Blue Orchard Mason Bees

Mason bees are one of several thousand species of solitary bees in Canada. A solitary bee is one that attends to her young without the support of other bees. Mason Bees are the silent pollinators of gardens and crops because they are usually mistaken for flies. They are blue and green, and sometimes incandescent. These little insects do not sting.

Home Sweet Home for a Mason Bee

• Mason bees nest in holes in mortar, in straws, and in abandoned woodpecker nests. Two entrances are needed to allow the first bees to leave the hive without disturbing the developing ones.
• Despite their solitary nature, mason bees can be easily managed in one's backyard. Each bee is responsible for building its nest and feeding itself. Female mason bees live for approximately six weeks.
• A Mason Bee's Life
  Both male and female mason bees emerge from cocoons in the spring to mate.
• Females build nests and forage for nectar and pollen. The nectar and pollen is formed into a mass.
• Males live under leaves or in crevices and mate with virgin queens.
• When a female has enough nectar and pollen to feed her larvae, she lays a single egg upon the nectar and pollen mass and seals it closed with a mud pack. She continues to do this until the nest is full of larvae.
• Female mason bees continues to build hives until they can no longer produce eggs or until they die.
• The larvae eat the nectar and pollen, spin a cocoon to pupate, and then emerge in the spring.

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