Bees of all types, honey, bumble, wasps, yellow jackets
and other unknown bees have developed a fondness for
my figs at the moment of perfection and after a few hours
the fig of choice looks like a purple celophane bag hanging.
If this trend keeps up, I will buy a bee hive and put it close
by and start selling fig honey.  Growing figs is SO much fun!!!

Bees will be the currency of the future. You are lucky!

I live near a patch of woodlands and have bees most of the year in our yard. So nice knowing our local bees are doing good!

We are seeing more backyard hives installed in the last several years and like getting the local honey. 


Chris

I've yet to see bees having an interest in my figs yet.  Not even yellow jackets or wasps.  Only flies and ants when they start to ripen.  Those must be pretty sweet to attract all those honey bees.

I have these brown wasps that keep claiming and guarding "my" figs. They harvest material from the leaves for their nests and they even sleep on whatever fig they've claimed. They never do this in teams - it's one wasp per fig. They do eat small amounts of the figs but I don't mind except I have to be really careful picking the figs as these are very aggressive wasps. I also have flowers out to attract bees as I think they're really beautiful and I'm not allergic to stings, but the only "bee" that pays any attention to the figs is this one species of wasp. I wonder if they are intimidating everyone else.

I've never seen them around my figs either, but I have lots of monarda, raspberries, and other bee food they swarm all over.

This is the first year of the past 8 or so that they have not been much of problem.  My local fig mentor called and asked if  I had had any problems with bees? and
I answered no.  Ha Ha, bad answer, the next day I had them.   They do seem
to prefer the dark, sweeter figs, but as the season drags on, they have become less selective.  Somehow some get by their senses and I do get a
few,  I'm beginning to think they are just kind hearted.  No stings
yet thank goodfigs.

I was in a garden center the other day, and on a shelf, I saw what looked to be already exploded, miniature fireworks tubes all bundled up, each being about 3/8" in diameter X 6"7" long.  There must have been about 50 tubes all packaged together.  That was at my first glance, but as I walked closer, a sign said "MASON BEES".  The tubes turned out to be nesting tubes for Mason Bees.  I guess that you hand the tube box somewhere and these little Bees find them, colonize the tubes, then do their "thing" on your flowers and fruit blossoms.

Do/Can mason Bees live in NYC Zone 7b?  I am totally ignorant about these Bees.  I will do some searching and learn more, but I would like to find more about keeping these Bees around, and by those who are familiar with this type of Bee.  I read that Honey bees are disappearing at an alarming rate, because of diseases, ans mite invasions.  Are they docile, or will the turn me into a pin-cushion?

Just wondering.

Frank


EDIT:
Maybe I should have started a new thread.  Sorry for the intrusion.

Mason/orchard bees are everywhere in the USA.  They're native pollinators and are exponentially more effective at pollinating than honeybees - some estimates are that your average mason bee pollinates 10x to 20x more on average than a honeybee, but I've seen estimates as high as 100x more pollinating ability than honeybees.

Important to remember:  Mason/orchard bees are NATIVE.  Honeybees are NOT NATIVE.  Mason/orchard bees don't have problems with colony collapse etc.  Native pollinators are far more significant!

Oh, and CH, you have a mix of carpenter bees (not bumblebees) and honeybees on your figs there.  Carpenter bees have a large black dot in the yellow area on their neck, bumblebees don't.

I've never seen honeybees and carpenter bees munch on fruit like that, only yellowjackets!  Maybe you should plant some Anise or Speedwell nearby to distract them from your figs (it will work, especially Anise, trust me!)  My guess is they're in it for the sugar.

Frank I have mason bees. I have a little house for them and it's all mudded up with little bee eggs/larvae for next years adventure. This was my first year with them. I have a post about them on my blog back when I first got them here: http://www.niroha.com/2012/03/mason-bees.html

But I need to update. They did great this year. I was told as soon as I have day highs in the 50s three days in a row they hatch out and hit up those first spring blooms. And they work rain or shine so the rain won't make them shy away. From what I read they are a great little work horse bee. Definitely keeping them around for my fruit trees.

