Description
Native Orchard Mason Bees are widespread throughout North America. They are superb early season pollinators of fruit trees, strawberries, raspberries and blueberries - better than honeybees, because they're active in colder temperatures and their hairy bodies carry more of the pollen that fertilizes your blossoms. Each female Orchard Bee makes her own nest in a series of tubes, sealed with mud. They are useful, small and docile - they hardly ever sting unless severely provoked.
Our Orchard Bee Nest tubes are made from strong cardboard. Extensive research has shown that 6" tubes are preferred by the bees over short 4" holes drilled in wood blocks. The 6" tubes also insure a higher female ratio among the eggs produced.
Bees not included.
REPLACEMENT NEST TUBES (100 count)
You can attract mason bees to your garden by providing exactly the right size holes the Orchard Bees are seeking in early Spring (March and April) when the recently mated female bees are looking for sheltered spots to lay their eggs. The female mason bees lay their eggs in the nest tubes. Here they hatch into larvae which the mother bee feeds with pollen from surrounding flowers. By mid-summer, the larvae turn into cocoons where they rest in their protective tube until they hatch as new adult bees the following spring.
