The A to Z Challenge continues! In case you missed it, those of us participating will post blogs each day in April except for Sunday, with each post corresponding to a letter of the alphabet. I’m really enjoying getting acquainted with my fellow bloggers, who are posting a wide variety of interesting topics!
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Some people have children. Others nurture their animal friends.
Me, I have bees.
Don’t get me wrong. I have two stepchildren whom I love, but they live far away. I’ve also known the joy of pets, but I have a husband who’s allergic and a travel schedule that makes it unfair to any animals I would leave behind.
So I have bees. Mason bees, to be exact.
I’d never heard of them until a few years ago, when our lawyer brought her husband over to our house (there are some advantages to getting sued, I guess). They live outside of town and have an orchard on their property, and he suggested I look into Mason bees for my fruit trees.
Mason bees are native to the U.S., unlike honeybees, which were imported from Europe. They look more like a fly than a bee, and they don’t live in hives. They are a docile, solitary bee that just wants to mind its own business. Kind of like me. Maybe my introverted side is drawn to a bee that happily lives alone.
Mason bees lay their eggs in holes, some of which nature provides — they prefer 3/16″ diameter, thank you. I have a little house for them with cardboard tubes of that size. When the female lays eggs, she covers the opening of the tube with a mud seal, and inside the larvae form cocoons. I was so excited last year when I had several tubes sealed in mud!
You may notice, it doesn’t take much to excite me.
We store our cocoons in a downstairs refrigerator and keep them moist over the winter. I set my cocoons out just a few days ago, because the temperatures are right and they have plenty to eat. So now I’m waiting and watching for my new babies to hatch!
Given the precarious state of the honeybee population in the country, raising Mason bees makes sense if you have a garden.
A whole community of people exists who know a whole lot more than I do. Also, the type of bee you raise will vary depending on what part of the country you live in. For more information, visit Crown Bees.
That is cool. You should share some pics.
~Patricia Lynne aka Patricia Josephine~
Member of C. Lee’s Muffin Commando Squad
Story Dam
Patricia Lynne, Indie Author
Indeed I should, but I haven’t been able to get near enough to one for a photo! *sigh*
I’m impressed that you are a bee keeper, and keep the cocoons in the fridge over the winter! I didn’t know about Mason bees. Thanks for the education!
Play off the Page
Thanks, Mary! They’re fascinating little critters. Come summer my yard is buzzing with all kinds of bees, but I’m particularly fond of the Mason bees.
A real live bee keeper. That is awesome. Bees terrify me. I am new to your blog, from the A to Z challenge.
Welcome, and thanks for visiting! I used to be scared of bees, but I’ve gotten used to them over time.
Good luck with the challenge! Your blog URL didn’t pop up in your comment, so if I haven’t visited yours, please comment back with the address so I can visit you, too.
This is so interesting. I want to learn more about Mason bees. I hope you can get close enough soon to share pictures or video.
We have a lot of those little bees here in north Louisiana. It’s weird because I don’t remember seeing them growing up.
Thanks! I love these bees, and we need all we can get.
So, they are strictly for pollination? They don’t make honey? I know nothing about them! Fascinating.
Correct. They do not make honey, but they’re fantastic pollinators.
Bees?
That’s unique. I don’t know anybody who keeps bees (well, now I do…)
How dangerous is it?
Mason bees are not dangerous at all. They don’t swarm, they seldom sting, and they are solitary. I just give ’em some flowers as food and let ’em go. Hopefully they will lay eggs in the little tubes I set out for them. When I see them covered at the ends in mud, I know I’ll have bees for next year!