]

Wonderful! I never get to see their business. Started by accident but I had a 6"x 6" x 12" block of wood (spruce?) with a dozen holes, maybe 1/2", drilled into it. Noticed one day that the bees were using it.
Looked around the garden to find that they were cutting the leaves on the rose bushes, nothing else. That was interesting to watch.

I suppose that the wood blocked the parasitic wasps, too.

 

[Ferret75]

I've tried taking some of the 'dead tubes' and transplanting them into some open faced 'bug hotels' but they haven't got the message yet, like you say they should be better protected then. Hopefully next year.

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[Drain Bamaged]

Ferret75, have you tried changing the direction that the openings to the 'bug hotels' are facing?....they tend not to like prevailing winds or 'channeled wind' they also don't like direct sun on the actual hotel. Sometimes something as simple as rotating the entrances by 90 degrees or protecting from direct sun can do the job.

DB.

 

[Ferret75]

Hi DB, thanks for the advice! I have tried a couple of places for both bug boxes so far, including sheltered spots on the East facing side of my shed and on a NE facing trellis which is completely covered with honeysuckle. Not going to give up on them mate!

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[Drain Bamaged]

Ferret, I DO NOT know this for fact but from experience they appear to locate the 'nest' by sight and I have found that hiding the hotel in foliage doesn't seem to work well (almost as if they lose it between trips to and from) I have had most success with them in very plain view, I have several fastened onto the brickwork outside various windows, its great for sitting and watching them. As I said I do not know for fact that they locate by sight but I do know that many of the Bumble Bees will if possible choose a nest close to a distinctive marker and certainly when I used to search out Wasp Nests for fishing they were almost always on or under a fence post, tree, telegraph pole etc, something they could locate and zero in on easily. Best of luck you'll get there eventually (or rather they will) they are fascinating to watch.

DB

 

[Ferret75]

That's great to know DB, thanks for that, it would certainly make a lot of sense, including the fact they use the parasol which is a tall central standing point in our garden. Good thinking mate!

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[Angst]

yup DB....i get these each year....first time one tried to make its burrows in a 2inch deep seedling tray full of soil that was laying on outside table....unfortunately i had to disturb because i needed to get my seedlings out (in fact i did intentionally asap as i didnt want the bee wasting its energy unecessarily).....then this year in 3 of my carrots growing in pots, shortly after i'd filled them and planted....i moved the pots a few metres to where they were to stay and the next day the bee was still going about its business....

so i decided to play a little game....i got some large stones and randomly pit them on the soil and around the rims....totally confused the bee.....kept hovering around trying to figure out what happened then flew off.....removed stones from one pot....bee found hole....moved stones off other pots....bee/bees found holes. then i played around with various other combination and stone sizes but the bee became less confused and soon ignored the stones. blew my mind.

good innit!

s

 

[daveO]

I think solitary bees are very fussy. My bug hotel has been used for the first time this year after being up for 2 previous summers with no interest. The only difference is that I added a slate roof this year to make it look a bit more posh. Now I've had leaf cutters, wool carders and some miners too. I don't know if the roof helped warm the box up or something but it obviously worked for them.

The advice I've always read though was to locate the hotel in a sunny sheltered spot as the larvae need the warmth. Sadly the advice didn't stretch to guarding the front of the hotel after the tubes had been filled and it went from bug hotel to bird cafe in very short time. Same thing as with your Ichneumon wasps though I guess, it's all fascinating nature stuff to watch.