[MAK]

Bees?
I have an old stone barn built in 1912 in La Creuse,Limousin. Masons from La Creuse would walk to Paris for the winter when they rebuilt it of stone to the garnd design. So the barn was built well by local masons.
I am unsure of what they used as a finnish mortar but the thick walls are packed with a course sand and the finnish morar is soft and white. The mortar between the large stone blocks is fine high up but missing below a meter or so with deep gaps between some stones. All sides of the barn are affected ( although the pigs have had a go at the mortar too),
A Fench builder told me that bees eat the mortar.
I thought that it was mice and lizzards that run or dig between te stones that have taken it's toll.
Started to use a sand/clay ( taken from the cliff near the lake) with cement to re-point. Hot day today and plenty of bees on the walls of the barn low down.
Anyone heard of this? 
 

[lachlanandmarcus]

Our old cottage in Herts was made of soft bricks with lots of shell etc in them and sandy mortar, the masonry bees loved it and the walls were full of their burrows. They are solitary but they like neighbours it seems. Some places there was no mortar left, so yes it could be them.


Would the original mortar not have been lime, ESP for softish stone?? Interestingly My lime for pointing our building comes from France.

[MAK]

Masonry bees heh - maybee I should have looked this up as I feel foolish now.
yes the white mortar is as you say but it has only been used to point up between the stone. My guess is that the white moratar to pint up is not local and too expensive. The small cliffs at the side of the lane near the lake are regulalrly excavated. this stuff is used to build 600mm to 1m thick walls. It is odd stuff - sandy but a bit of clay in it with freeze thaw braeking up the stone. I think the sand must be igneous as the cliff is on the side of Le Puy and we have extinct volcanoes around us. 

[suziequeue]

Wow - interesting geology :-)

[MelRice]

Yep MAK Masonry bees make lots of holes in my barn too. They did use a very sandy mortar between my granite then I presume its a lime mortar over the top.....We also have lots of wood core with clay/straw fill covered in lime render....the bees love the exposed stuff too!