With a Little Help From My Friends (the Mason Bees)

The first spring we were in our new Oregon home we had trees blooming that we had to identify as no one told us what they were. The first to bud had beautiful pink buds reminiscent of the apples and cherries we had heard of that grew here.

After about a week the buds multiplied and began to open.

The more they opened the less they looked like cherries or apples. We recognized them as either peach or apricot flowers.

As summer progressed we were only able to count 6 fruit on the two trees. As they matured they took on a golden color and eventually we harvested the best tasting apricots we had ever eaten. But we were puzzled, why not more fruit?

We met an elderly gentleman with a fruit orchard nearby and asked him what was wrong. He explained that the temperature changes here on the south side of the Columbia River were too late for the bees to arrive and pollinate the apricots; peaches, cherries, pears, plums – OK but not apricots.

We heard about Orchard Bees or more commonly Mason Bees which are now being used by growers to assist in the pollination of their crops as the honeybee population is decreasing dramatically. They are native to the Pacific Northwest and thrive in the cool damp climate, even working in a light rain. They are solitary and every bee works. Unlike honeybees they do not produce honey.

We wanted apricots. So in March, before the trees bloomed, I went to a local supplier to get some Mason Bees for the 2009 season but it was already too late since they emerge in late-February or early-March. He said to order them as a Christmas Present. BUT, we still wanted apricots. So, I got a Q-tip, climbed the ladder, and hand pollinated as many flowers as I could reach. I must not have looked enough like a bee because none of the flowers produced fruit.

The bees are smart – really smart. The female starts laying eggs as soon as she has mated and can collect pollen. She lays eggs in a hole that must be between 9/32” and 5/16” diameter and 8” to 10” deep. Very picky. She collects pollen and lays an egg on a mass of pollen at the back of the nesting hole and seals the chamber with mud. She continues laying eggs until the hole is full and seals the exit. She will lay one to two eggs a day over a lifetime of four to six weeks.

The interesting thing is that she lays female eggs deep in the hole and male eggs near the opening. So, if the nesting tube is disturbed the males are sacrificed so the egg-laying female can survive.

The eggs hatch a few days after laying and develop in the chambers, feeding on the pollen during the summer. By fall they are mature and stay in the chambers over the winter, emerging only when the temperature is consistently above 55 degrees and the fruit trees are blooming.

This year we got a head start. I got on the contact list of the bee supplier and bought some of the first bees that came in. They come in two forms, nesting tubes and washed cocoons. The tubes are a gamble, may contain from zero to 6-8 cocoons.

I bought 5 tubes and harvested 13 cocoons.

The washed cocoons are a sure thing.The cocoon pack contained 10. Price wise it was almost a wash - $1.00 vs. $1.15.
We also bought a nesting/cocoon-collecting house. There are nesting blocks inside and a place to put the cocoons prior to hatching.

Now to put the house in a south-facing location, load it with cocoons, and wait. THIS YEAR I WILL EAT APRICOTS! (or cut the trees down and replace them with something else that I can harvest)