Our daytime temps have been running in the high 40's to high 50's, with nights in the high 30's to mid-40's. I put the natal tubes out on Wednesday, March 21 (appropriately, the first day of spring) and today see holes in two plugs and can actually see one bee moving about in one of them!

This is my first experience with these bees, so I'm really excited.

Not a lot blooming here yet; daffodils, pieris japonica and a small heath are in early bloom. I expect to see more things in bloom soon, but in the meantime am thinking of moving some greenhouse plants outside during the day to ensure a good food supply - sage, chives, cherry tomato and Meyer Improved Lemon are all in bloom, along with geranium, cyclamen and bacopa.

For their building materials, there's a small bog garden by the fish pond, kept moist but not flooded, and while our soil is quite sandy, the bog plants all came in a very clayey soil.

Just wanted to share the news, and will certainly be happy to hear from anyone experienced with solitary bees.

Diane