Garden Club to Host Build Your Own Bee Hotel

By Mary Ann Inman, REPORTER

Join the Clinton Garden Club sponsored program at Clinton Public Library on Saturday, Nov. 12, from 10 to 11 a.m. Design and build your own bee hotel. How to information and supplies will be provided by Cinder Roherty, author of “Bee-ing Lily.” The program is open to all ages. You are never too young or old to learn about ways to save the planet.

Roherty self-published her book “Bee-ing Lily” after she discovered mason bees while researching honey bees. The mason bees are prolific pollinators. Two bees can pollinate one apple tree in a single day. It would take 100 honeybees to do the same thing. The Janesville author was inspired, and wrote a book about a teenage girl who fights on behalf of one bee. Roherty hopes her book will raise awareness about the critical role wild bees play in pollinating food crops, including fruits and vegetables. Mason bees do not produce honey or have a queen and hardly ever sting. They are one of the first bees that emerge in the spring, usually in mid-March and live for about six weeks. Because of their small size, they often go unnoticed.

Native bees face major threats, including disease, loss of habitat and neonicotinoid pesticides. Lack of nesting habitat is problematic for Wisconsin bees. Roherty creates an easy shelter by packing straws, cut into lengths of four to six inches, side by side in empty food cans. Female bees crawl into the tunnels, where they lay eggs and leave a ball of pollen for each young bee. Then they seal off the compartments with mud. A small pail of mud is essential when building mason bee hotels because the bees typically only fly about 200 yards or so from their habitat. Hotels should be firmly affixed, at least three feet from ground level, and face southeast. You can help by leaving areas of your garden undisturbed because most solitary bees nest in the ground, in bare patches of semi-loose soil. Native bunch grasses such as little blue stem help bees nest. Avoid disturbing nests. Ground nests can resemble ant hills. Homemade bee nests can attract predators such as wasps. Locate your bee hotel near plants rich in nectar and pollen.

The Garden Club and Cinder Roherty believe people interested in nature’s environment will enjoy building their own bee hotel, learning more about solitary bees, socializing and sampling refreshments.

For more information research the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection Pollinator Plan or attend the one hour informational and “hands on” program at Clinton Public Library on Nov. 12.