So you are raising multiple pollinator types in your garden! Very cool.
I think red mason bees are one of the types of solitary bee which usually
lays its eggs in a tube (ie hollow reed or similar) and the pupae at the
back can't hatch out 'til the ones at the front have got out of the way,
which always strikes me as odd as (a) it's a recipe for disaster and (b)
the oldest - first laid - pupae have to wait for the newest ones to hatch
before they can get out. This nest structure is different, perhaps mason
bees prefer this kind of slot-shaped crevice and only use tubes as a last
resort.
We've had frost here this morning in the shade of the house. Did you place
them in a sheltered place?
Paul
On Mon, 23 Mar 2020 at 12:49, Juli Cohen <juliane.cohen@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi all,
When fixing the top-bar cloths and quilt boxes yesterday we found that the
bees had decided to sublet their residence. We found these very strange
looking things on the side between the quilt box and the roof.
We had no idea what they were so opened one of the pupae up, and there was
a little bee inside. I don’t know what sort it is, but looking on google I
think it could be Osmia bicornis (red mason bee).
We gently scraped them off and left them in a safe place to hatch.
Juli
