MASON BEES

Mason bees are little gentle insects you rarely see and hardly ever find where they live.
That being said they are even better polinators than the honey bee. Their active life cycle is that they come out of hiding, mate, polinate, store food and use mud to cap both ends of their eggs and resultant larva and insect that will appear at the perfect time the following year. Except for a relatively short period of time they spend the rest of the year in the little hive they create using mud...thus their names Mason Bees. Any shake shingled house is likely allready their home. They like to build their homes in a slot or tube slightly larger than a soda straw.

Their sexual behavior is intresting. When a female emerges she falls to the ground and is immediately serviced by a male. Then she goes about the job of gathering food while polinating allmost any flower or blooming plant. This she takes back to a new open slot or tube and proceeds to lay eggs, place food and mud it in the amount the next years larva need to develop into bees. A coffee can full of the proper sized tubes and tube liners will enable her to place thousands of eggs and food. Her work being done and when food runs out she dies. There is no queen. All females in an area work in the same housing slots or available tubes. What do the males do. Don't know but their first task must not be to bad. They just hang around untill the little ladies hit the ground. I guess they have sex and be about the job of eating to survive and possibly bragging with each other as to how busy they were the past morning.

There are several sites devoted to their development and promotion. Give our friend Google a chance to introduce you to them. Use two words...Mason Bee A family owned firm in Washington or Oregon developed the business with supplies to support bee keepers and the need for the small hive parts. They also ship start up bees in the tubes you will find in their hives.

Unlike honey bees Mason Bees are very gentle. Very rarely sting. It takes good eyes and patience to even see them. My hive is right beside my back door facing East to catch the AM sun.

The pix is my hive. It is about the size of a coffee can. Your only job is to add new slieves for next years femails to fill. These are mud capped eggs and food for next years hatch.

We're going to use mason bees this year as well. Do you store yours in the fridge over the winter? We have honey and bumble bees here, but I think the mason bees would be a nice addition...pixie stick bees :) Thanks for the article.

I keep trying to remember to make a mason bee nest 'one day'--have info in my books--thanks for the reminder, and fun facts.

I followed instructions the first three or four years. Last year I forgot them and left them outside to face the elements. I had the best year thus far. I suspect if you have native Mason Bees that survive the winters leaving them outside will be just fine.

I recently saw similar looking (man made) bee hives for sale at several garden shops while visiting England. I think they called them 'individual' or 'solitary' bees, can't remember. I was tempted to purchase one of the wooden nests; but never having heard of bees of this nature and not knowing if we even had them in the US, I decided to pass.

Now I'm intrigued again; thank you for posting, docgipe. Hineni, you mentioned overwintering in the fridge; that sounds like serious beekeeping stuff. I know nothing about beekeeping and have a very small urban lot. Can I just hang one of these boxes and call it a day...the bees will take over from there?

Why don't you Google .....Mason Bees.......and read up.

For the person that E'd me and others. Some books or guides show how to make a very inexpensive wooden block nest or hive. Not a problem but funny how instructions need to be followed. Understand that the used holes in the block needs to be drilled out each year. This becomes a chore because they do not all hatch at one time. The drilling when a hole is open disturbs the whole remaining active bees. Drilling to clean does not remove any possilble disease. And.....we as humans just forget to clean as advised. The paper tube hive or nest is always easy to work. New tubes are not expensive and always sparkling clean for next year's eggs and food storage.

My initial can of straws took three years to work up to a full can of eggs and food ready for next spring's work. I just now added another can of straws for them to use next spring. I also replace used straws when they become empty. That is the only disease control suggested.

Again.........these little bees do not harm other critters, children or man. I have never been bitten. They are so small one has to be wide awake to even see one.

Great info!

Lois (LTilton) wrote a good DG article on Mason Bees, http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/1050/.

I also had a bit on them in my article on protecting pollinators, with a link at the bottom to the NWF page with instructions for building a (very simple) wood block Bee House. http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/1037/

I'm pretty sure I've got mason bees, honey bees, carpenter bees, and probably at least half a dozen other types out there! With all the flowers blooming, they're all busy as, well, you know. :-)

DOCGIPE,

"STRAWS"? Do you use regular drinking straws, or those purchased from a beekeeper retailer? Would love to know! Pam

If you look at my picture above you should be able to see the straw inside the paper tube.
Either or both items can be replaced. Google up "mason bees" to find suppliers. The original family on the west coast is still the major if not the only supplier that distributes to other retailers.