"The huts are used to shelter leafcutting bees (Megacile Rotundata). These are pollinating bees used to work the flowers in alfalfa fields across Western Canada and the USA. These bees are classed as "solitary" bees, as opposed to the societal, and better known honey bee
Inside these huts will be a number of domiciles where the female bees (the ones that do all the work!) make their homes in tunnels. They take cuttings from the leaves of selected plants, and use these to form a cup-shaped container into which they will deposit a mixture of pollen and nectar gathered from the alfalfa flowers. They then deposit an egg next to this cache of food and seal the container with more leaf-cuttings. As the egg develops into a larvae, then pupates, it uses up all the food supply, then spins its cocoon and goes into a happy state of 'diapause', which lasts through the winter.
The huts open to the South-East (approximately) in order to let the morning sun light up and warm up the hives inside, encouraging the bees to get to work as early as possible. This was more critical with earlier types of shelters than the newer poly domes which are more transparent, and warm up from any direction."
David Gislason, Image #9-H Headlights, Manitoba's Uncommon Sites and Sights, n.d.Web. 8 Nov 2014
