Swift Half update - 11th January 2011

• Those of you who have followed this blog since the start (or know a little about me) might know that I am a big bee fan - specifically mason bees.
• Since moving to Reading from London with Anna, I have catered for solitary mason bees (including my favourite wee species of all - the blue mason bee) by drilling nesting holes in dead branches or fence posts in my last two gardens.
• I've been pretty successful - especially last summer, when eighteen of my drilled holes were taken over by my little bees. In fact, as I drilled my latest log in the middle of April, a couple of red mason bees checked out my bee holes even as I was drilling! Quite incredible!
• Bad news today though - all through the severe (cold) weather throughout December, each bee hole was tightly plugged - until I checked today...
• THIRTEEN of the eighteen nests have been emptied!
• The holes in the plugs are neat, small and look like they've been raided from the outside in (rather than the bee emerging from the inside out).
• I've contacted an old contact of mine and a local expert at BWARS -and he has pretty-well confirmed my worst fears - these bees should not be emerging before March at the earliest - SOMETHING has got them!
• Could it be a bird - possibly - a wren or a tit maybe? (Not that I've noticed though).
• Could it be an insect? I doubt it -in the middle of winter?
• Could it be a rodent? Possibly -but the holes are too small for rodents I think?
• Could it be Henry, the mild-mannered janitor.... coooooould bee!
• In all seriousness - this is a bit of a downer - most of the plugs left were made by red mason bees - the raided nests are mainly my favourite wee blue mason bees.
• Bad news - and a lesson to me, to pop the logs in the shed over winter next time....

NB. All photos linked to (green text) taken by myself.