OK, I decided. I’m going to go with two routes: drilled through blocks and a big, ol’ piece of PVC stuffed with straws. Why two? Erm… cuz… three would be too many!
OK, today I’ll show you how my patented drill-through-rolled-liner (DTRL) idea works. Last year, I tried a similar thing, but for some odd reason decided that I should drill up to about 1/2″ away from the back. I.e., I made closed tunnels and tried to stuff liners in them. The problem was that a) they were nearly impossible to fish out if they went in too deep, and b) if they caught on something in the tunnel, they just wrinkled and smashed. Also, you had to cut the paper just right for it to fit or there was this unpleasant trimming required.
So, instead, this year, I went with this:
I took last year’s blocks and drilled through to the back with a 5/16″ bit. Then I mounted a plate on the back to cap the holes. It also gives me a little room for mounting on the fence and maybe mounting the “release box” for the cocoons.
Then, I cut 15″ parchment in half (7.5″) and cut 3″ wide strips from that. Parchment did well last year in protecting the critters from the elements and is easy to unroll. And! It’s cheap!
I wrapped those around a paint brush and slid them through the block (after removing the back). If they got stuck, I just forced them through with no harm done except to the tail.
The “tails” stick out the back and are folded down to hold the liners in place. Ultimately, I trimmed these a bit just to reduce the amount of stuff under the back plate.
And there you have it, the back’s screwed back on, and all the liners are flush with the front. Next year, when it comes time to harvest my 48 full tubes of bees, I’ll just take the back off, pull them out by the tails, and easily unroll them for harvest.
Unfortunately, all this bee talk got me to thinking that I should raise honeybees, too.
Hmm… too bad about that.
Very cool project. Honeybees would be good too.
I can’t believe you’re giving all this info away for free when you could be charging $5 for a napkin sketch! Clearly, the bees have a lot to teach you about making hay. Or honey. Or whatever.
Thank you for posting this, it’s very informative!
You’re welcome, Paul. Hope it’s useful.
Here’s a really dumb question. How did you drill your holes? Did you use a drill press? If so, how did you get it to go all the way through? I tried making one today and the press would only drop down about 3″. So, I bought a long bit and have tried to complete the holes with a hand held drill, but I’m having a hard time keeping them straight. Help!
I don’t understand the last step, “Next year, when it comes time to harvest my 48 full tubes of bees,…”
I thought you put of the block and the bees did their thing, which was to lay eggs, make babies, and then bees emerge and pollinate your tomatoes.
Why do you harvest your bees, and why are they still in the holed next year?
I am seriously missing something. Please explain.
Doris
Oh boy, sorry, I’ve missed a bunch of these comments…
Paul, yeah, unfortunately, that’s how I’ve been doing it, too. It’s not ideal. I’ve trying to locate someone with a larger throw drill press so I can do them in one shot. It’s a bear keeping them straight unless you have something rigged for your hand drill.
Hi, Doris. Different kind of bee, I think, from what you’re imagining. You might want to read a bit on mason bees to understand their life cycle.
In a nutshell, (since you have to start somewhere) they emerge from their cocoons in the early spring, pollinate fruit trees (mostly), the female lays her eggs in the tube with some pollen, patches up the holes, and… dies. The eggs hatch, eat the pollen, pupate into adults, and sleep in the cocoons for the rest of the winter.
I harvest them to keep them at an even (low) temperature to prevent premature emergence. I also clean the cocoons to get rid of mites, which will build up over time and trash your bees if you don’t deal with them.
So, they’re actually in my frig over the winter. I put them in a release box in the spring. And there ya go… back to emerging in the spring.
Rian