These are some of my current Orchard Mason Bee Houses. You can see that most of the nesting straws are filled right now. The houses will be filled completely very soon.
North America alone has around 150 types of mason bees, with many being native to specific geographical regions. This means you may have a few of them already roaming about, making it very easy for you to set up a house for them. The orchard mason bee or the blue orchard bee Osmia Lignaria is the most common species in the Pacific Northwest. Thanks to their black bodies with the typical dark blue sheen, they look a lot like the common houseflies.
Mason bees are among the best pollinators during springtime.
The female of the species carries the pollen on the dry underside of the hairy abdomen, meaning that it is much more easily scraped off wherever she rests as compared to how happens for honey bees, who transport the pollen by making them wet and sticking them to their legs. The Mason Bee also happens to gather pollen and nectar simultaneously across a wide area unlike the honey bee that focuses on only one source. This also makes them very efficient cross-pollinators.
They are not scary as they look. In fact, they are so gentle that they will sting only if they are stepped on, which is quite justified, if you think about it. Mason bees are solitary, which means that all the females are queens, instead of having a single queen bee in a colony as in the case of honey bees. This makes the mason bee female extremely busy to spend too much thought and energy into looking after other things, meaning you can get inches from her without getting stung.
You can never get enough of the advantages of a thriving ecosystem in your orchard or your garden and with their pollination skills, they would only make your garden better.
I have a natural population of native Orchard Mason Bees, and I have taken time to encourage them to come to my garden and increase their population.
A good friend is just getting into attracting Orchard Mason Bees. Oregon Public Broadcasting System had a new show about Orchard Mason Bees. The show features Orchard Mason Bees as a hobby. There were a few types of houses shown, including this model.
My friend decided to make one for himself, and one for me. I was surprised with this house today. The upper portion is ready for me to add natural materials. I have collected dry Day Lily, and Leek stems, and will use them in that space.
This is a pretty nice gift, and I am the happy new owner. I attached it to a 4" x 4" post in the garden.