Once fall hits I will take apart their house and put the cocoons in the fridge (I was told the crisper) in a small container. They will stay safe there until next early spring and I'll start the process over again.

I just did an image search for 'mason bees'. There seem to be lots of 'houses' that look as if they would be easy to make. Cool.

I love reading this information.  Can I make houses out of small diameter plastic tubing/  Will fumes/out-gassing be a problem?  Why do you store the tubes in the refrig.?  Can they be left outside, in the weather.  Will they die if it gets too cold.

Fascinating stuff...I'm 62 years old and just learned about this Bee.  A great, NYC, education at work!

Now I will read everything...and the link.

Thanks,

Frank

All the info you could want or need is at this site:

http://www.beeguild.org/mason.htm

It appears that the masonbees.com website is down right now, but the WSU site (linked on that last link) provides a ton of info.

Refrigerator is required to keep them dormant over winter.
They like holes with only one entry about 2"-3" deep or deeper and 1/4"-3/8". 
A lot of people just take pressure-treated 4x4s, cut them a foot long and drill lots of holes in one side. 
You need to clean out the nests yearly (after the young have left).

Some use disposable tubes so after one season they are done.  I bought a house with plastic tubes that come apart so I can clean and disinfect them in the fall once I get the cocoons out. Apparently there is a predatory wasp that will come along and lay its eggs in some of the cocoons so I expect some losses with that.

I'm sure some could leave them out year round if the weather doesnt get too cold but there is higher mortality that way. This fall when I take my house apart I will report back with pictures.

Even my elephant ear figs, the black jackets love the growing tips and will sleep on the sticky sap, but I have been lucky so far that the wasps and bees leave my figs alone, one fig that was wrecked I out on a table and a white/grey wasp was eating from it but so far that has been it, the oregano flowers seem to be keeping them busy so far.

Jason, and others...

Thanks for the information.  I will be reading up on these Bees.

Frank

I don't have a problem with bees but they are coming to my birdbath for water, I wonder if there is a wild hive close, no people-placed hives located any where close to me, Matter of fact, I couldn't find any local source (20-25 miles) for honey.

Thx
Danny K
Marshall Tx

I have had Mason/Orchard bees housing Up for 3 years. I have had other small native bee/wasp nest in them but I don't believe any of the Osmia family yet that I am aware. They are mostly a early season Pollinator. I keep hoping to attract and build a native population, but I might just have to purchase some dormant cocoons.  Honey bees and yellow jackets is what I normally observe on figs, and when it is dry they really seem to concentrate on the figs,

Does anyone have these bees in the South Eastern US. I don't think they are native down here. We do have carpenter bees but they are different. I seem to remember that I looked into them a while back and there was a reason why they do not live down here.

Charles, both Phil (strudel) and I have them and we are both in the southeast.  They are native everywhere.  You don't even need to but them, you can just put out a properly outfitted home and they'll nest.

Jus noticed you're waaaay down there.  Maybe not enough chill hours for you to keep mason/orchard bees?  Not sure....

Jason,
I probably didn't state that clearly I am not sure I have any of the actual Mason/Orchard bees Osmia family. There are a lot of native bees/polinators that I was not aware of until I tried to get them established a few years ago. what I find mostly nesting in my homes seem to be a smaller wasp/bee. If they are helping me pollinate or not I am not certain. It seems that ants seem to break the clay/dirt tube closure and I assume they attack the larave. I know there is several sub-species of Osmia, and most sold are of the western species and East siders should try and get from a eastern source I have read. I think there are sub-species most everywhere, but locally you may or not have a population. Just like I can't attract Purple Martins, but other around me do.

Here is a pretty good document on them. There is tons of info out there on them
http://www.sare.org/publications/bee/blue_orchard_bee.pdf

Back to the problem of bees eating figs, If you tie plastic around the fig when it's young (leave lots of room inside) the bees wont bee able to eat them.  It has to be reasonablee thick as the bees can bite through the really thin stuff.

Viv, mason bees are much smaller (like 1/6th the size) of a carpenter bee and about 1/4th the size of a bumblebee (carpenter bees are ~50% larger than bumblebees)