# Best location in my yard for a mason bee house??



## szpider (9 mo ago)

*Hello all! I've gotten conflicting answers on this so far so I'd really like some professional input! *

I'm getting my first ever mason bees this weekend and I'm wondering what the smartest spot in my yard for their house is:


http://imgur.com/DZ7mZ7K


I'm in zone 6b (Detroit, MI) and I'm thinking about either installing it on the trunk of that cedar tree facing south where it gets brief sun in the morning but mostly shade for the rest of the day, OR installing it on it's own dedicated 4"x4" post to the left of that young skinny lilac shrub in the foreground where it would pretty much be in direct sun (right into that mulch, closer the the brick path.) It would have more stability and protection from the wind on the tree, but more sun/heat on it's own post; we do have some pretty good heat waves in July so I don't know if direct sun would be _too_ hot them during the hottest parts of summer. 

What do y'all think? Brief morning sun to day shade, or all day full sun??


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## Kuro (Jun 18, 2015)

I was told to place a mason bee house so that it faces morning sun, but in my place (Zone 8), they tend to like places without direct sun. The location #1 gets some morning sun, #2 (the observation hive) gets a good morning sun, #3 and #4 do not get direct sun at all. Last year, the location #3, under the outdoor kitchen counter, was the most popular.


























At the end of the season (mid June here), I collect all tubes, place them in a mesh bag to protect from parasitic wasps, and leave them in a front porch (no direct sun and protected from rain) until winter.


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## JWChesnut (Jul 31, 2013)

I don't see a mud puddle. The bees need a source of good wet fine clay very close to their home nest. There foraging range is much smaller than a honeybee.


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## William Bagwell (Sep 4, 2019)

Second the porch idea. Nothing scientific just were mine came from. Two years ago a coworker said he had 'bees' living in a chair on his porch, stopped by expecting yellow jackets and found mason bees. Last year supplied him with four bundles of bamboo tubes which he returned after the bees were done capping with mud. Kept them over winter in our (door less) well house since we lack a porch. Not an ideal spot but they seem to like it and are re-filling the four bundles plus one new one. Plan to spread them around next year...


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## szpider (9 mo ago)

Thank you for your input! I placed their house on the tree where they get a little bit of morning sun but then mostly shade throughout the day. 
The person that I got my bees from (someone local on Craigslist) told me about the mesh bag trick to protect from parasitic wasps, but do you mean that you leave the tubes out until winter THEN open them up to harvest the cocoons in the winter? 



Kuro said:


> I was told to place a mason bee house so that it faces morning sun, but in my place (Zone 8), they tend to like places without direct sun. The location #1 gets some morning sun, #2 (the observation hive) gets a good morning sun, #3 and #4 do not get direct sun at all. Last year, the location #3, under the outdoor kitchen counter, was the most popular.
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## szpider (9 mo ago)

Fortunately I only have to dig down about a foot into my yard to strike clay, that won't be an issue. The person I got my bees from on Craigslist said that he didn't go out of his way to leave a dedicated source of clay out and he still had more mason bee cocoons than he knew what to do with!



JWChesnut said:


> I don't see a mud puddle. The bees need a source of good wet fine clay very close to their home nest. There foraging range is much smaller than a honeybee.


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## Kuro (Jun 18, 2015)

szpider said:


> but do you mean that you leave the tubes out until winter THEN open them up to harvest the cocoons in the winter?


I think mason bee cocoons can be safely harvested in November here, but I do not do that until early spring (no particular reason, but it saves a little space in the fridge during Holidays). In winter, I may move the bag into my unheated garage (which never gets >55F) or just leave it in the porch. In early spring, I put a few tubes back to the nesting boxes for natural release, and open up the rest. I wash cocoons with fresh cold water to get rid of mites, gently pat them dry with paper towels, put them in a small cardboard box and keep in the fridge. I usually set out half of cocoons when my sour cherry tree blooms, and the rest when my apple tree blooms (~2 weeks apart).


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