mason bees

[majorcatfish]

searched past posts on mason bees, with no real help on answering what I was looking for..
ok we have wild bees, carpenter bees, bumble bees.
just wondering if anyone has or does use the mason bee in their garden?

 

[catjac1975]

I bought a very pretty mason bee hive from a gardening site. I do not think I have had any tenants. If any just a few.

 

[hoodat]

They're great little pollinators and they fly when it's too cold or cloudy for honeybees to work. I've put up bee blocks at several locations but don't seem able to get them interested in using them. I think it's because my soil is too sandy for them to use as plugs over the eggs. I've seen them in my garden quite often but can't attract any permanent residents.

 

[canesisters]

You're TRYING to encourage carpenter bees???

 

[lesa]

I bought one of those too, Cat. Still no residents... Happy I have my honeybees!

 

[majorcatfish]

You're TRYING to encourage carpenter bees???

not at all canesisters, we have a couple down trees that are in a middle of a wild rose patch...

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

after reading a little about mason bees i think i'm interested in getting a few for my future fruit trees and canes! i was looking around and found a site that mentions that mason bees prefer to nest where other mason bees have made their nests in past years. so you might need something to attract them to those new nest boxes/houses if they weren't used. http://www.crownbees.com/crown-bees/essential-accessories/bee-attractant/ they sell an attractant to lure the wild/local bees to your box.

 

[thistlebloom]

I thought I had seen them sold as eggs in the nesting tubes, then you hang them under a protected eave and when they hatch out they come back and lay their eggs again in that nest. ???

 

[majorcatfish]

that's what I have read as well, looks like I going to have to try it out next year.
the wild bees and other bugs have done a good job, but would like to see in the improvement on the pollination of my blackberries.
if anyone else has dealing with them would love to hear your reports...

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

from what i've been seeing on most sites is you should keep them refrigerated till spring so they don't come out of their cocoons too early in the thawing during winter. it also mentioned removing the cocoons from the tube during winter to inspect and make sure there are no parasites, disease or fungus that could have gotten in the tube.