New member introduction

[Peterg75]

I am a 78 year old retired man and live in Brighton, East Sussex. I have been keeping Red Mason Bees for a number of years, having started by becoming a Guardian with Mason Bees UK
I now manage the bees myself by storing the filled tubes until October and then opening them, destroying parasites, disinfecting the cocoons and then keeping them in a shed until Spring
I had a very successful season last year with several hundred healthy cocoons
Peter Goodman

 

[Amari]

I am a 78 year old retired man and live in Brighton, East Sussex. I have been keeping Red Mason Bees for a number of years, having started by becoming a Guardian with Mason Bees UK
I now manage the bees myself by storing the filled tubes until October and then opening them, destroying parasites, disinfecting the cocoons and then keeping them in a shed until Spring
I had a very successful season last year with several hundred healthy cocoons
Peter Goodman

Welcome! Keeping mason bees sounds much more complicated than keeping honey bees! What parasites afflict the masons?

 

[Peterg75]

Welcome! Keeping mason bees sounds much more complicated than keeping honey bees! What parasites afflict the masons?

The Houdini Fly Cacoexenus indagator, Pollen mites, Monodontomerus wasp and other wasp species
It is important to monitor the cocoons and destroy the parasites before storage over the Winter
Peter Goodman

 

[Amari]

So how do you destroy this cornucopia of parasites?

 

[Peterg75]

So how do you destroy this cornucopia of parasites?

The parasites usually present as larvae which can be seen and destroyed. If a wasp has laid eggs it perforates the surface of the cocoon, so any cocoons with holes are discarded
The mites can also be seen and destroyed
Some years ago before I was managing the cocoons I had an entire population wiped out by parasitic wasps