Photo courtesy of Crown Bees |
Like the majority of native bees, mason
bees are solitary. They don’t have a hive or a queen to protect like honey
bees. Consequently, they are very gentle and don’t sting unless under great
duress, a real plus for those allergic to bee stings. “...the vast
majority of bees, nearly four thousand species in the U.S., are solitary
nesting. They tend to create and provision a nest on their own, without
cooperation with other bees. Although they often will nest together in great
numbers when a good nesting area is found, the bees are only sharing a good
nesting site and not cooperating.” (Source The XercesSociety)
I want to do my part in helping the native bee population
thrive, which includes providing habitat and purchasing bees that are native to
our area. “In natural
conditions, solitary bees will nest in all sorts of places…Most species nest in
the ground, digging a tunnel in bare or partially vegetated, well-drained soil.
Sadly, a human desire for tidiness often results in the planting or covering of
bare soil, and the removal of snags and other suitable nesting places.” (Source
The XercesSociety) Nesting places can be as simple as hollow, dried blackberry canes.
Like the honeybees, native bee populations are suffering. To
read more about their plight and importance to our food supply, Crown Bees recommends reading “The Plight of the Bees,”
an article written by Marla Spivak, Eric Mader, and Mace Vaughan. This may be
the year for me to invite more native bees into my garden. Visit Crown Bees for fascinating facts about our
native solitary mason bees. TheNature of Portland also has an interesting post about mason bee “housing”
tips.
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