Cabin Journal: Beds, Bugs and Birds

Carrots are gone and the beds are ready for planting.

Float cabin living has lots of outdoor activities. Garden beds need to be cleaned out and replanted. Bugs (and all sorts of insects) come out. Birds return to nest.

June 4, 2019

Before we unloaded the boat after a trip to the States, we did a quick walk around the cabin deck. I could tell from a distance that the carrots in the floating garden had gone to seed in our absence and had three foot stems with white flowers on top. They wouldn't be good to eat, but were pretty in their own way. My garlic was about a foot tall and volunteer arugula was flowering bright yellow. There wasn't time to attend to gardening chores that night, everything could wait one more day.

June 4, 2019

The next thing I noticed was a Yellow Jacket paper nest beginning under the eaves near the kitchen window. That would need immediate attention after dark when they are at rest. I checked another favourite nesting spot under the overhang on Gemini's windshield. Sure enough, another nest. We got home just in the nick of time for both. Wayne shot them with wasp spray then knocked the nests into the water for good measure!

June 6, 2019

Barn swallows come to nest every year. We enjoy their company, but when they try to nest under the front porch we have to shoo them away. We've tried several ways to deter them. This year I swept down the nest beginnings and put a broom in its place. I had to keep sweeping and moving brooms until the swallows took the hint and found a better spot.

Coming home is always exciting, especially because we never know what we might find. -- Margy

Cabin Journal: Mason Bee Hotels

A Mason Bee  in a nesting block.

Since 2016, I’ve encouraged native Mason Bees to nest at my cabin. Mason Bees are solitary and docile. I look forward to their emergence from my homemade bee hotels each year. Here are some of my cabin journal excerpts.

April 4, 2019

Mason Bees should be coming out soon. One sunny afternoon I decided to refurbish my two repurposed birdhouse bee hotels on the front porch, so I got out my acrylic paints. The front edges got a red touch-up and the eaves a bright white coating. The roofs got a fresh layer of forest green. Then I added bundles of cardboard tubes designed specifically for Mason Bee nesting.

April 6, 2019

Wayne moved the storage box with full nesting blocks from last year to the front porch where the rising sun would reach them. Just in time. The first male emerged today.

June 1, 2019

After a lengthy stay in the States I checked my Mason Bee hotels. I was worried I there wouldn't be enough tubes for the bees to seal up their eggs. The tubes were full, but the enterprising bees cleaned out the wood blocks and filled them up again. I still see a few bees hanging around so I added more cardboard tubes. It’s gone from two nesting bees in 2015 to over 100 this year. Next year I should have twice that many to help pollinate. I love giving Nature a helping hand.

Here's more about Mason Bees:

Readying My Mason Bee Hotels 
Revitalizing a Bee Hotel
Drilling Nesting Blocks
Building a Simple Bee Hotel

Do you have native bees where you live? Here's a resource to get started. Also, plant pollinator friendly flowers in your garden.  Here's another resource for planting a bee friendly garden. Bees need all of our help. -- Margy

Cabin Journal: Bumblebees in Daffodil Tents

Bumblebees in Daffodil Tents

Bumblebees come early each spring to my floating garden. Their arrival coincides with the blooming of my daffodils. The bumblebees like them for two reasons. First, they have pollen available when most other flowers haven't bloomed.

Second, the conical centres provide a protected spot for the bees to rest overnight in the cool weather.

A bumblebee waiting out the cool morning weather in its daffodil tent.

April 2, 2019

Out in the float garden my daffodils are in full bloom. I was afraid we'd miss them. The smaller ones on the cliff have seen their prime, but the large ones are a beautiful sight looking out from our cabin porch. And we aren't the only ones enjoying them, the bumblebees are all over them, even resting inside like before - bumblebees in daffodil tents.

As you can see, I use photographs to guide my drawings. In this illustration, I tried adding shading to the image.  Do you use photographs as a reference for drawing and painting?

If you would like to see my RV travel Friday Paint Party journal entry for today, please click here. -- Margy

Readying My Mason Bee Hotels

Last week I was a guest author about Mason Bees on Farmgal's Just Another Day on the Farm. You can read about it and find links to my previous Mason Bee posts by clicking here.

We just came home after two months away. In my recent post Back Up the Lake I speculated about what we might find.

