Calling all beginning beekeepers!
The Raindrop Mason Bee House Kit is a simple starter hive that will have you buzzing for joy.
Just look at it—a lovely bit of apiarist architecture, is it not?
Photo courtesy of CrownBees.com
This elegant raindrop-shaped pine hive is designed and carefully handcrafted by a team of Ixil carpenters (indigenous Mayan people) living near Nebaj, Guatemala. The hive holds about 100 tubes or reeds that are protected from rainfall and moisture accumulation.
What’s more, all profits are donated to the Agros International training center, which helps rural families in Latin America escape the cycle of generational poverty and participates in local Guatemalan reforestation efforts.
Buy your hive at www.crownbees.com, where you can also find advice, mason bees, and other supplies for launching your hive.
Here’s a nifty video packed with info about the raindrop hive:
I just got the book Bees in America yesterday from Amazon and can’t wait to dig in! Maybe this little Raindrop House Kit would be a good place to start. I like the concept and the size.
Was about to ask if these are the same as carpenter bees . Then did a quick internet search, and no they are’nt the destructive ones. Yay as I have many many carpenter bees and they have made ” swiss cheese” of my sheds and the wood on my cottage. I dont kill them though, I just seal up their holes with that stuff you use in construction that seals up holes , you use a tube of it and a “gun” . ( darn , can’t for the life of me remember what it’s called) anyway you aren’t killing them- they just go elsewhere or give up if you continue to fill in their holes. Too bad the nice mason bees don’t try to take over instead! I may have the nice mason bees as there are many big bees that come to the apple and pear tree on my farmette.
This lovely bee house, looks like a great beginner bee project for you, Winnie, and others. And its the prettiest one I have ever seen plus helps a worthy cause as well.
I went online to read about these bees…they are amazing little bees! Thanks for the website, Mary Jane,…I think these little bees might be the answer for me..I wanted to try raising honeybees…they are not for the weak of heart..so, I was told…and, I want to put in a little blueberry patch this year…so, this raindrop house kit would be nice attached to a garden fence post near the blueberries….