Hummingbird Hill Farm at Brigade Bay, Gambier Island

March 2009

I am now the proud 'new Mom' of a new family of 10 Orchard Mason Bees!  For the past year, I have been doing some casual research on the benefits of providing a home to Mason Bees on the island.   

Pictured below, I have taped the bottle of mason bees - in their cocoon - state onto the bee box.  I have given them a nice, sunny and dry spot on my potting shed wall.

Why Have Mason Bees?

• Mason bees are 75% more effective pollinators than honeybees.  Most plants and flowers are pollinated by bees. 
• Fact:  A Honey Bee may visit 700 blooms in a day and pollinate up to 30 blooms, whereas the Mason Bee will visit and pollinate as many as 1600 flowers in only one day! 
• Since the mason bees are early pollinators (emerging as early as March), fruit trees will receive lots of attention from these hard workers.  Apple, plum and other early fruiting trees, as well as flowering plants can greatly benefit from the mason bees.
• It only takes 3-4 female mason bees to pollinate a full size fruit tree.
• In comparison to a honey bee, you would require a few hundred bees for the same task.

What Makes the Bees Stay in My Yard?

• The mason bee is unique in that it will only fly between 200 and 300 feet from its nest. 

Don't Bees Sting?

• The orchard mason bees are solitary and don't require a hive to protect them.  They don't sting unless pinched in your clothing and their sting resembles that of a mosquito bite. 
• They are completely non-agressive.

Mason Bee I.D.

The Orchard Mason Bee, have existed throughout North America since the beginning of creation.  They can be found in various areas throughout the Lower Mainland of British Columbia and may often be mistaken for a common black fly.

• The Mason Bee is tiny and black, with a blue sheen and is only about 2/3 the size of a honey bee.  Its legs are more bee like than that of a black fly.  

Life Cyle of the Mason Bee

• The life cycle of a Mason Bee is about 4-6 weeks.
• In Spring, around March or April, the males emerge first and begin sunning themselves, waiting for the females.  During this phase, the males mostly 'hang around' the Nesting Box.
• After the male and females mate, the female begins her life cycle.
• The female finds a hole (usually no smaller than 5/16 of an inch in diameter) and places her bee bread (a pollen and nectar mixture) in the back of the tube.
• She then places an egg onto the food deposit and plugs it with a mud plug which is light grey in colour.
• The female will go on to lay approximately 35 eggs in about 4-6 weeks.  Each egg is enclosed with its own protective chamber within the nest.
• Females are always laid at the back of the nest and the males are placed in the front.
• A hole of 5/16" diameter and 4" long will typically hold 2 females and 4 males.
• The female is always able to determine the sex it wishes to lay.
• Within 4 days, the egg turns into larva, which begins eating the food provision.
• Within 1 month, the food supply is gone and the larva spins a cocoon.  By the end of September, the final molt has occurred and the cocoon now contains an adult bee.
• The bee stays dormant until the temperature rises again to about 13 -14 degrees in March or April of the following year.

An extremely useful website is posted by Agriculture B.C., on the topic of Apiculture (Bees).  To find out lots more about Mason Bees and other cool stuff, click here!

How to Create a Home for Your Own Orchard Mason Bee Family

Dormant Bees are sold in Nursery Coolers. 

• Your dormant bees will be in their cocoon state and placed in a little plastic pill bottle with a hole in the top and a piece of tape over the hole.
• Delaying the bees time clock: You can refrigerate the dormant bees in the container you purchase them in.  This will delay the beginning of their life cycle.  Don't delay later than April, as the bees will emerge anyway!
  

Step 1:  Make or buy a Nesting Block for the bees to make a home in.

• I bought my Nesting Block at Triple Tree Nursery in Maple Ridge.  Many other Nurseries will also carry these.

Step 2: Place the Nesting Block facing south (sunny location), up a minimum of 4' up from the ground, preferably under an eave of a building ( I have placed mine under the eave of my potting shed in the Vegetable Garden). 

• Your patio is a good place, as the bees are harmless and are fun to watch. 

Step 3: Attach the dormant bee box (with the cocoons) to the nesting block with a piece of strong tape.   

• DO NOT leave the bee box inside the house, as the heat will cause the bees to come out! 

Step 4:  Now you are set!  Sometime in March or April, after about 4 sunny warmish days in a row, the male bees will begin to emerge, then mate with the females.  The females will get busy pollinating your fruit trees and flowers!

• Food Supply: Be sure that there are plenty of early flowering plants and fruit trees in your yard. 
• The bees also need a source of mud close to their Nesting Box.

Step 5:  Enjoy watching your bees!