One thing I was anxious to check was my Mason Bee nesting blocks.

Repainting the Mason Bee Hotels,

Mason Bees start emerging from their cocoons in March. It's a fun process to watch and I hoped I hadn't missed it. Even before I went inside the cabin, I looked at my Mason Bee winter storage box on the side porch. It's a cool spot that only gets a wee bit of sunshine. All was quiet.

I took the opportunity to refurbish my two bee hotels.

The refurbished Bee Hotels with their nesting tubes.

Nesting blocks filled with cocoons.

They haven't had any maintenance since they were repurposed from old birdhouses and attached to a south-facing post on our front porch. The fresh paint not only made them look better, but helped preserve their fiberboard construction for a few more years to come.

Wayne helped me moved the heavy winter storage box to a spot under the porch near the Bee Hotels. It will be protected from any spring showers, yet it will be close enough to the hotels for nesting.

Commercial Mason Bee nesting tubes.

My drilled wood nesting blocks are all full of cocoons. I needed something quick and easy to use for the emerging bees. I chose Milliard cardboard Mason Bee nesting tubes. I prefer the homemade wood ones because they are safe to be left outdoors in a protected spot. Mice love to chew cardboard tubes, so they have to be stored either indoors (in a cool spot) or in a protective container outdoors.

Now the full nesting blocks and the refurbished Mason Bee hotels are on the south facing side of our front porch. The recent warm weather and sun are sure to give them the clue that it's time to emerge.

Do you have nesting places for native bees. It's fun and easy. Here's an online resource to use to get started. Also, plant pollinator friendly flowers in your garden. Bees need all the help we can give them. -- Margy

How to Build a Mason Bee Hotel Series

Te first of a three part guest post series.

Earlier this month, I made a comment on Farmgal's blog Just Another Day on the Farm. It was a post about ordering Mason and Leaf Cutter bee cocoons and an interesting viewing house to watch all the action inside. That led to an invitation to write guest posts about my Mason Bee hotel experiences. Click the links below to read the posts.

Monday was the first of three guest posts in Farmgal's How to Build a Mason Bee Hotel Series. It tells how Wayne and I made nesting blocks by drilling pieces of driftwood.

Wayne helped me drill the holes part way through the blocks.

Tuesday's guest post focused on how we repurposed old birdhouses into Mason Bee hotels to hang on our front porch's south facing post.

Giving the old birdhouse a facelift with new paint.

Wednesday's guest post focused on attracting mason bees and caring for their nesting blocks through the year.

We mount the Bee Hotels on a south facing surface.

If you would like to read my original Powell River Books Blog posts in their entirety, please click on the links below.

Building a Simple Mason Bee Hotel
Drilling Nesting Blocks for a Bee Hotel
Bee Hotel Update
Revitalizing a Bee Hotel

It all started in 2015 with two native Mason Bees nesting behind a small solar panel on our front porch.

The two original Mason Bees nesting in a crevice on the front porch in 2015.

Each year we've expanded the number of nesting blocks to accommodate all of the bees we are helping to multiply. That's good for my garden and for the natural surroundings where we live.

Chickens pictured on Farmgal's blog.

Thank you Farmgal for letting us share our experiences.

I encourage you to get to know Farmgal. She's a fellow Canadian who lives on a farm near Ottawa. You can find her online at:

Just Another Day on the Farm
On Twitter as @farmgal1800
On Facebook Just Another Day on the Farm
And Farmgal for Hire

Do you have a Mason Bee hotel or nesting sites for other natural bees? Do you raise honeybees? What are your experiences? All bees need our help so they can continue to help us! -- Margy

Coastal BC Insects: Yellow Woolly Bear Caterpillar

Yellow Woolly Bear Caterpillar

This year I've found a new type of critter in my floating garden. First I found two when I pulled out overgrown lettuce plants. The next I found on beet leaves used as mulch under my broccoli, so I'm not sure which plant was the attraction.

I'm pretty sure it is a caterpillar of the Virginian Tiger Moth (Spilosoma virginica), a white moth with small black spots on its wings.

Yellow Woolly Bear caterpillar on a beet leaf.

