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Celebrating Mason Bees
Banks Public Library
Homestead Series
Celebrating Mason Bees & Other Native Pollinators
The Homestead Series is a series of programs we have been offering at the library which focus on teaching skills to increase self-sufficiency, create connection within our community, and also to explore some fun new things to do. Join me, Michele, in celebrating our amazing native mason bees and other pollinators who bring diversity and food to our gardens!
 
Are you wondering why you would want to encourage bees? Are you scared of bees? Orchard Mason Bees are native to our area and super pollinators. They pollinate spring flowers such as fruit trees and berries. More pollination means more fruit! Mason bees are not aggressive and have very little venom if they were to sting you (which is very unlikely). I have hosted mason bees in my garden for 25 years and I have never been stung. I regularly watch them during their active season and they ignore me, flying around me and doing their bee business. Mason bees are a joy to watch and just plain fascinating!
If you are like me and and already host mason bees, it's likely your tubes and blocks are filling up and look much like this photo I took recently. This mild warm weather has kept the bees busy pollinating and laying eggs. Even though they are very active during warm weather, mason bees are native and much more productive pollinators in cool, wet weather than European honeybees. So where's the honey and the queen you ask? Mason bees are solitary bees meaning they do not have a queen. This is probably why they aren't aggressive-- there is no queen to protect. Mason bees do not produce honey. Are you wondering what it going on inside those tubes? Take a look!
As soon as mason bees emerge from their cocoons (usually mid-March) they start mating, pollinating, and laying eggs. In this observatory house you can see the female bee going into the hole to deposit mud, place a pollen lump, lay an egg on it, and add more mud to cap that cell. As you can imagine, this takes many trips! Fun fact: The female lays female bee eggs at the back of the hole so they are extra protected.
 
By July, look how plump those larvae are! Depending on your elevation, the bees may still be laying eggs, but here in the valley they are often finishing up by mid-May. Once your bees are done laying eggs and you see no activity, consider covering your bee tubes and blocks with a tight mesh such as nylon or commercially available covers. Parasitic wasps, tiny predators, will set in and feast on the developing larvae.
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During the summer, the larvae develops a cocoon. By November, a fully developed dormant bee lives in the cocoon. At this time many mason bee keepers choose to clean the cocoons. Cleaning is a way to manage the bees for mites and overall health. November or December is the perfect time to unravel tubes, open houses that can be opened, and remove cocoons for cleaning.
Yes! You can rinse the cocoons! Rinsing the cocoons removes mites that will move from one generation of bees to the next. Another method of cleaning off mites includes swishing the cocoons in a coarse sand. It basically polishes the mites off. I haven't used this method, but the advantage is you don't have to be concerned about moldy cocoons. After rinsing with water you have to allow the cocoons to dry before storing. Once the bees are clean you can inspect them for undeveloped cocoons or cocoons with holes that may have been parasitized.
The dry cocoons can then be stored where you can maintain winter/outside conditions. I find my garden shed works well. A metal container with ventilation protects the cocoons from rodents. Be mindful that sunny winter days can warm some storage places, so be ready to put your cocoons outside in late winter. You will need a cocoon release container. It can be a commercially available one or homemade. You need something to protect the cocoons from blowing away, getting wet or eaten, but has a hole for the bees to fly out. I used a large plastic vitamin bottle with a hole drilled in the lid this year, and just made sure to shade it.
And now you have seen the whole life cycle! As soon as we have a week or so of warm spring weather, the male mason bees start emerging. Shortly after that the females chew their way out of their cocoons and the cycle begins again. Fun fact: The male mason bee as a white mustache.
Male mason bee warming up on the outside of the cocoon release box. What is that yellow stuff? Bee frass (poop).
 
Claiming their holes...
But there are so many more bees to celebrate! The Oregon Bee Project estimates there are approximately 500 species of bees in Oregon.
 
Leafcutter Bees are another solitary bee that is gaining popularity as a bee you can host in your own garden. Leafcutter Bees are summer pollinators, unlike Orchard Mason Bees which are active in the spring. For vegetable garden lovers, Leafcutter Bees are valuable! You can encourage Leafcutter Bees by adding tubes much like mason bee tubes, but smaller in size. Leafcutter Bees like a 6mm diameter opening, whereas mason bees prefer 5/16" opening. Leafcutter bees use leaves instead of mud for capping their holes.
 
Bumble Bees are also great summer pollinators. Some species such as the this orange-rumped Bumble Bee are notorious for nesting in birdhouses. But they are worth it because they help pollinate the veggie garden too.
 
The Xerces Society's site has a wealth of bee and insect information. This Pocket Guide to Identifying Bess of Portland has illustrations of all the bees I have discussed and more.
 
Kanopy, WCCLS's free streaming video service has a number of documentaries on pollination.
Queen of the Sun - What are the Bees Telling Us?
The Coevolution of Who Pollinates Whom
Vanishing of the Bees
Wild Honey - Caring for Bees in a Divided Land
 
You can find many e-books and e-audiobooks on Overdrive by searching keywords "pollination" or  "bees".
 
Thank you for celebrating native bees with me today! Be sure to take some time to wander slowly through your garden or favorite spot and watch for these amazing pollinators.
 
Do you have a pollination or bee story? Please share it with us: BanksPL@wccls.org
 
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