Page 19 - Sentinel March 2017

WILD SIDE Continued from page 18 Besides Tagawa’s, bestnest.com carries an inexpensive Esschert
(who?) design solitary bee nest. And if you want to be a bee
Solitary Bee House smarty or counting sheep is not working for you, try digesting
If you have not heard of Osher Life-Long Learning Institute the 112-page document “Bees of Colorado” found at https://
(OLLI), a program of learning for those of us 50 and over, here cumuseum-archive.colorado.edu/Research/Entomology/
it is. OLLI South, an extension of Denver University, located at ColoBees/the_Bees_of_Colorado.pdf
Santa Fe and Titan Road in Littleton, offers a variety of daytime
classes from hobbies to the arts, literature, history, and science. Think about it- now we’ve added solitary bee houses to many
You can take as many as you like for $130 each semester. I other abodes- bird houses, butterfly houses, bat houses, plus a
have just finished one class called Getting Down and Dirty, like variety of feeders.
we used to do when we were kids – remember? If you can,
covering a variety of garden topics.
Short Takes
The bluebirds have started returning to check out the real estate
During one session, representatives from Tagawa Gardens market for raising this year’s two broods. And next month – re-
taught us how to make “fairy gardens” and showed us a solitary ality check time – we will be making hummingbird food to put
bee house carried at their site in Parker. When we think of bees, out for the first arrivals, the scout hummers. It will be major
it is the Winnie the Pooh variety – colonies of honey-making check-in time for those bird species that chose our eco environ-
bees in a bee’s nest. BUT, it turns out that there are “solitary ments to mate and raise their young.
bees” that are excellent pollinators.
*****
Hornfaced bees and orchard bees are some of these rather doc- That’s all, folks, for this month. Gotta run. Kona, one of our
ile pollen spreaders. They do not nest in colonies and do not foster Stella’s 10 puppies, just did a leap out of her whelping
excavate their own cavities to lay their young. Using a solitary box and into her mother’s water bowl...an Olympian in the
bee house provides them bamboo tubes or pre-drilled holes, making...truly...
where the females will lay their eggs, which in turn will stay
dormant and hatch in spring, ready for service in your garden. How to Contact Me: Email is best at susan@larskpurconsulting.
Having such bee houses entices these environment enhancers to com. Alternatively, call my cell phone at (303) 725-6868 or
choose your digs to hang out in. send a short write-up to 2255 Quartz Mountain Drive.
ºAnd the houses are not to wasps’ tastes!

Perry Park Sentinel March 2017 - Page 19