Hi all!

We have embarked upon this very exciting 'hobby' and wanted to introduce ourselves to the group.

There appears to bee alot of very helpful information in here for us already - and we will do our best to look through there, but I know that my partner - a feisty & excitable 8 year old son - will want to ask many questions anyhow.

We love consulting experts!

Question #1:

What sorts of damage do the pollen mites do? Are there specific ways to prevent this?

Question #2:

Can mason bees see in colour (flowers, etc.?) How good is their sight?

Question #3:

We were reading the threads here, and have a 16 pack of mason bee straws that seem to be calling out to slide oh so easily into an aluminum energy drink can (if we cut the top off, of course)

Would the aluminum make the straws more prone to molding or rotting?

Question #4:

It was suggested at the very store we purchased the straws that we set up our mason bee home SOUTH FACING.

Then another employee said EAST FACING.

Then another said SOUTH-EAST is OKAY.

Then we read this morning online WEST FACING.

Maybe it's a matter of where our own homes are at? - We are in the Lower Mainland, (BC, Canada)

Is the rule of thumb something simpler like "They need to feel the early morning sun on them so make sure they get lots of sunshine" or something like that?

We really liked the picture from one of the members who spoke about the discerning bees prefering BAMBOO.

It's great to see handywork like in the photo - After this posting we plan to go creating our first Mason Bee Home.

Thanks in advance everyone!