Diann,

Sorry, but I have no entomological references for bees. I'm not that versed in the field, and was just reporting what I'd seen.

I am not *absolutely* certain that the bees had brought the moss to the nest boxes, but - on the other hand - I'd never seen anything quite like the bee nests in nest boxes before. I had the 2 boxes in my yard here in Oly, and my father had a nest box with the same (or similar) bumblebees and moss, down in the Salem area last year.

The moss in these boxes did not appear to have been brought in by birds or by deer mice (which I have seen fill a nest box with 'trash' - sticks, leaves, grass, etc. - never with just one material). So, I made the assumption - perhaps in error - that the bees had brought the moss to the box.

The bee's nest was, viewed from the top, a round 'ball' of tree moss (I have a wonderful reference on mosses in the PNW, "Mosses, Lichens & Ferns of Northwest North America" by Vitt, Marsh and Bovey. Lone Pine Publishing, Vancouver BC. But - I've not made the effort to become proficient in moss ID, yet... there's 170 moss species listed!). The moss had not been flattened-down, as you might expect if the moss had been brought in by a chickadee or Bewick's wren. The bees entered the nest through the 1-1/4" hole, directly into the ball of moss.

For that matter, I was assuming that the bumbles were native bees, because they were not the big black-and-yellow bumbles that had been brought in from Europe to pollinate the Red Clover crops here in America - honeybees can't reach their tongues into the long flower of the red clover. These little dun and yellow bumblebees might be introduced species, as well.

I'll poke around in the libraries (or the internet) and see if I can find anything on bees that bring nesting material to cavities... If I find anything, I'll let you know. Perhaps some of the folks on Tweeters (Dennis P?) might be able to share their knowledge about this?

Jon. Anderson
Olympia, Washington
festuca at olywa.net

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From: Diann MacRae[SMTP:tvulture at mail1.halcyon.com]
Sent: Saturday, March 28, 1998 5:50 PM
To: festuca at olywa.net
Subject: RE: Wood Duck Boxes

Hello, Jon

Can you give me any references to the bumblebee that brings moss to nest
boxes? That's a new one for me and sounds interesting. Thanks.

>Another possibility is that of bees; in my Olympia suburban wasteland of a yard, there
is a species of native bumblebee that fills the wren/chickadee-nesting boxes I've put up
with tree >moss.

Diann MacRae
Bothell
tvulture at halcyon.com