While it’s been a relatively calm and peaceful winter in Northern Kentucky above ground, big things have been taking shape beneath the soil.
“Many insects, just like some animals, have burrowed (underground) to keep warm,” said Campbell County Horticulture Agent Sarah Imbus.
Most bees and wasps, for example, hibernate below the surface — as do June beetles.
Other insects, at a younger point in their lifecycle — or, perhaps at the beginning of a single-season lifecycle — might be developing as larvae, like the mason bee.
For many in Northern Kentucky, no creature is more anticipated than the bee.
Bee’s knees
Ryland Heights resident Pete Monture is colloquially known as “Pete the Bee Man,” and his enthusiasm for all things bee is hard to ignore.
“I’m ‘nature’s helper,’ extending my kindness to Mother Nature, because she’s been so kind to me,” he said.
Monture oversees about 100 hives a year and recalls growing up in Verona, when every neighboring family would have its own beehive.
“There were 10-15 bee hives, just on the south end of Walton,” he said.
On the first Tuesday of every month, Monture joins other bee enthusiasts for Northern Kentucky Beekeepers Association meetings, held at the Boone County Extension Enrichment Center in Burlington.
While some attendees at the monthly meeting don’t own any bees themselves, said the group’s president, Betsy Rossi, they attend “to learn how to get started beekeeping, or just because they’re considering starting.”
Joe Knott, a relative newbie at beekeeping, attends the meetings, as well. He and his wife were a bit wary at first (his wife is allergic to bee stings), but they soon found camaraderie in the collective.
“The first meeting was fantastic,” he said. “We actually made bowls out of beeswax, which was a fantastic way to get in and to meet everybody.”
Knott and his wife “always wanted to keep bees,” he said. They share a love of honey and appreciate what he calls a “collaborative relationship” with bees.
Today, Knott and his wife have three beehives on their property in Verona.
Mason bees
There are over 20,000 bee species in the world, and about 4,000 of them are native to the U.S. Among that number — but often working away, outside of the spotlight — is the humble mason bee.
Mason bees, Monture said, have been “thrown under the bus,” stressing that education about these beneficial solitary bees “just isn’t there.”
A single mason bee can visit over 2,000 blossoms in a single day; mason bees are also gentle and don’t sting. And, unlike their cousin the carpenter bee, mason bees can’t chew through wood.
“Mason bees will become active in Northern Kentucky — weather depending, of course — usually in early to mid-April, when daytime temperatures are above 50 degrees,” Imbus said from her extension services office.
Mason bees, she said, are much smaller than traditional bees and often go unnoticed. Sometimes called orchard bees, these insects can pollinate flowers about two times faster than bumble bees, Imbus said.
“My dog has had one in her mouth,” Monture said, speaking of the mason bees’ calm nature. “It would fly right out. It’s a really cool little bee, one you really don’t pay much attention to. When it’s still too cold for honeybees, you’ll see mason bees (arriving). It’s heartwarming.”
Borrowing bees
Rachel Brandenburg, who lives on a rural property of just over an acre near the Crittenden area, has sung the praises of an organization called Rent Mason Bees for about two years now.
With a staff of just four employees, Rent Mason Bees cleans and manages 3 million mason bees and over 40 million leafcutter bees every year. It’s the largest solitary bee provider in the country.
“We’re on a mission to champion the cause of solitary bee conservation,” said Rent Mason Bees’ director of operations Thyra McKelvie, from its headquarters in Seattle. “We’re deeply committed to raising awareness of the indispensable role these remarkable pollinators play in our ecosystem.”
Mason bees only live about six to eight weeks, McKelvie said, so their nesting material with the developing larvae inside needs to be carefully maintained.
“(It) needs to be opened in the fall and cleaned out to remove harmful predators, like pollen mites and chalkbrood,” McKelvie said. “If left out year-round, predators like Houdini fly, birds, ants, earwigs and a variety of other insects could harm the developing larvae.”
Well-intentioned accommodations
Bee hotels, found at many hardware stores and gardening shops, are about the size of a birdhouse and include small wooden tubes, designed to provide a safe nesting place for some types of solitary bees.
But they can present a problem, McKelvie said, inadvertently becoming hunting grounds for the very predators we seek to protect solitary bees from.
