Native Plant Wildlife Gardening

Wildlife gardeners naturally plant berries, berries and then some more berries to provide food sources for critters. I don’t even want to count the number of chokeberries, viburnums, shrub dogwoods, serviceberries, hollies and other fruiting plants which have gone into my garden. It might alarm me. All of those food shrubs are going to need pollinators in the spring. So with that goal, this weekend’s habitat project was to build a box to hold native mason bee nesting tubes.

This is the first year that I will be attempting to establish a colony and will admit I am learning. Mason bees are active only for a short period during springtime and often used to pollinate commercial fruit orchards, I am scaling it down to suit my wildlife sanctuary. They are not aggressive and can be observed at close range without stinging, making them an excellent addition to a home garden. Orchard mason bees are particularly beneficial if you grow vegetables or fruit.

I am not going to explain the life cycle of a mason bee, but in a nutshell they are a native solitary species and females lay eggs in hollowed out, tube like holes. As the female lay eggs she will add a small mass of pollen for the emerging young to feed on with each egg until the hole is filled. Once the space is full the female will close off the end with a dab of mud. During the summer the eggs hatch within the tube and grow into almost an adult bee by fall, not emerging until the following spring. See Mason Bees for more information.

For the home gardener, you can attract Mason bees by providing the nesting sites they need. I purchased two Nest Liner Shelters from Knox Cellars which is more than enough for a start up colony.

I also bought a set of Orchard Mason Bees in larvae stage. They arrived in three small tubes – about 20 bees – where the Mom bee had laid the eggs. For now they are stored in my refrigerator until I release them in spring. Releasing is simply waiting until you have plants you need pollinated in bloom and inserting the larvae tubes into the nester cans with the other empty tubes. I had concerns about shipping bees from Washington state to my home in Georgia, thinking that it was too drastic a zone change for the little guys, but wrote to Knox Cellars and asked about this. They replied by telling me that the bees would be a bit confused the first season as to exactly when spring is but it would level out the following year. It was no danger to the bees themselves. I’ll just keep them in the fridge until last frost here and see how it goes.

Hopefully my 20 bees will be happy and lay many eggs so that next year, as my newly planted shrubs grow, I will have a larger colony of pollinators. Their box was built this weekend and will be ready when it’s time to release them. I’m ridiculously excited about all of this and placed my bee house off my deck where I could watch any potential activity. During the summer, the egg filled tubes are left alone outside so that they may hatch and grow into larvae. In fall, tube liners will be removed and checked for parasites then the larvae stored in the fridge over the winter. In spring, the cycle begins once more.

Home gardeners, if you consider Mason bees please make certain that they have a continuous supply of food sources available. Be aware that bees can not always access flowers such as daylilies or tubular blossoms which they must crawl into as frequently they can not get back out. Another issue to consider is providing a mud source for them as the females need mud to plug the nest tubes. Mud is a benefit in a habitat overall as some birds require mud for nests and the puddles will attract butterflies. Do a bit of research any time you bring something which is alive into your environment and make sure it’s a healthy place for them.

Pollinators are an important factor in a healthy eco-system and I recommend Mason bees to wildlife gardeners. They are native, a benefit as a pollinator in a backyard sanctuary along with being good PR for bees in general. Bees are yet another critter which people fear and showing them as a welcomed addition to a garden could help their reputation one neighbor at a time.