The day by day weather effects define the bee hotel nest block expiration date. The increase of cracks in the wood decreases the attractiveness for the bees. However, the deteriorating, soft wood proves very attractive for digger wasp females.
Block 3 in section III attracts most digger wasp females, among them a large number of Crossocerus annulipes [1]. This species uses the drilled nest openings and cracks to gnaw tunnels in. Often the opening of the drilled hole is stuffed with wood pulp released during gnawing and, probably, pushed backwards towards the opening. With every push down in the tunnel a bit of the pulp will fall out of the opening.
The cracks and sides of the wood are used as starting point for gnawed nest cavities. The backside of the nest block is also used as regularly a female crawls into the space between the wall and the block (see arrows in Fig 1).
Crossocerus annulipes uses Cicadellidae among others for her brood, see here. This prey group is presence in large quantities in the garden so it takes only a few minutes for the female to return with a captured prey. Below two examples of different females ready to stock their nest with a capture cicada, Empoasca sp. and an unidentified Cicadellidae sp…
Literature
1 Nederlands Soortenregister
