[NatureNS] re Looking for advice on mason bees

Date: Fri, 22 Feb 2013 14:34:35 -0400
To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
From: Angus MacLean <angusmcl@ns.sympatico.ca>
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<font size=3D3>I would appreciate a copy, Jim. Thanks.<br>
Angus<br>
At 11:28 PM 2/21/2013, you wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=3Dcite class=3Dcite cite=3D"">Sorry, everyone, I had to sen=
d
this a second time because I forgot to delete the attachment.&nbsp;
Jim<br><br>
Begin forwarded message:<br><br>
</font><blockquote type=3Dcite class=3Dcite cite=3D"">
<font face=3D"Helvetica, Helvetica" size=3D3><b>From: </b>&quot;James W.
Wolford&quot;
&lt;jimwolford@eastlink.ca
&gt;<br>
<b>Date: </b>February 21, 2013 11:26:28 PM AST<br>
<b>To: </b>NatureNS
&lt;naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
&gt;, Cory Sheffield
&lt;<a href=3D"mailto:cory.silas.sheffield@gmail.com">
cory.silas.sheffield@gmail.com</a>&gt;, Steve Javorek
&lt;javoreks@agr.gc.ca&gt;, Todd
Smith
&lt;todd.smith@acadiau.ca&gt;,
kirk.hillier@acadiau.ca<br>
<b>Subject: re Looking for advice on mason bees<br>
</b></font><br>
Cory, Thanks very much for this.&nbsp; For those on this list (NatureNS),
attachments cannot be sent, but the title of the paper is &quot;Diversity
of cavity-nesting bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) within apple orchards and
wild habitats in the Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia, Canada -- by Cory S.
Sheffield, Peter Kevan, Sue M. Weatby, and Robert F. Smith -- Can.
Entomol. 140: 235-249 (2008).&nbsp; I can send the attachment pdf of this
paper to whoever asks me off the list, please.<br><br>
Cheers from Jim in Wolfville.<br><br>
Begin forwarded message:<br><br>
<blockquote type=3Dcite class=3Dcite cite=3D"">
<font face=3D"Helvetica, Helvetica" size=3D3><b>From: </b>Cory Sheffield
&lt;<a href=3D"mailto:cory.silas.sheffield@gmail.com">
cory.silas.sheffield@gmail.com</a>&gt;<br>
<b>Date: </b>February 21, 2013 8:28:07 PM AST<br>
<b>To: </b>&quot;James W. Wolford&quot;
&lt;jimwolford@eastlink.ca
&gt;<br>
<b>Cc:
</b>naturens@chebucto.ns.ca,
<a href=3D"mailto:nancy.roberts@ns.sympatico.ca">
nancy.roberts@ns.sympatico.ca</a><br>
<b>Subject: Re: Looking for advice on mason bees<br>
</b></font><br>
I think the purpose of those nesting blocks is to fill them with<br>
native cavity nesting species, and in NS there are several (see<br>
attached paper), several of which are rather large species.&nbsp; The
Blue<br>
Orchard Bee is the one that is managed in Canada, though primarily
in<br>
the west, it does occur as far east as ON, QC, with a few odd
records<br>
from NS (though this has not been verified).<br><br>
If you put the nests out, you will get mason bees (Osmia) in the<br>
spring, and Megachile (leaf cutters) in the summer (with possibly a<br>
few other osmiine bees).&nbsp; It is very possible to grow your
own!&nbsp; There<br>
are over 200 bee species in NS, so it should be fun to see what you<br>
get!<br><br>
Cheers,<br>
Cory<br><br>
On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 2:36 PM, James W. Wolford<br>
&lt;jimwolford@eastlink.ca
&gt; wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=3Dcite class=3Dcite cite=3D"">Cory or Steve, can either of =
you
comment on this and on another answer that<br>
I will send you right after this one?&nbsp; Thanks from Jim et
al.<br><br>
Begin forwarded message:<br><br>
From: Nancy Roberts
&lt;<a href=3D"mailto:nancy.roberts@ns.sympatico.ca">
nancy.roberts@ns.sympatico.ca</a>&gt;<br>
Date: February 20, 2013 10:01:30 PM AST<br>
To:
naturens@chebucto.ns.ca<br>
Subject: Re: [NatureNS] Looking for advice on mason bees<br>
Reply-To:
naturens@chebucto.ns.ca<br>
<br>
I don't know about mason bees, some blueberry growers are using
bumblebees<br>
for pollination and more are using leaf cutter bees. I know of one
grower,<br>
Glenmore Farms (on google), who supplies these species.<br><br>
These species have been proven on blueberries and proven for NS climate,
but<br>
I don't know about cherry trees.<br><br>
One thing bees =96 not mason bees, though =96 need is a succession of
blooming<br>
things so they can keep going all season. You may have that since
you<br>
probably have a fair amount of wildflowers around.<br><br>
There seems to be a Diversified Pollination Services, Kentiville,
that<br>
supplies mason bees and other alternatives to the honeybee.<br><br>
Cheers,<br><br>
Nancy<br><br>
Nancy Roberts Design<br>
Celebrating 19 years of making you look GOOD<br><br>
Dartmouth, NS B2Y 2X6<br>
902 461-9488<br><br>
<br><br>
On 20-Feb-13, at 6:19 PM, Anne Woolaver wrote:<br><br>
Hi all,<br><br>
For a present this last Christmas, his employees gave my boss a mason
bee<br>
house (the tear-drop shaped one from Vesey's), in hopes of better<br>
pollination success for the cherry trees at his cottage in Wallace
this<br>
year.&nbsp; We didn't, however, buy any cocoons to go with it (Vesey's
does not<br>
sell them), and I am now wondering whether that would have been a good
idea.<br>
Does anyone have any experience with these houses and their ability
to<br>
attract nesting females &quot;from scratch&quot; in the northwest of Nova
Scotia?&nbsp; How<br>
common are mason bees in Nova Scotia, and how far do they disperse when
they<br>
emerge in spring?&nbsp; Would they come out too early to be good
cherry<br>
pollinators?&nbsp; The property itself would probably be relatively
suitable for<br>
nesting (nearby water and mud), although given the life cycle of this
bee,<br>
it might take a couple of years to build up a local population.&nbsp;
Any<br>
recommendations on possible suppliers of cocoons, ideally in eastern
Canada?<br>
The only ones I've been able to find online seem to be a couple outfits
from<br>
BC.<br><br>
Thanks in advance for advice, insight!<br><br>
A. Woolaver<br>
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