"I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief.
For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free." ~Wendell Berry

Saturday, March 7, 2015

Spring-We Welcome Your Warm Embrace

It seems like it has been forever since we have seen a warm day.  'Warm' is relative though isn't it?  I was thrilled when the thermometer hit 42 degrees this morning and threw open the windows.  With temperatures forecasted to be rising to 64 degrees by next Thursday, I am preparing to deploy my mason bee tubes.  I have been cutting and rolling tubes for weeks now. 
It's also a fun project for kids to do.  I have 40 mason bee cocoons in the refrigerator that are 2/3rd through their food supply, so I'll be monitoring the weather very closely and checking out the wild plum and cherry trees to watch for signs of blooming.
On our way to 60 degrees today, I'm headed out to prepare both the mason bee housing and my purple martin housing.  Last year, my purple martins arrived on March 10th, and with warmer days now in the forecast, it's time to pull on my mud boots, trudge through all the mud and muck left by the melting snow & ice and put up their housing. 
For now, a few quick pictures!
Materials: Ruler, regular #2 pencil, scissors, tape, parchment paper (I also have a roll of unbleached parchment paper, not shown in this picture).  The pencil is the exact diameter for the mason bee holes.

40 mason bee cocoons, waiting for the right temps and food.

My holding can.  Arranging different lengths of tubes together presents a 3D effect is supposed help the mason bee more easily find her home.

Posted by at
Labels: , , ,

4 comments:

  1. Aya KatzMarch 7, 2015 at 8:36 AM

    I can't wait for spring to start. The birds are all chirping here, so it is a good sign. I like the look of that holding can: it does remind one a little of a honeycomb. Hope the mason bees feel the same!

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnnieMApril 1, 2015 at 9:30 PM

    Hi Kathy, this is AnnieM in Texas from the Purple Martin forum. I wanted to send you a photograph of my mason bee project, but I could not find any place on your blog where I could attach an image. Is there some way I can send you an email and attach a photograph? I was having fits trying to figure out where to put them, because "Someone" that I live with didn't want them hanging under the eve of the shed or the pump house! LOL.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nikkis MomApril 2, 2015 at 8:34 AM

      Annie, you can send me an email. check the pmca forum for my email address. ;)

      Delete
  3. AnnieMApril 21, 2015 at 9:48 PM

    Kathy, thot I recall pmca shut down the email capability in our profiles. Thinking I remember Louise mentioning it. No reason given. Maybe something happened or a privacy issue. Anyway, I clicked on several in different profiles and the "send a pm" doesn't come up. Too bad. It was a nice feature. Or maybe I'm doing something wrong??

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)