The larval stage is known as known as the Yellow Woolly Bear or Yellow Bear caterpillar. Even though the name implies they are yellow, actual colouring can be from white, to beige, to yellow and even dark red and brown. No matter what the colour, the woolly bear name comes from long its covering of long hairs.

Virginian Tiger Moths and their Yellow Woolly Bear caterpillars are common throughout North America. Caterpillars are abundant and feed on low growing plants, shrubs and even tree leaves in yards, gardens and natural settings.

The caterpillars are voracious eaters. After about a month of eating their fill, they search for a place to pupate.  Then, in about another month, they emerge as an adult moth.

Adult moths are commonly found from late spring to fall. They are especially attracted to lights. I'll have to put a light out in the evenings to see if I can get a picture of one of the moths to update this post. -- Margy

Black Vine Weevil Carboard Trap

An "Evil Weevil" from my float garden.

When I cut down my daffodils, I uncovered a cluster of beetles on the ground. The oval shape with a pointed snout made we immediately guess weevil.

I did some research and believe they are Black Vine Weevils. I also discovered the small white legless grubs with orangish heads I found in an old dahlia pot are the larval form of these weevils. It's the grubs that cause the greatest harm in the garden by eating roots. 

Tap cardboard traps on the ground to dislodge hiding weevils.

Known as the "Evil Weevil" in the gardening world, now is a good time to eradicate them is before they lay eggs. One adult can lay 500 eggs, and because they are capable of parthenogenesis (eggs don't require fertilization to mature) they are very prolific.

Make a cardboard trap.

I decided to use a manual approach. The beetles are nocturnal eaters, and hide during the day. Look for scalloped edges on leaves to find them.

Use a flashlight at night to pick the slow moving beetles off plants and drop them into soapy water.

Strip off one side of the cardboard.

Or during the day, explore shady spots under plants.

Rather than soapy water, I turn the weevils into fish food by flicking them into the lake next to my floating garden.

I read about cardboard traps and gave them a try.

Tape into a tube, cover if needed.

I stripped off one side of cardboard to reveal the corrugated interior. I cut and rolled it into a tube with the rippled side inward. Because we get lots of rain, I covered the outside with duck tape to protect the cardboard.

The first night I caught three weevils in my trap. With that success, I'll make some more. 

Do you have Evil Weevils in your garden? What do you do to get rid of them? -- Margy

Coastal BC Insects: Giant Water Bug

Giant Water Bug

Giant Water Bug

Wayne and I have lived at our float cabin on Powell Lake since 2001 and this is the first time I’ve seen a Giant Water Bug (Lethocerus americanus). The only other time was when I was in high school. A boy friend stationed in Vietnam knew I was putting together an insect collection for a biology class, hence he sent me an unusual “present” in the mail.

Giant Water Bugs are common in the United States and Canada. They are found in among bottom vegetation in ponds and lakes. It is the region’s largest aquatic insect, up to 2 3/8” long and 1” wide (60mm x 25 mm). Flying, it has a wingspan of 4 1/8” (110 mm). When flying, they look a lot like bats. I wonder if that was what I saw the other night skimming over the water.

Giant Water Bugs eat fish, tadpoles and other insects. It has a large beak to pierce its prey and injects digestive juices. Once the innards are dissolved, the bug sucks the contents out, leaving a husk behind, not a pretty thought. And if you handle one, the bite is painful.

The two front legs are used for grasping prey. The four hind legs are fringed and designed for powerful swimming.

Females lay eggs in late spring and early fall. Nymphs hatch in two weeks, but few survive due to cannibalism and other aquatic predators. If disturbed, they may play dead or fight back with their beak and caustic saliva.

With a nickname of "Toe Biter," I got close enough to take some pictures from various angles but wasn’t tempted to get give it a touch. -- Margy

References: Bugs of British Columbia (Lone Pine Publishing, 2001) by John Acorn and Ian Sheldon and National Audubon Society Nature Guides: Wetlands (Alfred A. Knopf, 1997) by William A Niering

Revitalizing A Bee Hotel

An Orchard Mason Bee heading into one of the holes at full speed.

Last year I made and used bee hotels for the first time. We have Orchard Mason Bees in our area, so I looked online for information about how to build a bee hotel that would meet their needs.

In our area Mason Bees hatch, begin feeding and look for likely nesting sites in March.

