# The nebulous benefit of garden pollination by mason bees



## DavidZ (Apr 9, 2016)

increased fruit production on your trees from previous years.
They work in Oregon insanely good on our peach apple, cherry, plum trees
Masons are best for fruit orchards


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## Metropropolis (Feb 15, 2012)

In an orchard situation, inputs are tracked, and outputs are measured, and benefit can be determined.

Gardens are much more ad-hoc. How can one know if there is benefit?


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## Phoebee (Jan 29, 2014)

Masons take a while to get established, but they are pretty much immune to varroa mites. They have one brood cycle a year and that doesn't fit the varroa lifestyle.

Masons are short-range bees. A modest garden is about the right size for their foraging range. They are active for a very short time in spring. 

Altogether, they're a good choice for someone with a garden and a few fruit trees, who does not want to have the year-round issues with honeybees, who does not want to harvest honey, but just wants some bees in the garden. 

Gardens only NEED pollinators if you are trying to make plants set seed (which includes bearing fruit). But if you are, the results of adding pollinators should be quantifiable. Some plants don't need pollinators. Some can get by without them but are more productive with them, and some absolutely depend on them. What results to expect depend on what you are growing and what you expect to produce.


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## Hops Brewster (Jun 17, 2014)

Mason bees are prolific pollinators, within their short, early mating and nesting season. Beyond that, no. They are great for pollinating early fruit trees. That's perhaps why they are also called "Orchard Bees". 

Summer garden crops are served by leaf cutters, honey bees, bumble bees and various other bug critters. By the time your garden crops are blooming, this season's mason bees have completed their nests and have died. Next season's mason bees are developing in the nests, and will wait their turn next spring.

Nebulous mason bees? no. 
But there are many other native pollinators. As a group, they might be considered of nebulous value in a garden


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## NativeBees (Dec 3, 2010)

What you "keep hearing" are nebulous words that need better clarity.

First and foremost, "mason bees" does not define any specific bee species, and is in fact a nebulous term used as a catch-all to define the many tunnel-nesting solitary bees that use mud in their nesting. This mud is the primary substrate used to partition each egg chamber, thus the term "mason" is used. The general public and some within the "mason bee" industry tend to prefer using the phrase to define one bee species only, which come from the Genus "Osmia" and the species "lignaria". Therefore, generally speaking, "mason bees" are generally assumed to be "Osmia lignaria". Can you blame the public? Bee taxonomy can be hard to spell, and hard to remember—but it is absolutely necessary for increased understanding. There are literally HUNDREDS of solitary bee species on earth that use mud as the primary substrate to partition egg chambers, therefore the term "mason bee" is frightfully nebulous.

The second nebulous word that needs to be clarified is "garden"—what kind of garden? The better question is what crop/plant are you trying to pollinate? The Osmia lignaria species live for about 14 months. For 12–13 of those months, the species resides within it's own mud-enclosed chamber, awaiting a certain temperature that happens to coincide with the bloom of only some crops useful to man. Therefore, this species typically emerges between mid March and late April. Of course temperatures vary depending on location, and man is often involved in temperature manipulation. That being said, the species can emerge far before March, and far after April—depending on the desired crop. Upon emergence from its chambers, the female Osmia lignaria tends to be the more sought-after and aggressive pollinator, flying and pollinating for a 4–6 week period. If you're trying to pollinate tomatoes, onions, or cantaloupe, don't assume Osmia lignaria will solve your pollination woes. My condolences to those who have purchased mason bees with such a pursuit. Not only might your timing be off, but your plant variety and bee species could be incorrectly matched. If you're trying to pollinate cherries or apples, however, then Osmia lignaria can be a great pollinator—but I would still suggest using honeybees as a failsafe, especially if you're a solitary bee beginner.

Initially when I began capturing and using Osmia lignaria and using the species for pollination, I thought it was the single "solve all" species—but after much collaboration with USDA scientists and research, my knowledge and experience has proven otherwise. Osmia lignaria does at times match Apis mellifera in certain circumstances, but research shows that using a VARIETY of pollinators on crops is the best decision. I suggest a dose of generalist pollinators AND specialist pollinators on your crops. Such research should be of great import to the entomophilous crop grower. The link below reveals some fabulous research on the topic.
http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/280/1754/20122767

Sincerely,

Kimball Clark
NativeBees[DOT]com


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## Phoebee (Jan 29, 2014)

I would add to this, there are a lot of native solitary bees, and they are not all masons. A fair number are called "miner" bees because they nest underground in tunnels. We tend not to notice them but we should. Some of them are highly specialized for particular native plants. But all bees are pollen-gatherers and are valuable pollinators. Gathering pollen is what sets them apart from wasps.

Take the time to notice what thrives in your area.


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## NativeBees (Dec 3, 2010)

Phoebee's comment to "Take the time to notice what thrives in your area" is EXCELLENT advice. Ground-nesting bees are the most abundant of bees in the world, and the attempts to manage them are scant. The trick is learning the predilections of a bee species, managing it, and then using it successfully as the primary pollinator within that bias.

~ Kimball Clark


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## Phoebee (Jan 29, 2014)

Question: why does this bee have a mustache?









Answer: It is a male bee. Many of the solitary bee species drones have mustaches. Females often have very prominent mandibles, particularly leaf-cutters.


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## minz (Jan 15, 2011)

Thanks Kimball, that is very informative. 
I am in Oregon and in the wet valleys’ it has really become quite the battle cry for the mason bees for the spring tree bloom. A friend of mine had about 20 of the blocks on his house just trying to get pollination. He told me that the bees fly at 40 degrees and in the rain and he felt they were better than the honey bees.
I told him that his bees were the ‘Delta Force’ that he had 100 of the best flying bees in the roughest conditions but I had the ‘’Chinese army’-weather hits 50 degrees and 40,000 starving bees with babies to feed take to the air. I dropped a couple of hives on his place and oddly enough it is the blueberries that seem to have seen the greatest increase. I thought the Blueberries were mostly pollenated by the bumble bees? Keep in mind that this is an acre garden, not a monoculture.


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## Phoebee (Jan 29, 2014)

Up in Alaska there is a story circulating that blueberries are pollinated by mosquitoes. I think that's a myth, but evidently tiny little black flies do pollinate blueberries.

Honeys can do it, but they have to be pretty hungry. They may bolt to easier forage if it is available.


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