There are various values in the commercial community in regards to increasing the presence of Mason Bees as pollinators. Some items for growing Mason bees currently on the market tend to appeal more to the human than the bee, and people are willing to pay for these.
However in order to increase the populations of Mason Bees for our interests in pollination of our plants, more emphasis could be placed on providing homes that bees find favourable for their sole purpose: that of increasing their progeny.
At recent “Seedy Saturday” events, I have been encouraging people to use recycled materials to build houses and then to send back pictures of what type of structure they have come up with. Below are a few examples for a start.
Pallet wood is ideal for making houses holding tubes. This design holds 2 dozen Phragmites stems. The small plastic bottles taped to the side are for cocoon release.
A plastic peanut butter jar with a wire mesh over the mouth to prevent bird predation.
This is a 2 inch water pipe which holds 2 dozen tubes.
A pill bottle with a hole (covered with tape until release) for the bees to exit is attached to the water pipe
A 3 inch drain pipe holds over 4 dozen.
A metal coffee tin holds a large number of tubes.
This is the size of box I use with a small compartment for cocoon release. Above are two sections of plastic wood decking with empty Phragmites stems inserted. .
A honey container has an ideal sized hole in the cap to allow release of bees from their cocoons. The idea of this protective container is to prevent predation. Don’t leave this in the direct sunlight however as condensation will accumulate inside.
A pill bottle with a hole for the bees to exit is attached to the water pipe
I do have available for sale several of these 2 inch water pipes with 2 dozen + tubes inside for $15.00.
NOTE: I have updated this 2016 post in order to make it appear closer to the other mason bee information
