It was almost 80 degrees in Austin yesterday. Heaven–for bees and me.
I've spent the last few days building observation nest boxes with my friend, John. Actually, John is doing all the hard work of routing the wood. I'm the tape and material girl. We used the plans from the Logan BeeMail post on February 10th.
John knew nothing about native bees before I asked if he might have a router. He just happened to have a router he had never used and he gamely took on the challenge of finding the right bit and learning how to use the router. After finally tracking down the correct bit and making an example, he brought it over and we measured and discussed improvements.
Headsup: Using a router can be dangerous. Not only are you working with upside down wood, but if the bit gets a bit loose or out-of-alignment, you could see flying-out-of-control wood. Not that John or I actually discovered this–ahem.
The photo above shows the bamboo nest bundle I made last week and a few of the observation boxes John made. I've propped the plastic observation sheet up with a rock so you can see how it lifts up.
While John was hard at work sawing and routing, I went out and caught a few bees for him so he could see who he was building nests for. I put the Osmia males and the female Halictus I caught in the refrigerator to cool them down. When John arrived, I pulled them out and he could hold them in his hand and take a good look at them.
I think he's hooked.
Chalk up another certified Texas Bee Watcher.
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