Okay, so....here's a little unknown fact about me: I'm a Mason Bee keeper!! ๐ ๐ I'm starting to get super excited about this year's release!!! I can't wait to see how my fruit trees blossom โค๏ธ Here's a short vid of one one of my babies from a previous year! Gosh, they're so freakin' cute with their little tufts of hair ๐
@amarand LOL...he was irritated for sure! They eat their way out of that cocoon and it gives them a little energy! I have found that they recognize their keepers!!!! I've had a few circle around me ๐ โค๏ธ I talk to them, though ๐ I think they get used to your voice, over the winter.
I want to be covered in a big M&M and I just eat my way out after winter is over. ๐น
@amarand ๐ ๐คฃ Omgโฆme too! I love chocolate ๐๐ซ
Three months in the fridgeโฆcool with that too. Cool! Fridge pun! โ๏ธ
@amarand omg yum ๐คค ๐ ๐
I wish we could hibernate like bees and bears. And wouldnโt chocolate be the best way to wake up?!
So where did we land on chocolate coated hibernation? ๐ซ๐ซ๐ซ๐ซ๐ซ๐ซ๐ซ๐น
@amarand thereโs no such thing as chocolate coated hibernationโbecause that chocolate coating wouldnโt last longer than a few minutes!! ๐คฃ ๐
Weโd have to find a way to save some! ๐น
@amarand @Valkyrie_D @Kurtroedeger
Getting the fruit & vegetables allowance for the day.
I want to know all there is about what a Mason Bee keeper is!! ๐น๐๐๐๐๐น
@amarand I raise Blue Orchard Mason Bees! I have a few Mason Bee huts, of which the female bees store their cocoons. At the end of season, I collect those cocoons and store them in my refrigerator (causing them to lie dormant) and release them the following spring! ๐ ๐
How many do you release?
@amarand this year....not so many. Maybe 40.
Thatโs still super cool, though! Bet theyโre so happy to emerge from being so well taken care of!
@Valkyrie_D ๐ awwwwwwwwwwww I am so thankful for people who keep beesโค๏ธ they will kill me but I love them thank goodness for epinephrine LOL I still stop and help bees when I see them
@Susandoyle not these ones!! The male cuties do NOT have a stinger and the females NEVER sting.
@Valkyrie_D ๐ YAY! I could cuddle them!
@Susandoyle these bees are singletons (no hive or hive mentality) ๐ Their sole purpose is to have lots of sex, pollinate as much as possible, make cocoons and die. They have very short lifespans!
@Valkyrie_D so me basically but longer life span LOL
@Susandoyle LOL!!!!! Just another reason why I love ya! Yeah, these bees are unique! Mason Bees are at least 120x more effective than Honey or Bumble Bees!! The only downside, is that they do not make honey.
@Valkyrie_D but they pollinate so HUGE job! I do love Bumble Bees too, they fly when they should not ba able to....kinda like humans I know, do what all laws say they can't
@Valkyrie_D: Smol Bee is smol.
@Valkyrie_D thatโs so cool!
@Valkyrie_D I love the solitary bees. We always have bug hotels out for them in our garden.
@stueytheround It's hard keeping pests away from the cocoons! They're like sitting ducks for earwigs, etc.
Amazing sight
@Valkyrie_D Mason bees? Like Illuminati? What degree mason? ๐คฃ
@sfleetucker Iโm going with 57 degreeโbecause thatโs the temp they emerge at ๐คฃ ๐ ๐
@Valkyrie_D They are essential to pollinate our blueberries & cherry trees in April so we have intentionally provided (rent free) housing for them for many years. Sad they are all gone by June here in the NW. One of Earthโs great creatures!
@GrazingintheGrass yay!!! Youโre awesome!!! Thank you for your contribution to nature ๐ ๐โค๏ธ
@Valkyrie_D Hello baby ๐ ๐ฅฐ
@Valkyrie_D That's so stinkin' cool! ๐
@Valkyrie_D - THAT is SO COOL!
๐ Good On You, Val ๐
Several years ago, Blondie put out
an album called "Pollinator!"
๐ค Deborah ๐ Harry ๐ค does a lot of work to raise money to save the bees & make people aware of how
important they are to all of us!
๐๐ดโโ ๏ธ
@Studio_M_ oh wow, I didnโt know this about her! I love her even more, now ๐
@Valkyrie_D - ๐YAY!๐
๐ดโโ ๏ธ ๐ค ๐ดโโ ๏ธ
@Valkyrie_D Gone with the wind! Then back again.
@Valkyrie_D sounded like a baby kazoo there at the end ๐
@peeppeepcircus theyโre adorable when they first emerge! All that noise and then they spend a little time grooming themselves, then BOOMโฆ. gone ๐ ๐
@Valkyrie_D I think I really really need to look into this!
WOW! ๐ฒ That was totally amazing to watch! So precious! Thank you for sharing that up close and personal view of your new born baby bumble bee! ๐ ๐
@Spagesgallo1 โค๏ธโค๏ธ๐โค๏ธโค๏ธ These newborns are Blue Orchard Mason bees. Theyโre singleton bees! ๐
I just read the article about the Blue Mason Bees! What incredible little creatures! Wow! They really are hard workers. The female is incredible! It's just so sad that they have such short life spans!
@Spagesgallo1 I know ๐ญ It makes me sad. I grow attached to them after keeping them in my home, only to release them knowing that they won't live long lives. โค๏ธ But, the work they do is amazing and I'm so grateful to them for all they do! ๐
I totally get it! I would grow attached to them as well! After devoting so much love and nurturing them through their evolution, one cannot help but to have a special bond with them! But, agreed! The work that they do truly is amazing! I can't believe how hard the female works every day! It must be so rewarding to see them thrive and grow and repay you for all that you do! ๐๐
@Spagesgallo1 this may sound a little strange, but I talk to the cocoons, while theyโre in hibernation ๐ When they emerge in the spring, sometimes some of them will encircle me before flying off. I kinda think itโs their way of saying, โ Hiโ and that they recognize who I am ๐โค๏ธ๐
Oh, hell no! That doesn't sound strange at all! I love that you talk to them while they are in the cocoons, while hibernating! They feel and sense your loving energy! I am not at all surprised that when they emerge that they encircle you before flying off! Yes, it is their way of saying "Hi" and "Thank you "! You helped give them life! Oh goodness, I am getting weepy just visualizing this beautiful encounter! You're the Bee Whisperer! ๐๐โจ๏ธ
@Valkyrie_D
Thank you for this wonderful care you give these special Mason Bees! Your the bestโค๏ธ
@Esther itโs the very least I could do, for a creature that gives us so much! โค๏ธ
The work you do is truly a labor of love! ๐๐โจ๏ธ
@Spagesgallo1 โค๏ธโค๏ธโค๏ธ
- I jest opened my garage door to
smoke a seagar & realized all the
buds popped today!
If you look real close, you can see
a gallizion bees buzzin' around the
blossoms!
I tried to film the whole tree, but it
doesn't play on this little format.
Here though, the whole tree is a-buzz!
Debbie Harry, would be proud!!!
๐ ๐ผ ๐ ๐ผ ๐ ๐ผ ๐
@Studio_M_ omg thatโs amazing!!!!! I can definitely hear them buzzing!!! ๐ ๐
@Valkyrie_D ๐ฅฐ ๐๐ฅฐ
@Valkyrie_D Aww I've never seen that before! So cute!
@Valkyrie_D
Ooh! That sound near the end, though! ๐ค๐๐๐๐ค