'Work bee' creates homes for Yukon bees
Drilled holes, burlap and charred wood entice bees to lay their eggs
Yukon bees are being encouraged to lay their eggs in new places.
More than 30 wooden bee houses were built this week at the YuKonstruct makerspace in Whitehorse.
"It's almost like a birdhouse, except it has holes in it for the bees to make it their home," said Shae-Lynn Boyko, one of the participants at Tuesday's house-building "work bee."
The houses will be installed on Yukon berry farms, and used as part of a study on pollination — a "citizen-based monitoring project" by wildlife biologist Maria Leung.
The project is trying to attract solitary bee species that do not live in hives. Leung wants to find out about bees' roles in the lives of Yukon berries like high-bush cranberries, soapberries, Saskatoon berries and haskap.
Leung says the long drilled holes in the wooden houses encourage solitary bees to burrow and lay their eggs.
"They need these long tubes to lay one [egg] after another. At the end, they'll close off the entrance with a protective door made of leaves, clay or dirt," she said.
People building the houses on Tuesday seemed interested.
"It's been a lot of fun to see the community come out and participate in this project. I learned a little bit more about solitary bees. I didn't really know anything about them, that was interesting," said Michelle Clusiau of YuKonstruct.
"I think Maria's work is very awesome and I commend her efforts," said Steven Qiu.
Some of the homes have retractable paper tubes so that eggs can be removed. A few will be sent to the University of Ottawa for analysis.