creating some important components of a healthy ecosystem.
You may have seen solitary bee“ tubes” in garden stores. These hollow stems, about six inches long, are bundled together into little houses to install around the garden. The female solitary bee has amazing engineering skills and can chew out a nest within the soft central pith of stems and twigs. Bamboo and other hollow twigs help encourage nesting.
The other roughly 70 % nest in the ground, digging tunnels in bare, well-drained soil. My wife Kay and I discard hollow stems within fall plants to a pile to overwinter. Then we look for brood chambers in these stems during spring.
One solitary bee, the large carpenter, can cause a nuisance as the female bores holes into wood around the home. She targets soft cedar trim and soffit boards. You can hear buzzing noises during excavation. Telltale sawdust piles accumulate near the holes.
As an alternative to insecticides, jars can be installed to trap the live bees. The bees can then be released elsewhere, and the holes can be filled with caulking. Female carpenter bees have stingers that contain venom. It is not dangerous to most people, but anyone with allergies should be cautious.
Because bees can sting and are sometimes harmful, we might think of them as“ The only good one is a dead one.” But, how we accept all parts of nature— some good, some requiring more attention, some to avoid— allows for intelligent forward thinking, a conscience, and ultimately, a responsibility.
Increasing our awareness of insects and the role they play, and learning about the many crops, produce, and nuts that are dependent on them, help us to appreciate the complexity of our ecosystems.
Conservation of insects in general makes sense. It is part of a stewardship mantra, vital to sustain balance. Pollinators are essential to our environment. The service they provide is necessary for the production of over 85 % of the world’ s flowering plants, and more than two-thirds of the world’ s crop species.
The native hydrangea drama I watched each morning is nothing new. It happened before we transplanted them, only now am I paying attention. The plant attracts the solitary bee, visited mostly for the pollen, and life continues. Pollen is food for the developing offspring back in the nest, and a means to fertilize another plant on the next visit. Some bees loyally visit one particular plant species in bloom( termed flower constancy), while other solitary bees gather pollen from many different plants indiscriminately. With no others to communicate source, direction, and nectar quality, it is thought the solitary bee is left to visit a wider range of plants than the honey bee. They don’ t compete and there is no overlap. Niches are filled.
An introductory class in entomology was my first chance to observe insects under the power of a lab microscope. We were able to see the tiny features on those hairy bodies close up. Wings, legs, and eyes were revealed— almost grotesque. I viewed the solitary bees as a group and they were more varied in length alone from about 1 / 12 inch to more than 1 inch.
Lectures disclosed facts about plant-insect relationships and the mechanics of fertilization.
“ Any good biologist is also a good botanist,” said one professor, adding“ and also a good entomologist.” •
July / August 2026 Our Brown County 69