NC State University Insect Museum

I came across this article about attracting insects to your garden, which recommends bundling the pithy stems of last year's plants to attract solitary bees. I love the idea, and this is definitely the right time to lure native bees with potential nest sites. I wrote a post this time last year about bee boxes that was accompanied by a photo of what the article discusses (i.e., a bunch of pithy stems). I hoped to have a more thorough post about bee boxes this year, but deadlines and manuscripts seem to be dominating my time this week (and next). I did manage to make my own "lure" from an old log in my yard. I drilled a bunch of holes using different bits (up to 5/8" or 1.5 cm), each about 4" (10 cm) deep in this hardwood bolt:


I've stashed it in the garden, in a somewhat sheltered area under a tree but near a bed of flowers. Pathetic attempt at attracting insects? Maybe. I'll document my experience and let you know how this experiment develops! In the meantime enjoy a real attempt to entice bees (which makes my...ahem...sculpture look rather inadequate), captured beautifully by John Wyke:


Wow. Just awesome. Maybe next year I will post photos of something similar in my yard! I should point out one last misunderstanding from that article: Solitary bees are pollinators and do not sting. True, they are pollinators, but I'm afraid that they do indeed possess the ability to sting. No need to fear, though. Stings are rare (this is a defensive behavior only), and they really don't hurt very much. Most of the bees we're talking about here are megachilids, and they'll only sting if you happen to grab one or accidentally pin it against your skin.