next message in archive
next message in thread
previous message in archive
Index of Subjects
--Apple-Mail-35-944438312 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; charset=WINDOWS-1252; delsp=yes; format=flowed Sorry, everyone, I had to send this a second time because I forgot to =20= delete the attachment. Jim Begin forwarded message: > From: "James W. Wolford" <jimwolford@eastlink.ca> > Date: February 21, 2013 11:26:28 PM AST > To: NatureNS <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>, Cory Sheffield =20 > <cory.silas.sheffield@gmail.com>, Steve Javorek =20 > <javoreks@agr.gc.ca>, Todd Smith <todd.smith@acadiau.ca>, =20 > kirk.hillier@acadiau.ca > Subject: re Looking for advice on mason bees > > Cory, Thanks very much for this. For those on this list =20 > (NatureNS), attachments cannot be sent, but the title of the paper =20 > is "Diversity of cavity-nesting bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) within =20 > apple orchards and wild habitats in the Annapolis Valley, Nova =20 > Scotia, Canada -- by Cory S. Sheffield, Peter Kevan, Sue M. Weatby, =20= > and Robert F. Smith -- Can. Entomol. 140: 235-249 (2008). I can =20 > send the attachment pdf of this paper to whoever asks me off the =20 > list, please. > > Cheers from Jim in Wolfville. > > Begin forwarded message: > >> From: Cory Sheffield <cory.silas.sheffield@gmail.com> >> Date: February 21, 2013 8:28:07 PM AST >> To: "James W. Wolford" <jimwolford@eastlink.ca> >> Cc: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca, nancy.roberts@ns.sympatico.ca >> Subject: Re: Looking for advice on mason bees >> >> I think the purpose of those nesting blocks is to fill them with >> native cavity nesting species, and in NS there are several (see >> attached paper), several of which are rather large species. The Blue >> Orchard Bee is the one that is managed in Canada, though primarily in >> the west, it does occur as far east as ON, QC, with a few odd records >> from NS (though this has not been verified). >> >> If you put the nests out, you will get mason bees (Osmia) in the >> spring, and Megachile (leaf cutters) in the summer (with possibly a >> few other osmiine bees). It is very possible to grow your own! =20 >> There >> are over 200 bee species in NS, so it should be fun to see what you >> get! >> >> Cheers, >> Cory >> >> On Thu, Feb 21, 2013 at 2:36 PM, James W. Wolford >> <jimwolford@eastlink.ca> wrote: >>> Cory or Steve, can either of you comment on this and on another =20 >>> answer that >>> I will send you right after this one? Thanks from Jim et al. >>> >>> Begin forwarded message: >>> >>> From: Nancy Roberts <nancy.roberts@ns.sympatico.ca> >>> Date: February 20, 2013 10:01:30 PM AST >>> To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca >>> Subject: Re: [NatureNS] Looking for advice on mason bees >>> Reply-To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca >>> >>> I don't know about mason bees, some blueberry growers are using =20 >>> bumblebees >>> for pollination and more are using leaf cutter bees. I know of =20 >>> one grower, >>> Glenmore Farms (on google), who supplies these species. >>> >>> These species have been proven on blueberries and proven for NS =20 >>> climate, but >>> I don't know about cherry trees. >>> >>> One thing bees =96 not mason bees, though =96 need is a succession = of =20 >>> blooming >>> things so they can keep going all season. You may have that since =20= >>> you >>> probably have a fair amount of wildflowers around. >>> >>> There seems to be a Diversified Pollination Services, Kentiville, =20= >>> that >>> supplies mason bees and other alternatives to the honeybee. >>> >>> Cheers, >>> >>> Nancy >>> >>> Nancy Roberts Design >>> Celebrating 19 years of making you look GOOD >>> >>> Dartmouth, NS B2Y 2X6 >>> 902 461-9488 >>> >>> >>> >>> On 20-Feb-13, at 6:19 PM, Anne Woolaver wrote: >>> >>> Hi all, >>> >>> For a present this last Christmas, his employees gave my boss a =20 >>> mason bee >>> house (the tear-drop shaped one from Vesey's), in hopes of better >>> pollination success for the cherry trees at his cottage in =20 >>> Wallace this >>> year. We didn't, however, buy any cocoons to go with it (Vesey's =20= >>> does not >>> sell them), and I am now wondering whether that would have been a =20= >>> good idea. >>> Does anyone have any experience with these houses and their =20 >>> ability to >>> attract nesting females "from scratch" in the northwest of Nova =20 >>> Scotia? How >>> common are mason bees in Nova Scotia, and how far do they =20 >>> disperse when they >>> emerge in spring? Would they come out too early to be good cherry >>> pollinators? The property itself would probably be relatively =20 >>> suitable for >>> nesting (nearby water and mud), although given the life cycle of =20 >>> this bee, >>> it might take a couple of years to build up a local population. Any >>> recommendations on possible suppliers of cocoons, ideally in =20 >>> eastern Canada? >>> The only ones I've been able to find online seem to be a couple =20 >>> outfits from >>> BC. >>> >>> Thanks in advance for advice, insight! >>> >>> A. Woolaver >>> --Apple-Mail-35-944438312 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/html; charset=WINDOWS-1252 <html><body style=3D"word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; = -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "> Sorry, everyone, I had to send this a second time because I forgot to = delete the attachment. Jim<br><div><br><div>Begin forwarded = message:</div><br class=3D"Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote = type=3D"cite"><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; = margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face=3D"Helvetica" = size=3D"3" color=3D"#000000" style=3D"font: 12.0px Helvetica; color: = #000000"><b>From: </b></font><font face=3D"Helvetica" size=3D"3" = style=3D"font: 12.0px Helvetica">"James W. Wolford" <<a = href=3D"mailto:jimwolford@eastlink.ca">jimwolford@eastlink.ca</a>></fon= t></div><div style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: = 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face=3D"Helvetica" size=3D"3" = color=3D"#000000" style=3D"font: 12.0px Helvetica; color: = #000000"><b>Date: </