Busy Masonry Bees
When inspecting an outbuilding at the rear of a Grade II listed cottage in Essex, some areas of masonry were repointed using hard cementitious mortar. This had caused the relatively soft bricks to erode and I recommended that the cementitious mortar should be carefully removed and replaced with a lime based mortar. This is a fairly common defect however more unusually I found that some of the brickwork joints had Masonry Bee cavities.
Some of the cavities ran along bed joints and appear to be fairly deep, however, did not appear to be affecting the performance or durability of the brickwork.
The bees are opportunists and will re-use old nest sites. They are solitary insects and, like wildlife generally, are efficient pollinators. I therefore advised my client that wall should be periodically monitored and should it start to deteriorate the cavities can be repointed with a compatible lime based mortar.
Artificial nesting boxes can also be placed on or near to help entice bees away from the masonry cavities and prevent recolonisation. These can be home-made or, alternatively, proprietary kits are available.
Project reference code 147.
Busy Masonry Bees
When inspecting an outbuilding at the rear of a Grade II listed cottage in Essex, some areas of masonry were repointed using hard cementitious mortar. This had caused the relatively soft bricks to erode and I recommended that the cementitious mortar should be carefully removed and replaced with a lime based mortar. This is a fairly common defect however more unusually I found that some of the brickwork joints had Masonry Bee cavities.
Some of the cavities ran along bed joints and appear to be fairly deep, however, did not appear to be affecting the performance or durability of the brickwork.
The bees are opportunists and will re-use old nest sites. They are solitary insects and, like wildlife generally, are efficient pollinators. I therefore advised my client that wall should be periodically monitored and should it start to deteriorate the cavities can be repointed with a compatible lime based mortar.
Artificial nesting boxes can also be placed on or near to help entice bees away from the masonry cavities and prevent recolonisation. These can be home-made or, alternatively, proprietary kits are available.
Project reference code 147.
