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"Because bees who live in glass houses — are fun to watch!
And busy, buzzing bees are way more fun to watch than ants trapped in an ant farm."
Traditional wood bee houses don't allow you to see what's going on inside. The CozyBee™ Solitary Bee Observation House allows you to see everything. Now you can observe the entire bee life cycle of solitary bees: building the mud nest and stocking it with pollen, laying the eggs, the larvae hatching and growing, then spinning their cocoons, the pupa stage during which the adult bees develop, the new adults leaving the nest to start the cycle all over. Have fun watching and learning about them even as they pollinate your garden!
WARNING: NOT a toy. Contains small parts that can be swallowed by small children. Adult supervision required.
Classic Mission-Style Architecture Open for Observation
The Bee House in the Wild:
Like a Birdhouse, or an Ant Farm — for Bees!
"All Profits Are Used To Promote Solitary Bee Awarenes."
Cozybee™ Solitary Bee Observation House
Operating Instructions
Installation
Hang your bee house outside on a wall, fence, post, or other vertical surface, preferably facing south or southeast, since sunlight helps the bees warm up and get moving in the morning. It is best to place your bee house under an eave or other overhang so that it is not exposed to direct rain. Make sure the house is upright too, so that moisture will not collect in its clear plastic tubes, which are sloped slightly to the front for drainage.
Wild flowers nearby and a source of mud are big pluses for the bees, since they need food and mud to build their nests. A pan on the ground, filled with water and a mound of dirt, is a good source of mud.
Observing Solitary Bees
Traditional bee houses for solitary bees are usually blocks of wood (aka bee blocks) with holes drilled in them for the bees to nest in. Or they may be cans or boxes stuffed with small tubes such as drinking straws or cardboard coathanger tubes or even tubes of rolled-up newspaper for the bees to nest in. The advantage of the CozyBee™ Solitary Bee Observation House is that the nesting tubes are transparent and the doors of the house slide open to allow you to see the bees in their tubes. Now it is possible to watch the adult females build their nests and stock them with nectar and lay their eggs. Then the larvae can be seen hatching and growing and spinning their cocoons.
Unlike honeybees who live in large hives, solitary bees build individual nests — although they like to build their nests near each other’s, as you will see when they discover your bee house. The clear plastic tubes in your bee house are approx. 8mm (5/16") inside diameter, the perfect nesting size for many orchard and mason bees, which are only about two-thirds the size of honeybees — and are often mistaken for flies.
Most solitary bees are known to be very docile and non-aggressive. They rarely sting unless they are seriously threatened. Typically they go about their business of gathering nectar, building their nests, and laying their eggs without paying any attention to nearby humans.
Gently slide open one or both side doors to your bee house to see the bees at work inside their tube tunnels. You can even photograph them, or better, make a video of them working and put it on YouTube! When you are not observing, keep the doors closed so the bees can enjoy the darkness and privacy. Do not disturb the bees by slamming the doors open or closed. Be especially careful to check if any of the bees have flown into the house before sliding the doors shut, so as not to trap them inside or harm them when sliding the door shut.
Bee season is roughly from mid-March to mid-September, but this varies with location and climatic conditions. So put your bee house out (with fresh, clean tubes) in early March. A female bee lives about four to six weeks and will lay about 35 eggs in that time. She will fill up a tube with mud chambers, each containing nectar and an egg. The eggs will hatch in about four days, and the larvae will begin eating the stored nectar. After about a month, when the nectar is all eaten, the larvae will spin their cocoons. Then they will remain in the pupa stage until about the end of September when the final molt occurs and they become adult bees. The adults remain dormant until the next spring when the temperature rises. Then they emerge from the tubes to repeat the life cycle.
Maintenance
Each tube may be left in the bee house to observe the entire life cycle there until the following spring, or the tube may be removed once it is filled and a new tube inserted in its place so that more bees can make nests. Tubes that have been removed should be placed in a cool, dry place, preferably in a ventilated box that rodents cannot get into, and stored in a garage or shed.
One advantage of removing the tubes from the bee house as soon as the bees have finished building their nests is that this will protect them from predatory wasps and birds. Woodpeckers, for example, can get their beaks deep into the tubes, and some predatory wasps will dig into the mud to lay their own eggs.
All tubes should be thoroughly cleaned before reuse. This can be done by squirting a strong stream of water through them. The tubes should also be soaked in a mild bleach solution (one tablespoon of bleach per one quart of water) to kill any parasites, particularly bee mites, that might have taken up residence too.
Happy Bee Watching!
SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS
Your CozyBee™ Solitary Bee Observation House is NOT a toy. It contains small parts (the red tube plugs) that can be swallowed by children. The plastic tubes can be removed from the house and become hazards in the hands of children. Children should only be allowed access to the bee house with adult supervision.