Mason bees

Preacherman

Yearling... With promise
I’m curious as to how many out there are into nesting mason bees for pollination. I have about 100 fruit trees of many varieties including apples, crabapples, pears, persimmons, cherries as well as chestnuts. I have been nesting mason bees to help with pollination and find it fascinating and enjoyable.
 
I put up the little houses/hives for them and do the drill holes in unsplit wood, I see them around all summer and the mud sealed holes that they are using the homes I made for them.
 
I put a couple houses out just to see if they work. I was surprised they used both of them. I planted buckwheat one year and didn't get to plowing it under in time. The buckwheat flowers brought in thousands of bee's. I still have no idea how thousands of them just pop up out of nowhere, but it was pretty cool.I believe they were mason bee's. If you want bee's I would put in a buckwheat plot.
 
I put a couple houses out just to see if they work. I was surprised they used both of them. I planted buckwheat one year and didn't get to plowing it under in time. The buckwheat flowers brought in thousands of bee's. I still have no idea how thousands of them just pop up out of nowhere, but it was pretty cool.I believe they were mason bee's. If you want bee's I would put in a buckwheat plot.
Mason bees are spring bees, so probably weren't still active by the time your buckwheat flowered. However, there are tons of varieties of solitary bees, including leafcutters, that seal the hole with leaf material, and resin bees, who seal them with a paste they make from soil. Then there are lots that just nest in the ground as well.

I have 4 different houses out, each with multiple sizes of tubes for them. It's amazing how many just show up when you provide the habitat for them.
 
I'm certainly not an expert on mason bees but I always have a bunch in my firewood pile (hickory, if that matters).
I think they are an early season bee so they seem to be past active by the time a lot of stuff is blooming.
I've also read that their hone range is pretty short, so if you want them to pollinate early bloomers like pears you might want to locate them close by.
That being said, I really like masons. Nice little critters.
 
These are all good comments. Mason bees are spring bees that pollinates my pear, plum, apple, cherry, and peach trees when they bloom in March-April. Yes they have a short 300-400 ft home range. The females have a life span of about 40 days and lay about 40 eggs. Due to the decline of honey bees, mason bees are a good replacement for spring pollination and they are 100 times better at it. From fall to spring, I keep my reeds filled with bees in my shed fridge. When my trees bloom out, I take the reeds out and set them in the sun near plenty of new reeds in my nesting houses to fill up. Crown Bees company is a good source for info and supplies.
 
So now I did a little more research on mason bees because I didn't know they were a spring bee before this thread. The bees in wi, that I think they are now are leaf cutter or cellophane bee's. They were in the buckwheat in July. Any bee experts know if they are good polinators? I've asked this question once to a bee farmer, but didn't get a answer. I would like to know how I can in just one year have thousands of them. Where did they come from? Are they local and just congregate there, or a big swarm from who knows where and just dropped in?
 
I got some of the houses when on sale over winter,have you found what seems to be favored places to mount the houses
 
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I'm no bee expert, but from doing a lot of reading on native pollinators the last 5 or 6 years, and talking via e-mail to 2 Penn State bee experts - there are several native bees that are good pollinators. Blue orchard bees (osmia lignaria), horn-faced bees (osmia cornifrons), leaf-cutter bees (don't remember the scientific name), and others are ALL good pollinators. They're solitary bees, meaning they don't have a "queen" - so they aren't likely to sting because they aren't defending a nest with a "queen" like honeybees. Some are earlier to make their appearance, others mid-season, and still others are later-season arrivals. It's good to have several kinds around for multi-season pollination. (Ruskbucks' bees in his buckwheat in July).

The Penn State profs told me that native bees are already out there, and that providing nesting sites with various-sized holes for the different bees will likely attract them to lay eggs in the holes. Some varieties of mason bees also need a supply of clayish mud nearby to seal off the individual egg chambers in the holes. Crown Bees is a good source of info and nesting material to get started. Check with your local universities for good info as well.

Like Tap, I have them in my wood piles too. They land on my wife and me, hang out for a few minutes, then fly off. They've hit me in the face many times as they fly out of their holes and never a sting. They love our ornamental crab apples in the yard. Our mason bees usually appear in April here.
 
So now I did a little more research on mason bees because I didn't know they were a spring bee before this thread. The bees in wi, that I think they are now are leaf cutter or cellophane bee's. They were in the buckwheat in July. Any bee experts know if they are good polinators? I've asked this question once to a bee farmer, but didn't get a answer. I would like to know how I can in just one year have thousands of them. Where did they come from? Are they local and just congregate there, or a big swarm from who knows where and just dropped in?
I am familiar with Leafcutter bees and they are smaller than mason bees and are summer bees that are terrific pollinators for flowers and gardens. They are similar to mason bees but uses pieces of leaves instead of mud to close up the egg and nectar loaf in each compartment within a reed or hole in wood or soil. Unusual I think to have thousands of Leafcutters to suddenly show up.
 
I got some of the houses when on sale over winter,have you found what seems to be favored places to mount the houses
I hope you didn’t get the short houses like Tractor Supply sells. Mason bees love reeds that are 5/16” X 6” while Leafcutters prefer 1/4” X 6”. Reeds made of cardboard material in these sizes were reasonably priced BB (Before Biden). I try to place my houses under an overhang out of the rain. Ideally about 6 -10’ off the ground. If you are attracting mason bees, an acceptable soil supply should be near the nesting area (FL sand won’t work).
 
