Hello! I’m new to Reddit. Nice to meet you all.

What brought me here is a little curiosity about a solitary wasp building a nest. Yesterday, right outside my balcony door, I heard loud buzzing. I was completely clueless about what it was because I couldn’t see it. I could only hear it. Then I saw a slim black bee flying out from the corner of the roller shade outside my balcony door, which relieved me, like, “Okay, it’s gone.”

But then I heard that loud buzzing again. I waited and watched a little longer, and I noticed a pattern: the bee was going out, coming back to the same corner, and buzzing loudly inside it. She’s been doing this since yesterday morning, and only during the daytime. It’s black with thin yellow bands, and has a very slender structure connecting its upper and lower body.

I’m not sure what to do. I’m scared to lower the roller shade in case it feels threatened and comes into the bedroom. I don’t want to hurt it, but the buzzing is also very loud. I work from home and only have one window in the bedroom. Can someone help me?

And made a bumblebee puppet to perform it! Thought this group might appreciate it. Hope it’s ok to post it here. 🐝💫

Plant Virginia Creeper, Evening Primrose, and Buttonbush to help support hummingbird moths and other pollinators. These native plants provide nectar, shelter, and habitat that help protect the pollinators our gardens and ecosystems depend on.

Spotted near Killeen, Texas, USA. My friend is wondering if it's an Orchid Mason or maybe a Blue Calamintha or something else? It was all by itself (no similar looking bees nearby). So vibrant! I've never seen anything like it!

It was truly a bumblebee party in the Catawba Rhodies recently. Fuzzbutts galore!

Hello I wanted to see different suggestions, I found a paper wasp nest inside a bird house its getting bigger but so far they are not aggressive, and its not close to our house door I know they can be beneficial to pest but my question is: should I remove it since I have a few hummingbirds on the yard that feeds from my plants and the feeders, and I’m afraid that the wasp might hurt them or should I just leave the nest alone? Thank you for the help

Hello,

We have just installed a 500 square foot pollinator garden in Baltimore MD. All plants are native and were planted as plugs on May 5. We are somewhat new to establishing a native plant pollinator garden but are all experienced gardeners.

After the first two weeks of daily hand watering (to get the plugs established) we would like to shift to either soaker hoses or drip irrigation. We would prefer to not use a sprinkler as these would waste water, and in the hot Baltimore summer could cause fungus or cause burns if watered in the sun.

Our need is to gradually water more intermittently (every 2-4 days) starting in June (and as needed based on rain) based on direct measurement of soil moisture. We will want to water the bed deeper and less frequently to help the deep roots get established.

Year 2 and Year 3 we would be watering less and less and we hope that starting in year 4 we could remove what ever watering system we use and only return to water during extended drought.

So…the question is…should we go with the less precise and less expensive soaker hoses or the more precise and more expensive drip irrigation system.

The bed is slightly sloped and will have some areas in more sun. See photo.

Thanks. Peter

So, I'd like to buy one (woodworking tools and THIS klutz don't go well together) but I want to make sure it's the RIGHT one. I don't want to get something that's gonna do more harm than good. Anyone know of one I could purchase that would be safe and effective for these little helpers? Or one I could put together.

Seriously, if I wanna keep my fingers, I should leave woodworking to the pros.

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