Mason Bee Keeping

[moose71]

so will the woodpeckers. i remove the tubes in late summer then store them in the garage till late fall. then i split the tubes and harvest the cocoons to store in tupperware , in the fridge, until spring. when the willows wake up, i put them out in a coffee can w/ a small hole drilled in the lid, taped to the top of my mason house. fun to see them sitting on the coffee can warming themselves in the sun. they can be handled if you’re gentle.

[ltilton]

The hibernating young bees

[MikeC]

Those squirrle’s are like goats, they seem to eat everything.

[barry]

Update on year 2 of Mason bee keeping… I put out 19 cocoons this past spring that I had collected in dec 2017. Yesterday I collected 118 cocoons. Would have had more but had some worms in some of the tubes that seemed to have eaten the masons. If I get another 6 fold increase next year I will have all I can handle. That seems like a high reproductive rate, but i guess for an insect maybe on the low end. The kiddos are having fun with it.

[speedster1]

My Mason bees have been a complete waste of time and money. I pulled my house and opened it a few weeks ago and I didn’t have a single cacoon. I’m not sure what happened. I had some of the holes capped off. My 40-50 bees that I ordered 2 years ago are effectively zero now.

[JustAnne4]

So I’m mulling over a design to house the mason bee blocks next spring (another winter project) and would appreciate a few more eyes on it. It isn’t elaborate or expensive by any measure, but I may be missing something which may result in missing bees. I plan to use a 5 gal bucket to set the blocks in so that I can protect them from known predators. I’ve read that some birds will hang around their mud sources to pick them off so I also put the mud inside the bucket also protected by chicken wire. Whatcha think?

[Auburn]

I like what you designed and it is obvious a lot of thought when into the planning. This question is from someone who knows very little about mason bees. The block appears to be in the back section of the bucket and I’m wondering if the bee will go there to deposit their eggs.

[Bradybb]

I’ve found that even if no mud was put out,they still discovered it somewhere.bb

[JustAnne4]

Well I am a newbie at this, but I tend to read everything I can before I feel I have enough to begin and avoid bad most outcomes - at least the bad outcomes others have reported.

Allegedly if you release the bees from the site where you want them to nest and use a pheromone on the block, they will be attracted back to that site to nest. Other folks have used this approach successfully, so we’ll see. The deep set is only 8" and allows room for the mud container.

@Bradybb We live near a creek bed so there is plenty of mud for sure, but some folks have reported that whilst the mason bees collect their mud, the birds pick them off. So it is not a supply issue but rather a protection measure to have mud inside the chicken wire. If I had lots of bees, I wouldn’t be as concerned, but until I am able to build up a sizeable colony, I want avoid as many pitfalls as I can.

[zendog]

I’m going to give masons a try this year for the first time, so this isn’t a response from actual experience, but if your bucket house gets any sun I wonder if you may have a heat issue in the bucket even with the holes drilled in the back. Not so much just the heating of the house/tubes themselves, but on calm days the air temperatures in the bucket could be significantly higher and the house/tubes could stay warmer later in the day without the cooling effect of breeze/cooler air directly against it. It might effect whether the bees would choose to use it for nesting, but might also effect the development of the larva.

If you try it, I would definitely use a white bucket and maybe do one in a bucket and one without and see which they prefer using. You could see if the bees show a preference for which they use as well as if there is any difference in development/survival of the next generation. Of course so many other things can effect the bees, it may be hard to know for sure what is working best without years of testing…

[Bradybb]

That’s a good point zendog.
Also,there are usually no kinds of bees flying around,when the Plum trees flower here,because it’s too cold.Masons are active,primarily with the Blackberries and Blueberries.
With something like Anne’s bucket,that could be mobile and be placed in an area,either sunny or shady,so that their emergence coincides with the target bloom.It might be kind of tricky,just something that could be experimented with. bb

[ltilton]

I use an old black plastic mailbox to keep my bee houses in, leaving the door open. Haven’t had problems.

[JustAnne4]

Thanks everyone!
@zendog. Yes, placement is important but so is timing. I’m placing it under the eave of a shed so it should be in the shade from about noon on, and it is white, which I can also cover with a piece of aluminet. Since it is put out early - when fruit trees are blooming, warmth is an asset initially. Probably good to monitor this, though. I have a thermometer which telemeters data to the house so I can watch all this. I’m more concerned about freezing them than baking them.

The nesting blocks will be removed from the ‘bucket house’ about 6 weeks after the last release of the bees (if you are staggering releases). In my zone this should be before our days become uber hot - I’m estimating late May/early June. I’ll place them in fine netting in a smaller bucket in the garage such that the wasp predators can’t get access to them. My main concern here is our humidity and the fungal issues that that can favor, so I may bring them in the house.

Also,there are usually no kinds of bees flying around,when the Plum trees flower here

Exactly!
I would like to get some of them out early enough for pollinating, and, if need be, bring the bucket in at night if we get a late arctic dip. I’m also considering some type of heater, but haven’t thought that through enough. I noticed early in the thread folks were concerned about cold getting their mason bees with weather shifts. So that is where I may need more thought and a plan.

[ltilton]

Bringing the bees in early in June avoids most problems with predators.

The mono wasps will be in the cocoons with the bees, but they hatch later, to parasitize the larvae/pupae. Once the bees have hatched in the spring, get rid of all the unhatched cocoons and make the bees use clean new houses or tubes. They won’t want to do this, pheromones call them to their old nests, but too much disease and pests there.

Most springs in a cold snap I worry about the bees freezing or starving because they hatched when no food was available. Amazingly, they seem to survive anywayhow

[JustAnne4]

mono wasps

This might bee useful.

[thepodpiper]

I do not see much discussion on leaf cutter bees, are they just not practical to raise for pollination purposes?

[JustAnne4]

I believe they are, but my understanding is that the masons come out earlier. Here, I seem to have abundant pollinators when it is warmer, but wind up taking a paintbrush to my plums, et al because cold weather pollinators are not around.
The leave cutters kinda tear up some foliage, if that matters to you.

[moose71]

i put out both.

[moose71]

bumbles are out on 50 deg. days here and continue even after some frosts.

[northof53]

I had both mason bees and leaf cutter bees in my mason bee tubes when I opened them this fall. The leaf cutter were from the wild.
I let my bees stay out until after freeze up. I wash my mason cocoons and them put them in a small styro container with a pad of moist towel and place them in my fridge. The leaf cutter are supposed to stay warmer.