That’s where Rent Mason Bees comes in.
“Rent Mason Bees takes a proactive approach to tackle this challenge, with a primary focus on ensuring that bee hotels fulfill their role as safe havens for solitary bees,” she said. “Our measures involve meticulous cleaning to eliminate any potential threats and diligent bee management over the winter.”
This approach, she said, ensures that when you receive your nesting materials and bees, they “are free from predators, ensuring a clean and secure environment for these essential pollinators.”
Cleaning is important, Monture agreed.
“Gardeners release bees and rent our nesting blocks,” McKelvie said. “They enjoy the benefits of pollination in their gardens without the hassle of cleaning and maintenance.”
For Brandenburg, it’s a winning concept.
“I’m disabled and can’t do very much outside,” she said, explaining that she can’t harvest the bees or properly clean the beehouse block herself.
“While some enthusiasts enjoy the year-round experience of caring for and cleaning mason bees, we recognize that others prefer a more hands-off approach,” McKelvie said. “For those who want to support bees, aid in pollination of their gardens, and spare themselves the task of cleaning cocoons and nests, sterilizing nesting blocks, and ensuring secure winter storage, our rental program is the ideal solution.”
Spreading the word
Monture’s advice for the bee-curious?
“Attend a (beekeeper) meeting, do a little homework, find a mentor, work side by side and hand in hand, learning together how to fix Mother Nature, and keep going with the finest thing that there is on the planet,” he said. “There are a lot of types of bees, and every kind is important.”
“If you’re interested in getting bees, go for it,” Knott agreed. “Come to one of the bee clubs and meet people. You’ll be glad you did.”
Others, like Brandenburg, focus efforts on spreading the good word about mason bees, specifically; she even offered a recent presentation about the valuable pollinators at the Walton Senior Center.
“There was a lot of interest in the participants and lots of questions,” she said.
“My goal is to alert the public about mason and leafcutter bees and try to get people to host those, so that we can enrich the environment here in Northern Kentucky, both for flower gardens, vegetable gardens and farms,” Brandenburg said. “I’m limited in what I can do. However, I believe that it only takes one person to start a fire, and I’m hoping to light the fire of interest in mason and leafcutter bees in Northern Kentucky.”
To learn more about the NKY Beekeepers Association, visit nkybeekeepers.com. To learn more about Rent Mason Bees, visit rentmasonbees.com.
Beekeeping 101
The Northern Kentucky Beekeepers Association’s annual Beekeeping 101 School will take place in Burlington on Saturday, Feb. 24, with guest Jim Coss from The Honey and Bee Connection in Morehead teaching the basics of beekeeping for beginners. Learn everything you need to know to get started from one of Kentucky’s most respected beekeepers. All necessary equipment will be available for purchase on site. There’s no cost for entry, but guests must register with the Boone County Extension Office, https://boone.ca.uky.edu/.
Campbell County Horticulture Agent Sarah Imbus shared a number of upcoming events at the Campbell County Cooperative Extension Office, located at 3500 Alexandria Pike in Highland Heights. “All of these will discuss insects on some level and their importance for that ecosystem,” she said.
Here are the events:
Feb. 22
Native Grasses & No-Mow Lawns
We will discuss underutilized native grasses, grasses in the landscape, lawn alternatives and no-mow lawns.
March 27
Grow Your Own Salad
Learn how to grow and care for a variety of vegetable greens to make a healthy salad.
March 28
Yucca & Cacti of North America
Join us as we learn about cacti and yucca native to North America, the climatic needs for successful arid plant growing and viable options for Northern Kentucky.
April 18
Growing Milkweed
Planting milkweed is a great way to attract pollinators to your garden. It also serves as the host plant for the monarch caterpillar. Come learn about these amazing plants.
April 25
Composting 101
Join us as we cover all the basics to get you successfully composting in the upcoming season.
April 29
For the Landscape
Learn about annual plants that perform well in this area. Also, learn about plant maintenance for flower beds and containers.
May 7
Growing Vegetables in Containers
Even if you don’t have a garden, you can still grow vegetables in containers. Come learn best practices to ensure a bountiful harvest.
For more information, visit https://campbell.ca.uky.edu/.