I am familiar with Leafcutter bees and they are smaller than mason bees and are summer bees that are terrific pollinators for flowers and gardens. They are similar to mason bees but uses pieces of leaves instead of mud to close up the egg and nectar loaf in each compartment within a reed or hole in wood or soil. Unusual I think to have thousands of Leafcutters to suddenly show up.
I wish I knew what they were for sure. It seems strange that if they are leafcutters because it says they are solitary nesters. It was one of the crazier things I've seen with these bee's in my two plots. My wife stopped to get my trail cameras and had to walk thru the buckwheat. She told me about all the bees and said that wasn't very smart of me to plant that since I'm allergic to bee stings. I didn't have trouble with any of them even when discing the buckwheat in. I haven't seen them since, this was 7 or 8 years ago. I have a couple of those tsc bee houses I bought for like $5. Some of the tubes are capped off. I thought they were mason bees, think they might be something else now.
 
I imagine mine are 5/16,I was surprised on the instructions they said to bring inside in the winter and then put back outside in spring and the eggs will hatch
 
I wish I knew what they were for sure. It seems strange that if they are leafcutters because it says they are solitary nesters. It was one of the crazier things I've seen with these bee's in my two plots. My wife stopped to get my trail cameras and had to walk thru the buckwheat. She told me about all the bees and said that wasn't very smart of me to plant that since I'm allergic to bee stings. I didn't have trouble with any of them even when discing the buckwheat in. I haven't seen them since, this was 7 or 8 years ago. I have a couple of those tsc bee houses I bought for like $5. Some of the tubes are capped off. I thought they were mason bees, think they might be something else now.
Although there are around 20,000 varieties of bees, solitary bees as far as I know don’t sting. If you catch one in your fist, they may bite trying to get free but that hardly hurts. Solitary bees do not make honey. They’re useful as great pollinators. Those TS houses will attract some bees but are not the best for spring mason bees or summer leafcutter bees. Being from the south, I don’t have a clue which variety showed up in a swarm in your buckwheat.
 
I imagine mine are 5/16,I was surprised on the instructions they said to bring inside in the winter and then put back outside in spring and the eggs will hatch
I leave my reeds and drilled wood nesting blocks for mason bees outside until mid May. Then I take the reeds which I have in small bundles and put them in a plastic container in my shed. I cover the container with cheesecloth to keep a small wasp (main predator) from getting to them. Over the summer, the bees develope to maturity but are dormant. Around Oct-Nov, I put the reeds and drill wood blocks as they are into a small fridge for the winter. Some people go to the trouble of opening the paper reeds and taking out the individual cocoons and storing the cocoons with extra care in the fridge. Why the fridge? It helps with timing. As long as they are in the fridge they will not hatch out prematurel. I wait until warm weather and some of my trees bloom out and take some out of the fridge placing them near my new nesting setup. I don’t put all bees out at the same time. The warmer temperature will wake them and they will chew themselves out males first (God created the female bees to know when to lay a female egg in the back 3/4 of the reed and male eggs in the front to hatch out first). The males wait on the females to come out and breed. The males life is over. He lives only a few days and has one purpose. But the females will live about 40 days and lay about 40 eggs and the life cycle starts all over again. Hope this is not TMI.
 
Hope this is not TMI.

That is great information Preacherman. This is still a dead time of the year, so I am tempted to build a house and see if I can get some of these workers take up residence in my orchard. Good info. - thanks.
 
That is great information Preacherman. This is still a dead time of the year, so I am tempted to build a house and see if I can get some of these workers take up residence in my orchard. Good info. - thanks.
If you need too, you can order some mason bee cocoons from Crown Bees to get started. Not cheap but now would be the time. But starting off by seeing if there are some close enough to you to find your nesting house just might work.
 
If you need too, you can order some mason bee cocoons from Crown Bees to get started. Not cheap but now would be the time. But starting off by seeing if there are some close enough to you to find your nesting house just might work.
I checked out crown bee's per your suggestion. I think it answered a lot of my questions. Leafcutters definitely fit the description. They are also known as alfalfa bee's. There is a horse farm 3/4 mile down the road with a alfalfa field. It also said they pollinate almost any flower in June/July. They also prefer soft leaves such as buckwheat. Crown bee's sells a 4ft wood nest they claim has 10,000 bee's. I think this is my mystery bee.
 
Thanks to preacherman for kicking off this conversation, and the rest of you guys for chiming in with your experiences. I kinda got hooked on these efficient little pollinators, so I made my version of a mason bee house from scrap I had laying around. I hope they’re not too picky.

I first made 3-sided box 7”x12”x7” with a 10” roof. They say not to use pressure treated wood, but that is all I had, so I cut them to a 6” length, then drilled three 5/16 hole all the way through in each block. Because I lined the holes with parchment paper, I figured the P.T. wood will be ok because it will not come in contact with the bees, their cocoons, or their larvae. I left enough parchment paper coming out the back side so I can remove them come fall and store the cocoons over winter for release wherever I want next spring. The hardest part for a fat-finger, clumsy bloke like me is to wrap and insert the parchment paper liners! It should be fun to see what happens when placed in the orchard this spring.

2022 04-10 mason bee house from scrap.jpg
 
Looks like I need more capacity.
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The top one hangs by the garden and is used mostly by resin bees. The bottom one is out in the orchard and is used mostly by leafcutter bees.
 
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