How To Clean A Bee Hotel

Wait for a mud plug or leaf plug at the front end end of the tubes. Remove the filled tubes from the bee house and fix bated for cleaning. If you spot the tubes the bees originally released from remove them also (they unremarkably take a pocket-size hole with old mud or leaf remains). Before discarding them split them open to cheque for new cocoons. Sometimes the females reuse tubes and we wouldn't want to throw any viable cocoons out.

A head light can come up in handy when sorting the tubes into used vs. unused piles. Sometimes a female person volition lay i or two cocoons in the back of a tube that are tricky to spot.

Female solitary bees usually leave a little empty infinite betwixt their last egg prison cell and the outer plug. This space prevents us from dissentious cocoons with the razor bract. Insert the razor bract into the plug and twist your wrist to split the reed tube open.

It is up to you lot whether you want to split open up all of the tubes (suggested) or just split open twenty% or so equally a sample. If your sample has relatively low numbers of bee pests then it will probably exist okay to leave the residuum of the cocoons in the reed tubes. However, if your sample has a lot of pests it is best to open upwards all the tubes.

What you might find:

Bee cocoons: Information technology is non necessary to identify each cocoon merely it tin can be interesting and fun to encounter.
- Mason bees
- Californica bees
- Texana bees
- Sunflower bees
- Alfalfa Leafcutter bees
- Fun Fact: The female cocoons are larger and are laid towards the back of the tube. The bees do this purposefully to ensure there are males to mate with the females as presently as the females emerge; and in case a predator gets the tube the males will be eaten first, sorry guys.
Bee meconium (aka bee poop): It sounds gross merely this is a good sign. Congratulations your bees are alive! The meconium should be straight and black/ nighttime brown. If it looks curly it could be a sign of the stelis pest whose cocoons look similar.
Mud/leafage plugs:Debris to be discarded.
Pollen:Sometimes pollen is leftover if the egg did not mature. This can happen if the pollen was also watery/sticky when placed in the tube. It can also just exist extra pollen that wasn't consumed by the developing bee.
- Fun Fact:Eating pollen that is local [and information technology tin't become more local than your own yard] tin help reduce the symptoms from seasonal allergies. At least that is what we have constitute.
Pests: (We hope not many). Check out our how to manage bee pests folio for a complete listing of pests and how to go rid of them. Here are the ones we showed in the video:
- Checkered bloom beetle larvae: Just discard all that you lot find.
- Carpet beetles: But remove them from the house.
- Earwigs: Remove from firm, firmly stomp on, drown, and and then torch
- Pollen mites: A few of them on the cocoons won't crusade much harm. If yous find that there are a lot of pollen mites roofing your cocoons you tin clean them off with the sand wash or water bath. We recommend using the sand method because there is less chance for operator error.
- Chalkbrood: The almost serious of the bee pests due to the spreading nature of chalk brood. It is a fungus that kills bee larva when they swallow it. If you notice chalkbrood in your reeds separate those reeds from the others. The expert cocoons that may have been exposed to the chalkbrood spores should be sanitized. Along with whatsoever other equipment or surfaces exposed the spores. To learn how to sanitize your bee cocoons click here.

Bee safes are non necessary but they take a few advantages. The master i being they foreclose the bee cocoons from drying out in the fridge. If the bee cocoons dry out the bees may dice. The boilerplate fridge humidity is 20-30% but the ideal moisture for cocoons is lx-70% humidity. In the bee safety there is a foam pad that sits below the cocoons that tin can be moistened periodically to increase humidity in the bee safe. If y'all don't have a bee safe y'all can purchase ihere, or you can employ another type of container, but exist sure there are breathing holes in information technology. All varieties of tunnel nesting solitary bees tin be stored together in the same bee prophylactic.

Pollen can be stored in any container with a lid. Shop at room temp or in the fridge.

Discard the mud/leaf plugs, pests, and used reed tubes.

Count up the number of cocoons you harvested. We recommend having an empty tube for every cocoon released. If you lot need more than reed tubes for next season you lot can get them here.

How did your bees practice? If you feel like you lot take extra cocoons check out our bee buy back program hither to get store credit for your bees.

If yous feel your bees could have done better lets talk well-nigh a few things that might take gone incorrect here.

Make sure there is a little moisture in the bottom of the bee safe. The cocoons should not be submerged though then be conscientious. Then place the bee safety in the fridge. The bees volition be in hibernating heaven. Cheque the bee safe monthly to ensure at that place is still moisture and to audit for mold.

If you discover whatsoever mold growing on the cocoons just rinse the mold off the cocoons and containers with a bleach solution (click here for instructions), pat dry and identify them back in the fridge. Mold spores tin come from the other foods in the fridge like cheese or broccoli and are not a problem once removed from the cocoons.

Alternative storage method: Bees can exist stored outdoors but the downside to this method is bees may emerge prematurely. If the bees sally also early there is risk of them freezing to decease with a frost.