Make the safe choice
Beestras are only $19.95. Ames not included.
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The safe, non-plastic, all-weather, recyclable, science-based, colorful, easy-to-mount, affordable, practical native bee nursery from an Ozarks tree farm family.
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We installed this Beestra when we released new bees in the Spring. Learn more...
This what we're worried about: a parasite infested bee. Raise bees not parasites. Learn more here. Credit: Warren Photographic.
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Ames mounts a new Beestra on the side of a barn. Learn more about how to install your Beestra...
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Here's a closeup showing the tubes inside a Beestra. The Leafcutter native bees are busy. But you can also see a tube plugged with mud. This is work by different bee, maybe a Mason bee.
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Here's a short lesson on installing your new Beestra.
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Follow Plan Bee and you can minimize the risk of parasites
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We invented the BeeFoster products and we've applied for a patent to the United States Patent & Trademark Office while reserving our rights to trademarks and other intellectual properties. It's the American way!
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Learn the true story of the Beestra.
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Follow the bees at Rockspan Farm @beefosterco
On the left, is a Beestra that faces the wrong way with poor access to water and flowering plants. On the right is a Beestra that was mounted using best practices. The mud capped tubes hold 7-10 bees.
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To raise bees, do the right things...We put Beestras all over the farm in good places and bad. By now (August, 2020) most have bees inside, but some don't. Our preliminary conclusions are these: Face your Beestra east and in good sunlight. Place it where there are plenty of flowers nearby. Make sure there's water and mud nearby to make caps. Don't use pesticides or insecticides and ask your neighbors to do the same. If you live in an area where most of the native bees are missing or dead, you will be disappointed. Putting up a Beestra may be the best way to find out if above-ground-nesting native bees are alive and reproducing. You may never know without a Beestra in a proper setting.
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A typical native bee life cycle
You can learn more about the life cycle of a native bee on our FAQ page.
Beestra Field Trial Results, 2020
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In the Spring of 2020, Ames and I installed 22 Beestras on our farm in the Ozarks. We made a point to put the nurseries in a variety of locations to see how placement affected performance. These are our observations and conclusions:
Beestras contain four different diameter straws, 6, 8, 10 and 12 mm. 8 (36%) Beestras had no bees 14 (64%) Beestras contained tubes with hibernating bees The bees were in tubes with these diameters: Bees laid eggs in 47 straws that were 6mm in diameter. Bees laid eggs in 39 straws that were 8mm in diameter. Bees laid eggs in 24 straws that were 10mm in diameter. Bees laid eggs in 14 straws that were 12mm in diameter. We conclude: Beestra placement is important. Our experience showed bad Beestra placement meant poor performance. Disappointing Beestra performance included those facing west, no flowering plants nearby, obscured by foliage, lack of sunlight, lack of water & mud nearby and finally, places which were simply too manicured. It should be obvious, but we observed that the Beestra works best when there are active bees nearby. Good placement produced baby bees. The best performing Beestras were the ones closest to the site where we released our 2019 bees. The young mothers quickly found the new Beestras and filled more tubes than any other location. This may indicate that native bees tend to return to where they are released. We believe an annual tradition of placing Beestras in good locations close to where they are being Spring-released will yield the best results. More Details: 1. We observed that of the 124 occupied tubes, 79 (64%) were full, 24 (20%) were about half full and 21 (17%) were one quarter full. Although we did not open all the tubes to observe the interiors, the few we did showed live larva with 7-10 bees in full tubes. 2. 9 (7%) of the tubes were apparently filled by leaf cutter bees and 93% by other species. 3. The half and quarter filled tubes had mud caps that were not obvious from the front. We found many of the partially filled tubes only after we removed the straw mats from the housing and looked at the backs closely. Apparently, the bees installed mud caps in the back of the tubes first and worked their way to the front. For reasons unclear, the bees sealed eggs in tubes that were only partially filled 36% of the time. 4. We observed holes we could not explain. 1. Holes in the front end of the mud caps that were 2-3mm in diameter 2. Holes in the sides of the tubes that were 1-2mm in diameter. 5. As much as we tried, Ames and I never actually saw a native bee coming or going from our 22 Beestras in the field trial. We did see them inside the straws moving around and that was thrilling, but we confirmed what we have read: bees attracted to the Beestra are not easily observed. 6. Our Ozarks weather is the most varied in North America* and the Beestras in the field took a beating. They are mineral coated against rain and are designed to last one year outside. As terrible as some of the cases looked, we couldn’t find serious degradation of the straw mats inside. Beestras that were located under eaves and other shelter looked a lot better after the season. 7. We observed two problems with the Beestras in the field. The roof sections tended to pull apart and the glue joint didn’t hold together in all cases. We fixed these problems with the current versions of the Beestra by utilizing a copper strap to hold the roof together and forgoing glue in place of steel staples. 8. In the tubes we dissected, we observed pollen, mud and bees. Fortunately, we saw no evidence of mites or other parasites. 9. Beestras have caused our behavior to change. We find ourselves paying a lot more attention to native plants and flowers. We are planting large pollinator plots and managing areas to keep them wild. Bees we once ignored, we now find on flowers and take pictures of them. * From Forbes, July 20, 2007. The town near us, Springfield, has the most variety in temperature, precipitation and wind of any city in North America. Forbes reports: “A slightly elevated city in the Ozarks at 1,266 feet, Springfield sits beneath unstable air (cooler air over warm air) which spurs high winds, including some tornadoes. All the leading weather variety towns are landlocked--land both heats and cools several times faster than water. Springfield is also just close enough the tornado alley area of the Gulf of Mexico to keep things interesting.” https://www.forbes.com/2007/07/20/weather-storms-united-states-biz-cx_tvr_0720weather_slide.html?sh=575243ec4428
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Ames records data from our 2020 Beestra Field Trials.
We placed 22 Beestras on our farm and 14 (64%) showed native bees nesting inside.
In this example, the front of the Beestra StrawMat shows tubes capped by native bees.
We were surprised to see more tubes capped with mud by looking at the back end of the StrawMat.
In several of the larger (12mm) straws, we observed small holes (2-3mm diameter) we cannot explain.
We also observed several of the mud caps had small holes in the ends facing outside.
We are reluctant to destroy our nesting bees, but we did a limited dissection to see what was inside. Here Ames found tubes with tiny (5-7mm) long living bees.
We were thrilled to see baby native bees nesting in Beestras. Here's an example of a live bee surrounded by debris including what looks like mud and pollen. We observed NO parasites.
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Spring, 2020 Pictures from Rockspan Farm
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We live and work on Rockspan Farm. See all the interesting projects here...
