This is a follow-up post to Bee Hotel! which came about because of this post on leafcutter bees.

But firstly sincere apologies to Sandra the maker of the magnificent hotel, for taking this long to get it established. Truth is, I found the perfect location, but needed to clear away a jungle of mess to be able to set it up. It has taken this long, so sorry Sandra :( .

It was set up last Wednesday 12th March hanging off a hibiscus tree, in a protected semi-shaded spot — bright indirect light without burning afternoon sun. I hang all my Nepenthes spp. off the branches on the tree’s other side where they absolutely thrive, so maybe what’s good for Nepenthes is good for bee hotels? Time will tell!

And because it is such an awesome resort, it already has its first occupant! A completely plugged tube two-up from the bottom. I only noticed this today, Monday 17th March, unfortunately, so have no idea how quickly this prime location was snapped up.

Or maybe occupants? I’m not sure what the half-plugged hole two-up from that one is. It is too early for larvae to have pupated and left — maybe a predator broke in?

It also looks like some of the other bamboo canes have been hollowed out, perhaps material for those plugs?

I’m also trying to identify from the plug as to what the resident is likely to be, The seal looks like wood pulp, but leafcutter bees plug their brood cells with leaves only, as far as I can tell. Resin bees use resin. Carpenter bees plug their brood cells with pulp, but from what I can find, are too large for this hole. Some apparently do frequent bee hotels but most create their own burrows from scratch. This is definitely not my field! But I shall update this if I learn more, or some passing entomologist shares their knowledge.

But for now, I am just ecstatic to have our first guest for the year!