Basic maintenance for a Bee House

1.In the late fall remove and inspect the tubes to determine in the tube has been filled with larvae. Check both ends and separate the occupied tubes to be placed in a small cardboard box. Make a small hole on the top, tape the box closed and place in a dry outdoor location (unheated garage or garden shed is ideal).

2. Take the remaining tubes that are not cardboard and clean out with a pipe cleaner or small bottle brush. Soak briefly in a solution of 1 part bleach to 5 parts water (vinegar can be used as an alternative 1 to 3 ratio). Thoroughly dry the tubes and set aside for reuse next year.

3. Wipe down the bee house interior with a rag soaked in the bleach or vinegar solution. Check for cracks in the house and fill with wood putty as necessary.

4. Bring the house inside or secure a cover to protect over the winter months.

5. By late February or early March reinstall the house and make sure it is clean. Place the cleaned tubes that are being reused along with replacement tubes (available from most gardening stores as Mason Bee nesting tubes). Make sure that the replacement tubes are the recommended 6” in length.* Check the occupied tubes to see that the larvae have emerged. Clean out any that can be thoroughly cleaned for possible reuse and soak and dry. Discard the cardboard or other tubes not able to be cleaned out.

* An alternative is inserting rolled paper liners inside the tubes when putting the house out, that can be removed and discarded after the larvae leave to make the cleanup simpler next spring.