> I thought of trying to make blocks with the 6 inch holes but they have been
> slow to make because of the 6 inch depth hole.

Leafcutter beekeepers use a Styrofoam system.  It consists of a stack of flat,
thin styro pieces grooved on top and bottom.  When stacked and bound together,
the grooves form round holes.  At the end of the season, the stacks are taken a
part and the cocoons rubbed gently out of the grooves into bulk bins.  The
cocoons are stored over winter at controlled temperature, then fumigated against
pests and incubated.  When ready to hatch, trays of cocoons are placed in
shelters near a nest block.

Three pictures of such a shelter with all the apparatus inside and some
discussion can be seen at
http://www.internode.net/HoneyBee/diary/Diary071700.htm near the bottom of the
page, or a direct link to just one of the pictures is
http://www.internode.net/HoneyBee/diary/images/SummerDivides/PIC00029.JPG  The
black and white patterns on the assembled blocks are for orientation purposes.

Maybe a similar system would work for these bees?  If not, maybe using 3/4" or
1/2" boards grooved top and bottom on a router and bound together with tape or
through bolts would work?

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allen