We have a bee hotel and it's so damn cute seeing these little solitary bees filling up the holes.
We probably have 20-30 nests.
If you have a drill, they're stupid easy to make. Read about what size holes the bees in your area like. And leave a smooth edge on the entry! They won't use it if they sense a risk to their wings.
Might as well roll your own, not like you can reuse them after they nest. Mites and such are an issue.
You can reuse them, but you have to carefully clean the nesting holes. I have professionally made bee houses that I use. The wooden blocks that hold the nesting holes can be removed, opened, and sanitized. This also allows you to harvest cocoons to keep safe from predators/weather for the next year.
Yay! Me too! I had so many different species visit my yard this year. Like 3 different species of big 'bumble bees'. And so many of the other kind. I like the iridescent green one!! :-D
OPs post reminded me to get a new one built!
Whereabouts do you live and what sizes of holes are you drilling?
Moreso. Everyone started getting honey bees that it’s now having an impact on native bees.
Honey bees got hyped up as a problem because the large agricultural industries that relied on them was having a problem. It is an actual problem but not just honey bees. Everyone got so hyped that we’ve note got the old problem and a new problem too.
I rescued one recently by picking it up
They're so docile it's awesome
And my god did it ever perk up when I plonked it on a flower. It was so ridic cute
In this thread: Animals only deserve to live if they have a direct use case to us humans. People here are not sure whats alle the fuss about mass extinction. Carry on beloved free market capitalism.
Honey Bee is not even in danger at the places where it comes from. People brought it to America and now it competes with local pollinators.
Honey Bees and Bumble Bees are great. They're fun to watch, and are very docile/relaxed. I will always stop to watch one, or avoid while mowing.
If you're asking me about carpenter bees or any wasp, hornet, or yellow jacket, they can all die in a fire. Those call for scorched earth.
Edit: my most recent acquaintance :)
I recently watched a video of a bee keeper showing how his bees were kept save because he fed the wasps fermented pare. So it kept them happy and docile and really showed how some wasps species can co exist and play a part in Mother Nature which we often forget.
But mosquitoes… fuck them, they can all die.
Also, cute ass little bee photo. 🐝
Hornets are my bros, they're super chill here. Swoop in, hunt something down, eat it sitting on a random branch, and then they're gone again.
Apparently there are some wasps that are pollinators and also not assholes, but I don't bother to Google which is which before murdering them. If they want to live they shouldn't be asshole shaped.
In a world with no rules, sure. Play rust for 30 minutes and you'll learn to shoot first and ask questions never.
Paper wasps are generally good pollinators and not assholes, but they have yellow striping to make them look scary.
Yellow jackets are assholes, unusually aggressive and territorial and this becomes a problem because they also tend to love human food and beverage. In my region, I would also say fuck the bald-faced hornet, which is naturally related to the yellow jacket and is similarly aggressive. Fortunately less common (I haven't been stung by one, but apparently it's worse than it is with a yellow jacket).
Boll's Potter wasps (if I'm remembering their name correctly) are also common where I am and they are pretty chill and just go about pollinating. I'm sure there are a bunch of others that I haven't yet learned to identify.
tl;dr: Yellow jackets and their relatives are assholes. The rest are mostly okay.
•
We got a small hornet nest somewhat nearby. They tend to come over and murder all the asshole wasps which is nice. The hornets are reddish orange, no idea what kind they are but I like them. Otherwise they are super chill and avoid humans.
Wasps are just as important in most ecosystems. They prey on pests, are pollinators, and act as decomposers. The only species of wasp you should hate in the US is the only one that is invasive: the Asian 'murder' hornet.
Some species of wasps pollinate and eat smaller pests.
So don't hate on the territorial demons too much!
I keep (as much as solitary bees can be "kept") native mason and leafcutter bees every year. I love when they first emerge from their cocoons. They're so tiny and adorable. They're also completely non-aggressive and never mind when I mess with their bee houses (mostly to remove spider webs). My plants love the bees as well.
Save all bees. Except carpenter bees, which are to be terminated with extreme prejudice.
(/s obviously, I'm sure they are important to the larger ecosystem somehow)
Fucking carpenter bees (aka winged termites). Ironically, the males have no stingers but they are extremely aggressive and will kamakazi dive bomb you in the face repeatedly if you get near the entrance to the nest.
