Lousy Hotel Avoided

Last summer, I noticed an insect bringing a bit of leaf to plug the hole in a bit of bamboo that is part of one of those folding director’s chairs. Huh? A leafcutter bee, how interesting, and thought no more about it. I particularly failed to notice when, or indeed whether, any adults emerged earlier this year. They must have done; I think that’s some debris just visible in the hole on the left. Vacated nest on the left; currently, maybe, occupied nests on the right. Then, a few months ago, I noticed that almost all of the much smaller holes in the uprights of the Ikea Ivar shelves outside had been blocked up in similar fashion. I did not see it happening, and it seems that the plug is not a leaf but might be mud. Huh? Mason bees? That led me to think about deliberately building a bee hotel, and I went so far as to buy some bamboo specifically, but one thing after another got in the way and now I am very glad I didn’t, because I would have made an absolutely lousy bee hotel developer.…