As anyone wringing his hands over a disappointing apple crop will tell you—growing fruit is more than just digging a hole and planting a tree. Along with fertilizing, mulching and pruning, the orchardist has a long list of friends and foes to deal with, the friendliest of which is the hard-working bee. It may sound simple (bee flits from flower to flower picking up pollen and fertilizing the fruit in the process) but the whole subject of bees has become highly complex in recent years with climate change bringing pests, mysterious diseases and extinctions.
Al Morton, the North Island Rhododendron Society (NIRS) speaker Oct. 10 has part of the answer for the beleaguered orchardist: put out the welcome mat for native mason bees. Mason bees are found all over the world but the local variety can be encouraged to settle among a garden’s flowers by providing nesting boxes situated in the right places. Unlike honey bees, mason bees stick close to home and the average female mason bee will visit up to 60,000 flowers in its short lifetime.
In his talk, Morton will cover the native bee’s life cycle, talk about the importance of pollination, give the hows, whens and wheres of starting the bee colony and provide direction for building nesting boxes and caring for them. He points out that the bees got their unusual name because they use mud and other masonry products in the construction of their nests. Morton is a retired teacher who now lives in Comox and has spent many years as a “bee farmer.”
NIRS meetings are held in the Comox United Church (250 Beach Drive, Comox) with doors opening at 7 p.m. and the meeting starting at 7:30. Anyone interested in membership is welcome.