Goose Wood Bees

[SimonFisher]

There was a piece on mason bees on Countryfile (Sunday 25th May 2014) which while still available on BBC iPlayer can be seen at http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b045gq6m/countryfile-shropshire. The piece on mason bees starts at 42 minutes 42 seconds in.

[smojo]

When I visited last time, I noticed a lot of large bumblebees here and there. Didn't look like mason bees, they were black and yellow and very large. Some seemed very interested in a dying birch tree. Yes I like the idea of bee tubes. I'll check them out. I've seem "insect hotels" made out of lengths of bamboo and sticks housed in a an open ended box. Probably make a few of them.

[oldclaypaws]

If you see bumbles round a given area and watch them, they often disappear into a small mouse-sized hole in the ground, which is the nest, typically holding about 50 bees. I noted the position of a couple of nests last year, and used to stand watching them come and go every few seconds, I became quite attached to them. It was upsetting when I came along one morning and just found a large scraped hole and a few dazed bees in the bottom- badgers had them. Thats nature for you, a treat for Mr Badger, but apocalypse for the stripey gentlemen. They had the wasp nest as well.

[Dexter's Shed]

this was us clearing the new area for the bee hives

http://youtu.be/hVgzCN5cbZc