A couple of years ago I put a bee house up in my garden. I took it down last year but no bees had nested in it, this year quite a few bees had built nests in it. 

Mason bees create mud cells for their eggs usually in holes in trees or plant stems.

 They then fill the cell with pollen for the larvae once it hatches, they then lay an egg and seal up the cell with more mud. 

 Once the female mason bee has laid her eggs she seals the end of the hole with another layer of mud. When the eggs emerge a few weeks later the bees will eat the mud to get out.

 The eggs will cocoon and the larvae will eat the cocoon and then the pollen in the cell with it.

 Male mason bees will usually emerge first and will then wait for the females to emerge so they can mate with them. The females will then start making their own nests. 

 

 

 

HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN MASON BEE HOUSE

Why should you make a mason bee house?
Mason bees are fascinating to watch as they collect mud and pollen for their nests. You would be helping to keep this species growing. Male mason bees don’t sting and females only sting if they’re threatened.

YOU WILL NEED:
A clean tin can
An old newspaper
A pencil
string
Sellotape

Start by cutting your newspaper in to 10cm by 10cm squares
Then using the pencil roll them up (the tubes want to be about 1cm in diameter),
Use the sellotape to stop them unravelling
fill the can with the tubes,
Tie the string around the can and then attach it to a fence post or whatever you want it attached to.

 

 You can also buy bee houses online