Author Topic: Mason Bees  (Read 7333 times)

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Offline apisbees

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Mason Bees
« on: February 21, 2016, 03:02:27 pm »
Mason Bees are one of the most misunderstood friends in the garden.

Mason Bees nest in 3⁄8” (.95 cm) tubes like the ones found in the new Mark’s Choice® Mason Bee House. All you do is mount the house out of the wind, about 6 1⁄2 feet high (2 m), and clean it out with a drill once a year. Place mason bee houses as close as possible to plants that will benefit from pollination.

The female mason bee enters a nesting cell head first to regurgitate nectar, then backs out, turns around, and backs in to deposit pollen. The last load for the cell is nectar only, to which she attaches the egg. The egg hatches in about one week. There are five larval stages, and the second stage is when the pollen wad is used for food. The developing larva will cocoon in the fifth stage and pupate in late summer. Then it takes about a month to meta-morphose into an adult bee, which will hibernate until the following spring.

The female mason bee allows about 3⁄4” (1.9 cm) of the hole for the new bee to develop, at which point she constructs a mud wall to seal the chamber — thus the name ‘mason’ bee. Then she starts collecting pollen and nectar for the next egg. She continues this procedure until the hole is filled. In her lifetime, a female mason bee can lay 30 to 35 eggs. The female mason bee is very wise; she lays the females at the back of the hole and the males towards the front. In the event of predator attacks the males are sacrificed first, hopefully leaving the females to reproduce the next year.

In the spring, the males emerge first and wait for the females to leave the nest, generally a few days later. Shortly after mating, the female gets to work gathering pollen for the next generation of mason bees. The male mason bees also visit flowers but only to get nectar for their own consumption.

Mason bee houses should be cleaned after the adult bees emerge in the spring by reaming the nesting cavity in the nesting box with a 3⁄8” (.95 cm) drill bit. You will know the bees have emerged from the tubes when the mud plug is gone.

Mason Bee House



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Offline apisbees

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Re: Mason Bees
« Reply #1 on: February 21, 2016, 03:08:30 pm »
Quote
The female mason bee is very wise; she lays the females at the back of the hole and the males towards the front. In the event of predator attacks the males are sacrificed first, hopefully leaving the females to reproduce the next year.

It is a Female thing.. Not the being wise but the sacrificing males...
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Offline Perry

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Re: Mason Bees
« Reply #2 on: February 21, 2016, 03:44:56 pm »
Quote
The female mason bee is very wise; she lays the females at the back of the hole and the males towards the front. In the event of predator attacks the males are sacrificed first, hopefully leaving the females to reproduce the next year.

It is a Female thing.. Not the being wise but the sacrificing males...

 :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

Great post.  :nice:
I may try one or two in the back yard this year, certainly cheap enough to make. Does it matter which way they face?
"It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor."      
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Offline neillsayers

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Re: Mason Bees
« Reply #3 on: February 21, 2016, 04:49:52 pm »
I may try my hand at this also. I know they are in these woods. Can only help to have them around the garden.
Neill Sayers
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Offline Jen

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Re: Mason Bees
« Reply #4 on: February 21, 2016, 10:20:35 pm »
This is my mason bee house, it was giving to me 3 years ago. The first season I got a few leaf cutter bees nesting in it. 2 years ago this house was almost full off leaf cutter bees. Last year Nothing! and have never had a mason bee nest in it. But I would love to have mason bees in this house. The people who build these say the mason bee is very friendly.






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Offline Lburou

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Re: Mason Bees
« Reply #5 on: February 21, 2016, 10:39:35 pm »
Thanks for posting, I enjoyed that.  :-)
Lee_Burough

Offline apisbees

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Re: Mason Bees
« Reply #6 on: February 22, 2016, 01:18:30 am »
Jen do you see many mason bees in your area? if not you may need to buy some and stock your area. Talk to your ladies farm group if any of them have masons in their area you could set up a block to get some.
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Offline Jen

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Re: Mason Bees
« Reply #7 on: February 22, 2016, 12:58:12 pm »
Not too many, occationally, like the occational bumble. But if I bring mason bees into my area, will they drill holes into my house? I think people who want to nest mason bees might want to know that.

Is this what you are talking about Apis?


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Offline apisbees

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Re: Mason Bees
« Reply #8 on: February 22, 2016, 04:33:58 pm »
The one you have a pitcher of is Osmia lignaria, commonly known as the orchard mason bee or blue orchard bee
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osmia_lignaria
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Offline Bakersdozen

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Re: Mason Bees
« Reply #9 on: February 22, 2016, 08:27:38 pm »
Stark Bros. 2016 catalog has Mason Bee nest and replacement tubes.  Nests are $19.99 each and a bundle of 100 replacement tubes is $16.99.  The cocoons are not offered.