We continue to check the leaf cutter bees that we placed at Site1a2h in Gilbert, Arizona and the Flowing Springs subdivision north of Payson, Arizona.
On Saturday morning the 9th of May we checked the bees at the Master Garden in Flowing Springs. We did add chicken wire because we are concerned about both birds and rodents. And we noticed the presence of lots of ants. We're not sure if the ants will be a problems. Ants are fairly common in nature. But we did move the cocoons to try to minimize the ant access.
Next we check the cocoons in Gilbert (Site1a2h) on Mother's Day morning, May 10th and again on the 11th. We are concerned about the temperature since the cocoon box is in full sun so we moved and shaded the box.
We are concerned for both locations that the cocoons are not viable since we may have kept them refrigerated too long and the ambient temperature at both sites may be too high for cocoons. We plan to test these two theories by dissecting a number of cocoons (we still have half of the "gallon") to see if the bees are alive.
On May 12th we return to Flowing Springs to check on the cocoons and habitat.
The new location is better but we still have temperature concerns as stated above.
And a final check on the cocoons at Site1a2h in Gilbert shows no activity.
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