Solitary Bees Springs Pollinators
The first bee of the season is the Mason Bee or blue orchard Every spring, when the first flowers bloom, mason bees appear. You’ve probably seen a mason bee, but chances are you didn’t know it.
Mason bees do not have the classic yellow and black stripes of the honeybee, or the plump fuzziness of the bumblebee. Rather, they are a metallic blue-green — like a house fly. (In fact, they are often mistaken for flies.) But these little bees are native to the west coast of North America and, because of their incredible pollinating powers, are becoming popular with backyard gardeners and orchardists.
They are one of the very first pollinators to emerge in spring. Good news for Canadians, because this means they pollinate our delicious apples, pears, cherries, blueberries and raspberries. Mason bees are also non-aggressive and almost never sting. Unlike honey bees, they have no hive with a queen and honey to protect. Gardeners have discovered mason bees, realizing that with some basic knowledge, they can become bona fide beekeepers.
There are about 140 species of mason bees in North America. All are solitary bees. The males do not have a stinger, and the females will only sting if trapped or squeezed. This makes them an ideal neighbor for the home garden, since they pose little to no threat of stinging.
In the wild, mason bees lay their eggs in small natural cavities such as woodpecker holes, insect holes and hollow stems, but they seem to be just as happy to lay their eggs in artificial nesting cavities such as harvested natural reeds, cardboard tubes and paper straws. Because mason bees are unable to excavate their own nesting cavities, they seem to be quite happy to use whatever location is suitable.
Female mason bees emerge in early spring and immediately begin to forage for pollen and nectar, which they collect from fruit trees, berries, flowers and vegetables. They pack this food into the far end of their nesting cavity until they decide there’s enough there to feed a young bee. Then she lays an egg and seals up the cell. This process continues until the bee has filled the entire chamber with a series of pollen/nectar/egg cells. Interestingly, the eggs that are destined to be female are always deposited at the back of the nesting chamber; the male bees will emerge first. Once the mason bee has completely filled one chamber, she will begin filling another one. This pollen-collecting and egg-laying will continue for four to six weeks, after which the bee will die. Mason bee larvae hatch just a few days after the eggs are laid. They munch away on the food that’s been stored in their cell, which usually lasts them about 10 days. Then the larva spins a cocoon and pupates. By autumn, the insects look like an adult bee, but they remain inside their cocoons throughout the winter. When the weather warms in the spring, the males break through first; the females emerge several days later.
Mason bees are very effective pollinators. Just two or three females can pollinate a mature apple tree! Mason bees will also work in cool or rainy weather when honeybees are more likely to take the day off. Mason bees are wonderful to have around because they are fantastic pollinators. Instead of wetting pollen and putting it in pollen sacs like honeybees, mason bees are covered in hair that collects pollen as they move around, searching for nectar. They can certainly carry a lot of pollen.
Have you seen the 1970’s show “The Odd Couple”? Two divorced men share an apartment, one is neat and organized, the other is sloppy and careless. The two opposites make a funny combination. That may be a good picture of the honeybee and mason bee.
Honeybees visit a lot of blossoms. They truly enjoy the nectar, but will also collect pollen. When honeybees approach a blossom, they are more precise than other bees. Honeybees work carefully to fill the pollen baskets on their hind legs. You have probably seen these pockets bulging with pollen. The pollen is moistened with nectar to form a sticky covering so not to lose any. Honeybees, are so precise that less pollen comes into direct contact with the blossom’s styles resulting in less efficient pollination.To add to the difficulty, honeybees move more methodically from blossom to blossom on a single tree. This is not good for pollination since cross pollination is most often desired. Some researches suggest that only 5 percent of the blossoms visited by a single honeybee result in successful transfer of pollen. Hence the need for an entire hive of honeybees for each two acres of trees.
The mason is a different character altogether. They are not as concerned about the loss of pollen. They tend to be more erratic about their flight patterns and will fly back and forth between trees. Instead of pollen baskets, masons are equipped with a hairy abdomen that is loaded with specialized hairs, called the “scopa”. They crawl all over the blossom with their pollen-packed abdomens touching every part of the blossom, including the styles. They drop a lot more pollen along the way than honey bees. The female mason bee does everything alone. With no hive to worry about, they spend their entire life collecting pollen and laying eggs. Although some solitary bees are plant specific, mason bees are not as picky about the type of blossom they will visit. (Although they love nut and fruit tree blossoms.)
Here are some fun facts about Mason bees
- Mason bees are called mason bees because, in a sense, they do masonry work. They create sections within the nesting tube, that they section off with mud.
- Mason bees are solitary bees Each female is her own queen and worker
- Mason bees are some of the first bees to emerge in the spring. They can tolerate temperatures as low as 10 degrees
- Mason bees do not make honey. They eat pollen and nectar throughout their lives as they forage.
- Mason bees are excellent pollinators. This is mostly due to the lack of finesse that they demonstrate when it comes to landing on a flower. Mason bees have a 95% pollination rate, where honeybees have a 5% pollination rate.
- Mason bees make their nests about 300 feet from the best selection of flowers, whereas honeybees forage much further (up to two miles). This shorter range of forage gives the beekeeper more control as to where pollination occurs. You can set up a mason bee house near the trees/plants you wish to be pollinated and should have great success.
- Mason bees have no venom so nothing to be allergic to. Meaning they do not cause anaphylactic reactions in people .
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