Checking on the bee boards

In the fall most solitary Bee keepers will harvest the cocoons during this time. Most have had enough time to go from larva to pupae and finally to a Bee. They start spinning their cocoons by late summer.

Since I had alot of males this year, I did not get as many holes filled as I wanted. The males only live for a few weeks and will mate with the females and then die. Having more males is caused by the eviroment they lay their larva in. If the homes are too shallow more males are made. If deep there will be more females.

Since the previous season before last I had them in bamboo tubes they were not long enough to encourage more females. This is why I made such long tunnels in the bee boards.

Looking at these cocoons in the bee boards I see alot more large ones. Which is a sign of female Bees. The cocoon size tells you the sex, also the male Bees are smaller than the females after they hatch.

That yellow stuff is pollen the adult females brought into the tunnel. They feed the larva with it. The brownish red clumps is dirt brought into the tunnels so seal off each cell. One cocoon per cell is how they eventually form.

I use a screwdriver with some tape on the end to dislodge the cocoons. I'll clean them up and store in the fridge until next early spring.

Knocking them all out one cocoon usually gets broken. I think next year I'll add a removable plug at the end of the tunnel. So I can pull it out and then have space for the screwdriver. Otherwise I tend to kill one of them trying to wedge it in.. no worries. If I have hundreds of cocoons a couple being destroyed is fine.

I place the dislodged cocoons in a little plastic dish and then place it in the refrigerator along with some wet cloth to keep them hydrated.

Sweeping up my broom turned bright orange color.. due to the pollen and dirt. It can get a little dusty harvesting these. And the pollen tends to get to me after awhile.

While harvesting I noticed a bird nest was built in the back of one of the bee cubbys. I'll probably need to clean it out as they will hunt my Bees when they take flight.

I plan on harvesting the rest of the bee boards in another month or two. I did see one pupae not fully cocooned so I'll come back when they are completely finished. By now they are mostly finished but a couple are still working on becoming Bees.