Warming and Emergence Box

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The warming and emergence box is made of polystyrene foam (shown in blue) and polycarbonate (light blue) and fits inside standard outdoor bee shelters. Adult bees overwinter in tiny cocoons inside paper drinking straws (white) attached to sticky boards (yellow). When sufficiently warmed by the heating unit (red), the bees exit via the tube at lower right and soon begin pollinating blossoms. The box can accommodate roughly 1400 bees—about seven cocoons will fit within each of the 200 straws. Sketch by Ellen Klomps, ARS.