How to Build a Mason Bee Hotel Series
Guest Posts by Powell River Books Blog
As most folks know I will be adding in a number of different mason bee and Native Pollinator hotels and nesting box’s here on the farm. I am also placing Nest Box’s at some community gardens as well as private garden/yards. I was very excited to see a post on Powell River Books Blog talking about their Mason Bee Hotels as they are a number of years worth of working with them. I wrote and asked if they would be open to doing a guest post series here on the blog. Thank you so much for saying YES!
Part one of Three – Drilling out your logs/wood
Last spring I noticed small flying insects going in and out of a little hole on the pedestal of our weather station’s solar panel. After taking several pictures, I identified the small insect as a bee. Most likely an Orchard Mason Bee, a type of solitary bee that nest in holes or tubes.
This year I decided to make the bees a more permanent home, a Bee Hotel. I started out by using an old bird house that was no longer needed because John built us nice new ones. I took the front wall off and glued all of the joints. A new coat of green paint on the roof really spruced it up.
I cut four sections of driftwood and Wayne drilled the 5/16-inch holes for me. The holes only go part way through, creating tubes that the bees like to nest in. The larger stick got six holes, the rest four each.
I’ve already seen Mason Bees flying around the cabin. Hopefully they’ll pick the nice new home this year. We placed it on the south-facing porch post right under the solar panel they used last year. Maybe they’ll get the hint.
This post was written in 2015 and we are going to move forward with the rest of the series from then till 2018. They have a had great success with getting their mason bee’s to like their new home!
Margy Lutz and her husband Wayne discovered Powell River, BC, during an airplane camping trip in 2000. They purchased an off-the-grid float cabin on nearby Powell Lake that has become their home since retiring from careers in education in Southern California and becoming Canadian permanent residents and citizens. Margy is the author of the Powell River Books Blog and Wayne is the author of the Coastal BC Stories series of books.
http://powellriverbooks.blogspot.com
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Hi Margy, just wondering what length these pieces were cut at (and how “deep” the Mason Bees like their tunnel to be…
The blocks are 6″ long and drilled with 5/16″ holes that do not go all the way through. Because I used the repurposed birdhouses this was as long as they could be to fit. My research says the ideal length of the nesting tube is from 6-7″ so there is enough room for the egg laying process. The ones in the rear are fertilized eggs that will develop into female bees. The ones in the front are unfertilized and turn into males. Males come out first and the females a few days later, with the males hanging around ready to mate. Nature is amazing. – Margy
You got that right! Thanks for the info: )