Monitoring the Progress of the Bees

Now that we have significant bee activity at our Gilbert Site1a2h, we will be monitoring the progress as they fill the habitat tubes.

We have updated the Home page, to include an overall status for the two sites in Gilbert and Payson/Flowing Springs. Here is the initial status:

Initial Status of Bee Activity

Our method is to count the completed tubes at regular intervals. The "Tubes Placed" is simply the total number of tube in the deployed habitats. Site1a2h in Gilbert has three habitats of 6 by 8, 8 by 13 and (24 + 33) by 29 = 1805. The counts are approximate from photos of that day. Here's the 8 by 13 habitat as an example:

8 by 13 Habitat At Gilbert Site1a2h on 4 June 2020

The number of female bees is estimated by using data from the supplier JWM Leafcutters Inc. Their data shows 10,000 cocoons per gallon with an estimated male to female ratio of 2 to 1.

JWM Leafcutters Inc Data Sheet

So our "one quart" placement is about 2,500 cocoons; roughly 834 females.

So far, we have no results from the Payson/Flowing Springs site. Indeed we have not seen if the bees have emerged from the cocoons as of 1 June 2020.

Here is a video of the status at the Gilbert site including a bee finishing her tube: