looks a little small for a beehive, i don't think a swarm would ever survive the winter in that. bees will swarm and find their own place to make a new hive. I would think all that would attract might be wasps or some other undesirables. Maybe leafcutter bees,lol.

Better check with the local authorities first. You may need a permit to keep bee hives in your area unless you live in an area zoned for agriculture.

Note that this bee nest being sold is for Mason bees, good pollinators, and quite gentle - not for honey bees. You might find the following link helpful in making your decision.

Here is a link that might be useful: Orchard Mason Bees at WSU Ext. site

Thank you all very much. Good advice there on all counts. Karl I had no idea that I needed a permit and we definitely are not zoned for Ag. I'll call and see. I would like to keep bees if that would be helpful for them. Would not hurt the pollination of my veggie garden either I suspect.

Kate

I would be surprised if you needed a permit to put up a house for mason bees. They are non honey producers, and those are tubes that are commonly used for housing. Knox Cellars has all kinds of bees supplies.

Here is a link that might be useful: Knox Cellars

As noted above Mason Bees are good pollinators and nothing like honey bees.
They're sold around here at almost every garden store and the bees are virtually harmless.
I don't think you could do any harm having one of these in your garden area.
There's lots of info on Google about these gentle critters.
They're considered good guys.

It might be fun to have the tube to be able to watch the bees, but I think it is a high-priced gimmick--like the $45 hummingbird feeder.

Thank you very much everyone. This has been helpful as it has put me to thinking of what kind of habitat assistance I could provide to the bees during summer or maybe year round. We live in a mountainous area so maybe they have what is needed already but I am going to do some research and find out.

Appreciate everyone's time.

Kate

This is for mason bees. Posters about its unsuitability for swarms or hives are correct but thinking of honeybees. Mason bees do not live in big colonies like honeybees do. Each individual builds her own nest, although they are gregarious and build next to each other.

Yes, I do get leaf cutter bees in my mason bee blocks, but leaf cutters are beneficial polliinators too. I've never gotten wasps in them, wasps build their own nests out of mud and paper, or underground. Mason bees normally nest in crevices in tree trunks so they like the blocks of wood.

Even in a community insane enough to require permits or special zoning for honeybee hives would have no such requirements for mason bee nest blocks.

Yes, mason bees, and really all bees, could use a helping hand due to habitat loss.

Mason bees are active only in spring, when they pollinate fruit trees. They are in the nest blocks as larvae in the summer. They do not visit roses as they are not active when roses are blooming.

Thank you for the lead for Knox Cellars.