You’ve heard about the bee… but have you heard about the mason bee? There are approximately 20,000 known species of bee on this planet, and 139 of those species are mason bees. If you’ve never heard of them, let me fill you in a bit because these little critters are amazing! I think they are amazing… can you tell? Lol! I get excited about animals sometimes. Let me share a little and then let’s see if you are a little excited too 😉
Here are some of the reasons I love mason bees:
Mason Bees are a solitary species, meaning they don’t live in a hive. Most people think of a hive when they think of a bee, but that’s because the honeybee lives in a hive. The honeybee is the most well known, but it is definitely not the only bee. Mason bees are beneficial to us as gardeners because we don’t need to become beekeepers to enlist their help in our garden.
Mason Bees are non-aggressive and don’t sting. Whaaat? A bee that doesn’t sting? Yep, that’s correct. They can sting, but it’s incredibly rare. Honeybees have a queen and a hive to protect, and they will give their life to do so. Did you know that when a bee stings you they die? It’s true.. And sad! If they feel threatened, they will sting to protect their hive. Mason bees, however, don’t have a queen and a hive to protect… so they are nice and carefree. They are the safest bee around pets and children for this reason.
Solitary bees make up a little over 90% of the total bee populations. It’s true! The poor solitary bees… they don’t get any credit, yet they make up almost all the bees on the planet. Those honeybees get all the attention! You’ve almost certainly seen a mason bee and didn’t even know it.
Mason Bees get their name because of their use of mud, like a mason. This is so cool! Since they don’t have a hive to lay their eggs in, the females find natural holes or cracks in trees, logs, or any man-made structure they can. After they breed, the female starts laying her eggs in the back of the hole or crack. Then she packs in pollen and nectar for food and puts a layer of mud to section off that egg. Once the hole or crack is full, she then seals it with more mud to keep the eggs safe.
Mason bees have a 95% pollination rate vs. the honeybee’s 5%. Mason bees are the superheroes of the bee world. Honeybees collect pollen and nectar for their hive. Everything the honeybee gathers is literally for the hive. The mason bee, however, doesn’t have a hive to give the pollen and nectar to. For this reason, the mason bee carries more pollen on its body when it is traveling from flower to flower. Also, the mason bee is a very furry bee, meaning that it has more hair that the pollen sticks to. The combination of having a furry body and not needing to give the pollen to a hive sends their pollination rate through the roof!
OK… I’m checking in with you?…. Are you at least a little excited about these critters? They are kinda cool, right?
There are so many amazing animals on this planet. I truly believe that we can do a better job of living in balance with nature. The first step is learning about them! YAY! If you are reading this, it means you now know a little about the mason bees. The next step is to adjust what you are doing to help them thrive. It doesn’t always take huge effort to help many of the animals that live around us. Encouraging the mason bees to live in your yard and garden is a perfect example of that. To learn more about how to encourage mason bees to live in your garden, keep an eye out for our Friends In Your Garden micro-course coming soon.
Carrie Sylvester – Wildlife and Eco Educator
Carrie has lived and worked with animals her entire life. She is driven by a passion to help the animals and planet through her teaching. She began her professional career as a Registered Veterinary Technician. After spending a total of 10 years in veterinary hospitals, she returned to school to study Animal Training, Zoo Keeping, and Wildlife Education. In these three categories, she has had the privilege of working at the Los Angeles Zoo with the California Condors, training dogs and many exotic animals (including a Wolf and Mountain Lion), and providing hands-on live animal education programs to thousands of children. Following her dream of providing impactful education, she has been the director of a Zoo Day Camp for children and founded a non-profit organization. This passion has now met the world of gardening as she fulfills another dream… having a big, healthy, organic garden!
Want to help save the bees?
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Do you have Mason Bee’s in your garden? Share your experience!
We have had mason bee homes built for use on our farm and learning center. We love them.
I would love your advice on carpenter bees. I don’t want to kill them, but can’t afford for them to eat my house.
Thanks.
Thanks for the info and support of the mason bee. I’d love to build a mason bee hotel but we have a problem with European wasps. How can I make sure the hotel doesn’t just provide a home for them?
I had heard of Mason bees, but I didn’t realize the extent of their fabulousness. 🙂 Thank you for the info! Keep up the good work
I have raised Mason bees for the first time this spring. My blueberry and elder berry harvest was double of normal. What do you recomend for early spring flowers?
Just wonderful! I’m an art teacher at a charter school that values learning about the natural world. We have beautiful garden boxes, composters and I think something that is missing are Mason bee homes! I’ll get to work on that this fall!
My daughter had a mason bee abode in her Colorado yard. I’d like to have one here in New York State. Any advice?
I have big fuzzy bees around my house, that MAKE holes in my house. I’ve always called them Carpenter bees. Are these Mason bees?
In response to Kathy,
Attracting Mason bees is often as simple as simply providing for their needs! This means building or buying nesting tunnels and supplying both bee food and mud for them to build their home(s). As you mentioned, one can purchase eggs; although, it’s likely the population will establish and increase naturally if provided the basic materials needed for them to establish home.
Thank you for engaging in our community!
In response to Marian Tarasovich,
Mason bees indeed do happily reside in mountain desert climates! In fact, they are a crucial pollinator of the high deserts of Arizona; although, changing climates have started to affect this. Absolutely worth going for it though it seems!
Thanks for being part of our community!
Bee
This is amazing!! Is there any crafts or mason bee info sheets we can post in our community garden?
Wonderful to know about the Mason bee. I had no idea. In fact if I’m correct, they are scared looking. I’ve seen them occasionally on my Palo Verde tree and wondered about them.
I have thought about getting mason bees attracted to my garden. I bought two little houses for them(eggs) but i think I put them out too late.
How does one “,get,” mason bees, meaning how do I attract them to my garden?
Thank you
Had a mason bee nesting box on my shed…..easy to put up and I had a great vegetable crop!
Very interested in learning more about these mason bees. Would like to know if they can survive in in mountain desert climate?
THIS IS VERY,VERY…….INTERESTING…Mario…83 YEAR YOUNG….CANADIAN