I don't mind bees if they're minding their own business, but once those carpenter bees started trying to burrow or whatever into my shed and fence I was quite annoyed ha.
It looks like they're good pollinators, but leave my shit alone.
Yeah fuck those guys. Had an awning built over our patio and didn't even get through the whole summer before one started digging a hole into one of the rafters. Our backyard is now a no-fly zone for those bastards.
What commercial purpose do non-honey bees serve??? Why should we save them???
Edit: yeesh, didn't think that needed an /s
Viewing things from a solely commercial perspective is myopic and like most capitalistic business practitioners, promotes a mindset that thinks waaay too short term. You can't make your money off your crops decades from when you're only thinking about this quarters profits. Put simply, the selfish you today fucks yourself over tomorrow.
But even if you were to take this myopic and short sighted approach, Honey Bees are just average pollinators amongst a diverse range of insects and some small birds.
Additionally planting a wide variety of drought resistant flora is better for both wild as well as domesticated pollinators and is a more environmentally friendly practice than just keeping honey bees.
I offer two points for consideration:
-
Bees help plants maintain genetic diversity among certain plants that other pollinators may not target. Genetic diversity helps maintain a thriving variety of plant, tolerant to different environments. Especially important is our environments are changing.
-
Animals that are bred until they cannot survive outside of certain environments, (co-dependence) are destined to become extinct in the absence of said environment. (In case there's any confusion, insects fall under the umbrella of "animals" taxonomically. Also, in this sentence, the codependent animals may be humans.)
Diverse populations of bees provide benefits and necessities outside of commercial purposes, and are going the way of the American Bison. (Please note the differences from the way of the dinosaur.)
Edit: yeesh, didn’t think that needed an /s
The best piece of advice someone gave me about social media is "always assume you're talking to a 12 year old kid with autism"
I don't hate wasps, but I wish they'd realize the apple I'm eating comes from the tree right behind me, that has a thousand more for them to munch on
Okay, but like, clearly that is their apple???
I mean so are all the others.
And you are their meat if they get too hungry.
They can be important pollinators while also being tiny demons.
I'm all for symbiotic relationships, but that should also mean I get to eat an apple in peace. We literally have four apple trees in our backyard, plenty for everybody, and I let them eat whatever they want to their hearts desire.
I think they're just nearsighted and not very smart
yeah... and arent the threatened bess only the ones that live alone and arent used by humans to make honey anyway?
The ones I know of are exclusively bumble bees. Which yeah, don't make honey we can eat. They actually hibernate during the winter, so they don't need to make a ton of honey. Just enough to snack on if it's too stormy to go looking for food.
And FYI to anybody reading, the best thing you can do for bumblebee populations is to grow wildflowers native to your region and don't cut them down before they flower so the bees have a chance to get to them.
Bumblebees are these fuzzy, gentle, fat little guys. They're fun to watch and harmless, as long as you don't try to go catching them with your bare hands or something like that.
Bumblebees are super chill and cute.
My grandma was stung by a bumblebee after she ignored it bumping into her for 10 minutes. She was working in the garden next to its nest. I can't think of another organism that has that kind of patience.
Not many realize this, but sticking with the non-bee pollination theme you have things like beetles, butterflies, moths, some species of flies, ants, wasps... the list goes on.
Non-inscect options include some speciea of bats and birds.
That's not even getting into the tons of other useful things insects do.
I always said that if I wasn't a human, I would be a rhinoceros beetle (kabutomushi).
Apparently I may have been right!
I once heard someone smarter than me say that if all insects were to vanish the earth’s ecosystems would fully collapse in 10 years.
Considering what insects do for our planet, I believe it.
You do know that this world is basically populated primarily by insects right? They're arguably the most important type of animal on earth
My parents have a hive of wood bees in the pergola my dad made. They pollinate our lime tree and I love them
I mean they pollinate too and are important to keep some pests in check. So they are important to the ecosystem.
They are also tiny demons and give me a sense of panic no other creature can because there is just so many of them and they are so small and full of hate.
It is a bummer that these are not mutually exclusive.