You could. And it would probably work to some degree, but it's not ideal.

Plastic straws....plastic straws work fine for some people, but they have two main issues.

1) Low yield. If you put two nests of brown paper tubes and plastic straws side by side, you will get more bees in the paper tubes.

2) Mold. Plastic doesn't breathe or wick moisture like paper does, so you may see some more mold and get lower yields because of it.

Regarding the fence post...

1) Short-term solution. The straws will help clean out the bees every year, but still will leave some mud reside (and perhaps parasites) in the back of the drilled hole that you won't be able to get out. It's a solution for a couple of years, but not a long-term one. THe following year you won't be able to stick a straw all the way to the back because some will be blocked.

2) Exposure. Fence posts exposed to winter weather are a lot colder than, say, burrows under in tree bark, or other more protected areas where bees naturally nest. Bees are built to withstand winters, but a fence post will be a colder environment than a house (or cocoons) wintered inside. It might be fine, oir you might get higher winter mortality..it's just a question of risk.

Quickest suggestion: Get a simple drilled wood 2x4 with paper straws and a hook, drive a nail into the fence post, and hang it on the post. Low profile and removeable.

I just bought some populated drilled 2x4s from someone on craigslist--one had multi-colred plastic straws in it, and one had brown paper tubes in it. In twenty-eight 3" holes per block.....the plastic straws had 9 females and 26 males. The same house with brown paper tubes yielded 30 females and 42 males. See what I mean about yield?

My preference is for well-designed houses, but wood blocks will work to some degree, just not nearly as well as the houses.

Hi magala, I'm sorry, I forgot I had this thread. I got distracted with a few things going on and in the meantime, my fam*ily gave me a Mason Bee H*ouse from Gardener's Supply. It is made of Bamboo Tubes that I believe are open at both ends. I just read the other post on best Mason Bee H*ouses and have picked up the idea of putting the paper tubes in my bamboo tubes. I suppose I can do that and that will be preferable to using the bamboo without the paper liner? Are there any tips on rolling the paper to the right size?

So, if I hang it on the f*ence post, could I put it into an unheated shed for the winter? Then when do I clean out the tubes? Can I spray the tubes with the hose after I take out the paper tubes, to clean it further and leave it in the sun to dry, or would that be a bad idea?

I was also considering hanging the h*ouse from a tree branch about 15ft off the ground. It would probably swing in the wind though. Would that be a bad idea?

The place I have in mind is right in back of a perennial border, will that work out?

Here is a link that might be useful: Bamboo Tube Mason Bee House

The other thing about plastic straws besides non-breathing and good environment for mould, it's harder for the bees to "stick" the mud to in the cell divisions. They have to sort of lump it and pile it up. These "Mason Bees", are just that, masons. In fact, one of the identifying anatomical features is to look at the shape of the frons/faces as this is what they use for their masonry work. Within each cell, the insides of the cell where the larvae is developing, when it comes time to spinning their cocoon and orienting themselves the "correct" way, they can sort of feel the smooth surface of the interior side of the mud wall, but the insides of the other, outer wall, is rough since the mother could not smooth this side of the mud division wall. She used her face to fix this wall there and without proper "grippage", plastic doesn't allow for much resistance when she's laying this mud down.
Incidently, the females only want inorganic mud, aka, not healthy black earth. That's why you'll find them going deep say within a rock wall to find more "clayey" stuff. Try digging an irrigation pipe or something and then see the little bees come around. I've got a photo with about 10 bees working at a spot where I was digging, went in for lunch and when I came out, there they were!
On the mounting, stick with firm structure, not swinging. Fence post can work as can a tree trunk. Keep an eye out for ants next, they're a real nuisance. I use tanglefoot (non-toxic) around some of my post but then, I put a good chunk of plywood first on my post and mount the bee condos to that next. I also paint everything U.N. blue and it really sticks out like an interesting project in some fields. Adds to the education of pollination.
Gord

Here is a link that might be useful: How to clean orchard mason bees

Thank you Mr Hutchings. Enjoy your video. I have abandoned any idea of using plastic and nixed the idea of hanging the bee house. I will respond more fully on the other thread.

Hey Prairemoon2, (and anyone else for that matter), you're more than welcome to email me directly and I answer promptly. I have two blog sites but my email at work and home keeps me buzzing at the bees, especially at this time of the year. The questions are good for the general audience to view, but might be simpler if some people have already moved beyond the basics? Just an offer.
I can be reached at hutchings.ge@forces.gc.ca (work) and odonatas@uvic.ca (home). That way I can also get the hate/attacks emails more directly too!
Cheers

The bees love to nest in all of my metal chimes. I have the same bee that comes to my bamboo chime all year. I made a couple of bee houses out of large and small plastic straws and they seem to love them.