Once you know the
mason bees, you may want to invite them to your slice of earth to help counter the negative effects of
declining honeybee colonies. Encouraging mason bees could be an important step
in ensuring that some of our fresh foods continue to be available and
affordable. Orchardists and home gardeners can raise them.
Mason Bees (also known as Orchard Bees) are exceptional pollinators. Pollen collects on their bellies
rather than on their hind legs. Masons work with mud to build and seal their
nests in naturally occurring gaps such as between cracks in stones or other
small dark cavities. They also readily accept premade nests of hollow tubes or
bee houses placed by the small gardener. Only use nesting materials that allow
you to open, inspect, and harvest cocoons. Visual inspections can greatly
reduce predator populations. Watch out for a new predator, the Houdini Fly.
Each female bee tends to its
own brood. The first brood cells that the bee makes (those that are furthest
back) will develop into female bees, while the ones closer to the entrance of
the nest will become males. Scientists believe that bees do this for one of two
reasons: males need to emerge first. They gorge themselves with food while they
wait for new females to hatch, they mate, and then they die. Females are much
more important to the reproduction of a species. Putting the males as a barrier
increases the survival and fitness of the species.
The favorite food for their
brood includes anything that flowers in spring and some nectar. They generally
travel only short distances from their nesting site for nectar sources (around
200 to 300 feet is normal). Females collect this food, bring it to their nests
and knead it into a ball, mixing it with nectar and their saliva. When the food
store is big enough, they lay an egg on top of this mass and seal-off the
chamber or cell with mud. Then they go to work on the next cell. The larvae grow and by the
end of summer, metamorphose into pupae and later into adults, which remain safe
and sound inside the nest until the next spring. They begin emerging when
temperatures reach 50 to 55 degrees. Mason Bees are pollinators that are worth some time and effort. Attract them to your garden, provide them a place to nest, and keep them coming back.
