Balcony bees

I have promised to keep you updated about the insect hotel we’ve made and installed on our balcony.

I must confess that I was a bit skeptical if the bees would find the hotel, but they did! I wasn’t at home that day, but my husband saw them and made the pictures I am showing you in this post.

They’ve chosen the holes in the piece of wood.

As far as I know, this must be some kind of mason bee. These bees use holes to lay their eggs in. They first gather lots of pollen, put this in a hole, lay an egg in the hole and close this part with some sort of mud. They do this until the hole is filled and then close it with some more mud.

Here you can see one and it looks like she carrying something……

She also tried the smaller holes, but didn’t fit in….

And here’s a close up. I think it could be a red mason bee.

I found it interesting that it wasn’t just one bee, but two or three. I think the term “solitary bees” made me think, that they would be working and living all by themselves. And they do differ from honey bees, because they don’t live in colonies, but maybe these were sisters that had emerged from the same hole?? Who knows? I have read, that the eggs in the back of the hole develop into female bees, whereas the ones in front become males.

And now we have to wait for one year. In this time the eggs become larva, which will eat the pollen. After that they spin into a cocoon and hibernate – still inside the hole. So it will not be before next spring that the next generation of bees will emerge.