Getting Started with Mason Bees - Part 2

Mason bees are gentle, fun to watch, and contribute to pollinator diversity. They are also easy to raise at home! If you've seen our Part 1 video, you've already got a basic overview of how to provide shelter, nesting tubes, mud, and food for Mason Bees. Maybe you’ve even had success attracting them and watching them nest. But what do you do next? In this video, we’ll be covering how to unwrap tubes and harvest Mason Bee cocoons. We’ll show you a few things to look out for when it comes to bee health, and how to safely store cocoons until it’s time for the bees to emerge.
00:00 Intro
00:30 Options for cocoon care
01:37 Unwrapping Mason bee tubes
02:26 Things you'll find inside the tube
03:11 Male vs female cocoons
03:50 Predators and potential issues
04:21 How to give the cocoons a bath
04:53 Storing cocoons over winter
05:24 Putting out cocoons in the spring
If you’d like to know more about these solitary, gentle pollinators and how to build a home for them in your outdoor space, check out our Part 1 video here: • Getting Started with M...

[@jthepickle7]

If I remember aright a 5/16th or 11/32 drill bit and a piece of cord wood makes a fine bee house. The bees return the second year and clean out the old debris and reuse the hole. ( might try different size holes to discover the most popular size) Hang so the bee box so it gets morning sun. In a block with 30 holes, every one was occupied!

[@eastcoast4233]

5:28 - make sure to cover the front of the nesting area with a metal mesh that’s big enough for the bees to get through but not big enough for birds. If you don’t birds will eat the cocoons.

[@thomson1989]

These little bees are so cool, I've had a bee house in my garden for 2 years but finally this year Mason bees have laid their eggs in it! I'll follow your advice for looking after them over the winter and sorting the cocoons and hope they'll return to my garden next year to lay more eggs. Thanks, from Southampton, UK 🇬🇧

[@foodsworthyoursalt5538]

Thank you so much. It’s our first spring w these cuties, the videos are sooo helpful for me. 🙏

[@CommentsAllowed]

Wow. This is amazing! I think I might have accidentally destroyed a nest. I had an old wood shelving unit made using Dados and after taking them apart I laid them flat. It created long tubes. When it was time to dispose of the scrap wood I noticed what I thought were dead nests from carpenter bees. I didn't think that they might be viable Mason bees. I collected them and put them out for the birds. It was almost 80 of them looking back at a picture I took. Sad now...

[@gloriafigueroa8129]

Thanks for the video ❤

[@jeffreyforth6442]

NICE! Very informative, thank you. Have 10 honey bee hives but never looked into Mason and Leaf cutters. 2 Houses on there way. Thank you for the Fall care information too, very important. .

[@myretiredhobbiesgainesvill8140]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge. I hope to establish a mason bee house and see if I can attract any native bees. You do a great job with the video and make it easy to understand. Take care and thanks again.

[@onewithnature1WN]

This is so cool! I’d love to have my own bee setup!

[@Jpetovic]

Thank you 🙏

[@greensmash]

Very good video. 👍❤️

[@jacobgomer]

how would the mason bees get out of the tubes naturally if you did not remove them?do they chew through the mud plugs?

[@CincyNature]

Great question! Yes, they would chew through the mud plugs. The males would emerge first since they are towards the front of the tube, followed by the females.

[@frankpeck1448]

I was able to find your followup video, Part 2. Seems quite involved, but certainly worth it! Hoping this adventure is successful. Thank you. Addendum: While shopping at Tractor Supply recently, I purchased a package of Dry Bee Feed. by HLH. Don't know if it's appropriate for Masons, but it was inexpensive, so I went ahead and got it. Your opinion(s) appreciated!

[@greensmash]

I think that was for Honeybees, but might work for Mason’s as well.

[@jamesburwash5635]

Very well done! Thank you. Vancouver island Canada I have a question in regards to the pollen left behind to feed the bees in the spring. Does cleaning not remove the natural nectars? If so how do they feed when they hatch.

[@CincyNature]

Hi James! The fall/winter cleaning would remove any pollen and nectar left over from the previous spring's bees. When spring comes around again, though, the female bees will gather fresh nectar and pollen for the eggs they are laying.

[@evilroyslade2491]

Thanks

[@gloriafigueroa8129]

Regards from Germany, I got two mason bees in a bugs house in my balcony. I am looking forward to see them emerging next year. If one of the tubes can not be removed should I leave the house outdoor for winter? Or is it better to put it inside? We have snow and temp -10 during winter.

[@CincyNature]

Hello! I would say if you can't remove the tubes, it's best to leave the house outside for the winter. Since the indoors will be warmer, it might give the bees a cue to emerge too early.

[@beverlyrychalski305]

What is the best area to put up a house east"

[@London0111]

Confused 😕

[@eastcoast4233]

‼️Remember that mason bees and leaf cutter bees use the same nesting sites but aren’t hatching and active at the same time each year! Do NOT wash the cocoons of leaf cutter bees as they are not waterproof, unlike the mason bee cocoons.

[@ibew1951]

Great illustration Thx