Moving Orchard Mason Bee Houses

Each year I add new houses for the Orchard Mason Bees.  They fill up almost all of the holes, so I know they are proliferating.  Now to take some to the Battleground place, where there will be lots of trees to pollinate.

One is home made. The other was bought. I should not have kept it so old, they say they should be replaced to reduce disease. Still, they did well and reproduced well last year.

Kitty cat is vaguely curious but only in that "I don't care" cat way.

Packed with bubble pack to avoid rough travel. I think it's OK this time of year. Earlier in the season bumping and shaking is bad for them. Will install them in a little while. I read, ease or southeast exposures are best. This winter I'll have to make some new bee houses. A bee house is a piece of untreated wood, big enough for 5/16th's inch holes, 6 inches deep. Although these are 4 inches deep. There are many different plans. The bees don't care about the details.

Trees, leaves, planning for bees. Plant trees in fall. Ginkgo.

That back yard ginkgo. The leaves are yellow now. Beautiful! I say it over and over, but I'm proud I grew that from a seed!

The big maple at the battleground place. So beautiful. Dropping leaves. They will make lots of great compost.

Found this little leaf linden, "Greenspire' at HD. Marked down from sale price of $39.99 to $8.00. Can't beat that price. With plans to start beehives, linden trees are a great choice. I read that linden pollen makes the best honey. This tree had a great root mass. Not too root bound. I did have to prune a few. There is no central leader. It will need corrective pruning for 2 or 3 years. But at that price, who can complain? I cut off a couple of small rubbing branches, that's all. Wait for bloom, prune after that next Spring.

About 8 feet tall once planted. The ground was very easy to dig now. No more summer dry soil. Not too much work. It will be a great source of pollen for the honey bees.

What does it take to make me happy? Leaves for compost is a good start. It's like a christmas present. Leafmas.