I learned something new this week. For years I have had a bee hotel filled with bamboo tubes. Every summer several of the tubes get sealed off with plugs. I believe it's the mason bees laying eggs in the tubes and sealing them with a mud plug to protect them. This year looks different. A couple holes are stuffed with grass and another looks like the grass was trimmed.
I reached out to our local county nature club. Some nice fellow filled me in on what was happening. I had never heard of this. "These are made by a harmless species of wasp...Isodontia. I would just leave them alone. The wasps will not harm the mason bees."
I looked it up. Sure enough, Isodontia. The common name is grass-carrying wasp. Why have I never heard of them. They can sting but aren't aggressive. I tried to get a photo of them in action, but I don't have the patience to sit there for hours. I found this public domain photo. I have seen these wasps, but I never thought much about them. They look like a cross between a fly and a wasp.
_-_Flickr_-_S._Rae.jpeg)
I guess we are never to old to learn new things.
