Glossary
A solitary bee in the genus Osmia that nests in pre-existing cavities (hollow reeds, beetle holes, drilled wood) and seals each egg cell with a mud partition. Mason bees are exceptionally efficient pollinators of fruit trees and garden crops, pollinating 100 times more flowers per bee than honey bees.
Mason bees are the unsung heroes of pollination. While honey bees get most of the public attention, a single mason bee visits 1,500 to 2,000 flowers per day (versus 50 to 100 for a honey bee). The reason: mason bees are "messy" pollinators. Rather than methodically packing pollen into neat baskets like honey bees, mason bees carry pollen loosely on their fuzzy abdomens, and it falls off onto every flower they visit. This inefficiency as pollen collectors makes them supremely efficient as pollinators.
Unlike honey bees, mason bees do not live in colonies. Each female is a self-sufficient unit: she mates in spring, selects a nesting tube (natural hollow stem, beetle bore hole, or human-provided drilled block), provisions each cell with a pollen-nectar ball, lays one egg per cell, seals it with a mud partition (hence "mason"), and repeats until the tube is full. She works alone, with no queen, no workers, and no social hierarchy. Each female makes all her own decisions.
Mason bees are ideal garden companions. They are extremely gentle (they can sting but almost never do, lacking the colony-defense motivation of honey bees). They are active in cool spring weather when honey bees are still clustered inside. They are easy to attract with simple wooden blocks drilled with 5/16-inch holes, or with commercially available mason bee houses. And their pollination efficiency means a small population of 50 to 100 mason bees can pollinate a backyard orchard that would require thousands of honey bees.
No. Mason bees do not produce honey. They collect pollen and nectar to provision their nest cells, but they do not store excess food or produce any harvestable product. Their value is exclusively as pollinators, and they are among the best in the world at that job.
Provide nesting habitat: a wooden block drilled with 5/16-inch diameter holes, 6 inches deep, or commercially available paper tube nesting systems. Face the nest block east or southeast for morning sun. Ensure there is mud available nearby (mason bees need mud to seal their cells). Plant spring-blooming flowers, especially fruit trees, and avoid pesticide use during bloom.
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