The bees will then hibernate for about 10 months and later emerge with great energy for more pollination duty. Known for being solitary, hard workers, mason bees are only active for about 8–10 weeks in the spring, typically from mid-March until the end of May or early June (the best time for pollinating fruit trees and berries). Mason bees gained their name from the way that the females protect their eggs: They’ll form an egg chamber in the deepest part of their hole and seal it with mud, repeating the process until the hole is full of eggs. Many of our customers tell us that they harvest much more fruit than before they raised Mason Bees. Orchard Mason Bees are super cross-pollinators that help us grow more fruit and berries. Mason bees work alone, but like to nest in groups when possible there is no cooperation concerning the nest’s construction or the rearing of the brood, and therefore, no aggression issues! Our Orchard Mason Bees are hard-working hole-nesting bees that are native to Vancouver Island and western North America. One tray is inverted and stacked onto the other so that the channels line up, creating a cozy corridor in which baby mason bees can develop. Margriet Dogterom, is really two trays with channels cut out with a table saw for the bees to nest in. Unlike garden-variety honeybees, mason bees are nonsocial creatures that nest in holes rather than in a hive with a queen. One design, which is nicely detailed in Pollination with Mason Bees (Beediverse, 2009) by Dr. We sell and all things Mason bees related including books, housing, and accessories in order to begin backyard Orchard Mason beekeeping. Orchard mason bees look very similar to common house flies, with black bodies and a dark blue iridescent sheen. Knox Cellars Mason Bees is an Orcahrd Mason bee distributor. Osmia lignaria, referred to as the orchard mason bee or blue orchard bee, is the most common species found in the Pacific Northwest. In North America, there are about 140 different mason bee species - with about 200 species worldwide. The best news is that these hyperefficient pollinators do wonders for fruit crops and gardens! Keeping native non-stinging mason bees - even in urban spaces - is a surprisingly easy way to help the environment, and it’s also an inexpensive and educational project for kids. Mason bee admirers say this can be addressed by keeping mason bees in a cooler until they’re needed. Mason bees are named for their habit of using mud or other 'masonry' products in constructing their nests, which are made in naturally occurring gaps such as between cracks in stones or other small dark cavities. In recent years, concerns have been mounting over the environmental impacts of pollinator decline, giving rise to focused conservation efforts by average families to protect, enhance and foster agricultural pollination through beekeeping. Mason bee is a name now commonly used for species of bees in the genus Osmia, of the family Megachilidae.
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