Field experiment 2024: our first results!

Mid-December, we presented the first results of the grant at the 2024 Annual Meeting of the British Ecological Society in Liverpool. The poster presented the data obtained during the summer 2024 field experiment, focusing on the effect of rising temperatures on the nesting behaviour of red mason bees. You can find the results in detail […]

Background and methods We conducted a field experiment during the summer of 2024 to answer the following question: Do adult bees adjust larval pollen provisions to the nest temperature? Nine wooden nests were heated at three temperatures (ambient, ambient + 4°C & ambient + 8°C) on our study site. From late June to mid-August, we […]

Even though almost all the larvae have now spun their cocoons, that doesn’t mean our work is finished! Indeed, Osmia bicornis larvae go through major life stages after cocoon completion, notably developing into adults inside their cocoons. This step is crucial because a larva that does not transform into an adult before winter will not […]

Autumn is approaching, which means that fieldwork is coming to an end! With the weather getting colder and wetter, it was time to transfer the cocoons to the lab, where they will be protected from weather hazards such as heavy rain. We chose a particularly rainy and gloomy day to pack up all the equipment […]

We finally released the bees in early July! They emerged immediately from their cocoons but we quickly realised they looked rather unhappy in the cages…

We have been very busy at our field site at Stockbridge Technology Centre near Selby, a  centre for agricultural and horticultural innovation and testing.   Having installed the fruit cages last month, this month we put up 9 mesh cages, each of which will house a bee nesting block that will be kept at one of 3 […]

Gearing Up for Bee Season: Excitement in the Field!  As spring progresses, so does our fieldwork season, and we were all excited to be outdoors, ready to set up for our flight cage experiment. This year, the focus is on understanding how nesting temperatures affect the foraging behaviour and offspring outcomes of Osmia bicornis, a […]