Effect of height and colour of bee bricks on nesting occupancy of bees and wasps in SW England

Christman, Kate ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3960-9908 (2021) Effect of height and colour of bee bricks on nesting occupancy of bees and wasps in SW England. Conservation Evidence Journal, 18. pp. 10-17. ISSN Not known

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Abstract / Summary

Bee bricks are a novel solitary-bee nesting habitat made from reclaimed concrete, designed to be built into walls
to provide nest sites in urban areas. We tested if cavity-nesting bees and wasps used bee bricks, and if they
showed any preference for nesting in bricks of different colours or at different heights. We carried out surveys
of solitary bees in 15 private urban gardens and eight rural public gardens, where the bee bricks were then
placed for two years (2016-2017). Bee bricks were placed on structures that were either 1 m in height with 4
bricks (red, yellow, white and wooden control) or with three platforms where white bricks were placed at 0 m,
0.6 m or 1.0 m above the ground. The number of occupied nest holes was counted at the end of each summer.
Nesting holes that were capped with mud were more common than those capped with chewed or cut leaves.
The average % of holes capped with either mud or chewed leaf was greatest in red bricks and lowest in wooden
controls. Only one brick out of 39 placed at ground level had capped holes, although the difference in the % of
holes capped between heights was not statistically significant. Cavity-nesting bees and wasps use solitary-bee
bricks for nests, but population level impacts are still untested.

Item Type:	Article
ISSN:	Not known
Subjects:	Business Arts > Landscape & Area Planning Science
Courses by Department:	The School of Communication > Graphic Design
Depositing User:	Kate Christman
Date Deposited:	06 Oct 2021 12:35
Last Modified:	11 Nov 2022 16:20
URI:	https://repository.falmouth.ac.uk/id/eprint/4388

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