Last year's filled nesting blocks resting under the front porch.

Males emerge first but have to wait for females before the mating season begins. Mason Bees remain active for 4 to six weeks. While they feed and collect pollen for their nests and larvae, they are busy with the important process of plant pollination.

Old nesting blocks face southeast to catch the morning sun and encourage hatching.

Building bee hotels is a simple process. I made mine from old birdhouses. Drill nesting blocks out of untreated wood you have on hand. I use driftwood sticks. Drill 6-inch deep 5/16-inch holes with an opening only in the front. Mount your hotel above ground, where it won't sway, facing south or southeast for plenty of sun.

Drilling blocks 6" deep encourages female production.

Larvae mature during the summer and remain dormant from fall through winter. A freezing snap followed by increased sunshine and warming weather breaks their dormancy. To get ready for the hatching phase, and to provide new nesting sites, Wayne and I made new blocks. We gently moved the old ones to a location nearby so the hatchlings can easily find their new nesting blocks.

New nesting blocks with 5/16" holes also encourages female production.

See below for detailed information from making my bee hotel and nesting blocks last year.

Building a Simple Mason Bee Hotel
Drilling Nesting Blocks for a Bee Hotel
Bee Hotel Update

New bee hotel nesting blocks ready for Spring 2017.

Do you encourage bees to feed, pollinate and nest where you live? Plant some flowers that attract bees either in your garden or in pots on your deck. It's as easy as that. -- Margy

Coastal BC Insects: Hover Fly

A tiny Hover Fly on a marigold.

There are lots of mimics in the animal world. Watching flowers, you see many insects taking advantage of their pollen and nectar. From a distance, we sometimes assume they are all bees, but on closer inspection that’s not always the case.

A larger Hover Fly sharing the marigolds.

Some Hover Flies mimic wasps in shape and colouring, but don’t sting. Wasps have long antennae and a cylindrical abdomen, while Hover Flies have short antennae and a flattened abdomen.

Hover Flies are attracted to flowers just like bees and assist in the process of pollination. They are especially good to have around with the recent problems we’ve had with the decimation of bee populations.

Syrphus torvus Hover Fly.

Larvae of Hover Flies often feed on aphids, an added bonus to have them around your yard and garden.

There are many varieties of Hover Flies. The larger one above I believe is called Syrphus torvus. It’s very common in Europe, Asia and North America, and can be found throughout Canada.

Sphaeronphoria scripta is a small Hover Fly.

Here’s another kind of Hover Fly enjoying my marigold flowers. I didn't realize that there were so many different kinds. It’s also a wasp mimic. I believe it is a variety of Sphaerophoria, possibly a Sphaerophoria scripta. It has worldwide distribution, so it's probably a good guess. I believe this is a female based on the fuller abdomen. Males have a long, slim shape.

Notice how the wings look at rest.

References: Bugs of British Columbia by John Acorn and Ian Sheldon, BugGuide.net (online), and the Etomology Collection of the University of Alberta. - Margy

Building a Simple Mason Bee Hotel

Full house in Hotel #1

It's been so exciting to watch our Orchard Mason Bees using their nesting blocks, we decided to make them a second hotel.

Nesting runs from mid-March through late Spring, so we had enough time for a few more bees to use the facilities.

Step 1: Start with an old birdhouse.

I started with an old birdhouse and went from there.

Step 2: Remove the front wall and clean the inside thoroughly.

Don't you love to save something and then find a new use for it?

Step 3: Give the old birdhouse a facelift with new paint.

A container for the drilled nesting blocks protects them from rain.

Step 4: Preserve the new paint and exposed surfaces with Acrylic spray.

Click here to see how we drilled nesting blocks to put inside.

Step 5: Mount the Bee Hotel on a south facing surface.

Two matching birdhouses look nice together on our porch pillar.

An Orchard Mason Bee heading into one of the holes at full speed.

The bees move so fast it's hard to get closeup photographs.

Another Orchard Mason Bee heading in from the lower left.

Orchard Mason Bees lay eggs packed within pollen plugs that are sealed in a series in each hole. The eggs turn into larvae that live off the stored pollen and emerge eleven months later to start the cycle all over again.
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Give it a try. You can do it for free with recycled and repurposed materials, and the result is fun and good for the environment as well. -- Margy