Bees bring a new dimension to your garden: they’re interesting to watch, are easily bred and are the main pollinators of our fruit trees.
In particular, the native mason bee (Osmia lignaria) can be enticed to stay in your garden by adding bee boxes, which are also a boon for these beneficial buzzers since natural nesting sites are often scarce. Because these specific bees only use pre-existing cavities, the basic nesting requirement is a hole-like structure in wood or another material.
Building a bee box is as simple as drilling holes into a piece of wood or making your own nesting straws. You can also buy nests made out of plastic that fit together and can be cleaned. Ones that can be opened and cleaned (such as the nesting straws or trays) are better for producing healthy mason bees each year.
The box should be set out in early spring. As the eggs hatch, the larvae will then create cocoons in which they will mature over the summer; they will remain in these cocoons over winter, emerging as adults in spring.
In late fall, to keep the cocoons safe from pests and preserve them for next spring, it’s essential to gently transfer them from the nesting straws into a dry, cool place—such as a can with a lid—and store in a shed or unheated garage (a basement would be too warm). In early spring, carefully place the cocoons into new nesting tunnels and back into the bee box to begin the process anew.
If there are local mason bees, they will find the nest. Otherwise, starter bees (males and females) may be purchased from your local bird store or garden shop.
Ready to build your own bee box? Step-by-step instructions to house mason bees are right here!
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3 Comments
Exelant
A great start but a far better but this - http://www.wingsinflight.com/images/garden/bee/new2.jpg is a better design. To help promote healthy populations of Mason bees the use of routered trays is definately the best type of nest box to use. These come apart in layers (photos above) so the cells can be checked for parasites and cleaned out at the end of the season. Short of this, a basic way to make a box is to take a 4x4x6 piece of wood, (remembering that a 4x4 really isn't 4x4, but more like 33/4 x 33/4) such as pine, fir or cedar, (nothing treated or waterproofed). Along one side of this block and with a 5/16" drill bit (the preferred size for Mason bees), you will drill rows of holes about 31/2" deep but not going all the way through. Holes should be drilled as smooth as possible for the bees so take your time in making the holes. They should also be spaced 3/4" apart from the center of the holes. Thus, a 4x6" would give you about 12 rows across and 4 rows down, giving a total of 48 holes. However, with holes only at a depth of 31/2" this would produce mostly male bees as the shorter the hole, the more males. More females are preferred so another way to do this would be to take the 4x4x6 and drill the holes into the end of the wood block, going in about 51/2" deep. You would fit 4 rows across and 4 rows down, giving you 16 holes. This would produce more female bees which is encouraged, so holes between 4-6" deep is recommended, but either way would still attract them. There is one other thing that some people do and that is to use paper straws inserted in the holes. This way the holes can be cleaned out before new eggs are laid and cocoons can be cleaned to prevent mite build up.
A great start but a far better but this - http://www.wingsinflight.com/images/garden/bee/new2.jpg is a better design. To help promote healthy populations of Mason bees the use of routered trays is definately the best type of nest box to use. These come apart in layers (photos above) so the cells can be checked for parasites and cleaned out at the end of the season. Short of this, a basic way to make a box is to take a 4x4x6 piece of wood, (remembering that a 4x4 really isn't 4x4, but more like 33/4 x 33/4) such as pine, fir or cedar, (nothing treated or waterproofed). Along one side of this block and with a 5/16" drill bit (the preferred size for Mason bees), you will drill rows of holes about 31/2" deep but not going all the way through. Holes should be drilled as smooth as possible for the bees so take your time in making the holes. They should also be spaced 3/4" apart from the center of the holes. Thus, a 4x6" would give you about 12 rows across and 4 rows down, giving a total of 48 holes. However, with holes only at a depth of 31/2" this would produce mostly male bees as the shorter the hole, the more males. More females are preferred so another way to do this would be to take the 4x4x6 and drill the holes into the end of the wood block, going in about 51/2" deep. You would fit 4 rows across and 4 rows down, giving you 16 holes. This would produce more female bees which is encouraged, so holes between 4-6" deep is recommended, but either way would still attract them. There is one other thing that some people do and that is to use paper straws inserted in the holes. This way the holes can be cleaned out before new eggs are laid and cocoons can be cleaned to prevent mite build up.