Easy. No hive needed. Just hollow tubes/stems and the like.

I have a house for them. I was noticing a bush of Broom snake weed in flower this fall and it had four different types of native bees on it besides the honey bees. I take wood blocks and drill holes into it and put them outside.

I do too. Wish more people would do the same. Min

The last time mason bees came up in a thread, I looked at a range map and it didn't appear as if they were in my area (Southern California). Does anyone know if that information is correct? I like to encourage the native bees and mimics by planting flowers they favor. Gaura is a big hit in my garden with the metallic and hover species especially.

I googled "Native bees of southern California" and got several interesting articles, but this one drew my attention. A lot of native bees are ground dwellers. and they like their soil bare and un-mulched.

http://californiaagriculture.ucanr.edu/landingpage.cfm?article=ca.v063n03p113&fulltext=yes

oops the link wants to go up broken, so you might want to copy and paste.

So glad to see this reminder. I do want to do all I can to help this so important insect. I was thinking of buying this ready made home for this coming season:

Mason Bee House

We hang up houses for these important little pollinators every spring, I buy the disposable tubes for them or if I have time I make my own. We usually take the bee houses down and store in our garden shed out of the weather for most of the winter, putting them back up outside about the beginning of March. When the bees start emerging I pull the tubes and replace with new leaving the ones with the emerging bees close by, discard them when empty.
Annette

Wow..That's so cool..Can I ask? Do you have to keep them from freezing to death? Are they stored in a room that get very cold but not to the freezing point to keep them dormant? Is it easy to do? I want to do this come spring if I can..I almost bought the houses they sell at Wayside Gardens...I think they are cool..I also love the HOVER speciies...Are these the ones that seem to fly in one spot like a humming bird and just starte at you? I love these..lol

mikerno, some winters, the temperature drops below freezing, a few years it has actually dropped below 0F no problem. Winters can be very wet so it's more about protecting the houses than the bees :).

I bought a house last year, but didn't get much activity. I may relocate the hive or place a few more in other spots.

Martha

I wish honeybee and aggressive weren't in the same sentence. Honeybees do sting, but only when we humans get so close to take their honey or disturb them in other ways. Confident beekeepers work in hives and harvest honey with hundreds of thousands of bees and rarely get stung. Skilled beekeepers dont always wear gloves when working in very busy hives

Hornets are another story. I have been chased across the yard and into the house when I accidently disturbed a ground nest.

If one wants to nurture pollinators but can't undertake the considerable work and expense of beekeeping, mason bees are wonderful. Non stinging, relatively inexpensive, also interesting to watch. Still nowhere near as fascinating or complex in their organization; mason bees build with mud, bees build geometrically perfect complex living quarters and make perfumed honey.

Say mason bees are good pollinators, easy to care for and don't sting. But don't say honeybees are aggressive cause it just ain't so!

idabean

I never found Honey bees aggressive. I have not had the experience of africanized honey bees yet , but I am in the area for them. I here that they have rehabilitated africanized hives.

Ok -- stupid question of the day: I've seen the mason bee houses for sale in some catalogs. Do you need to buy the bees too, or do you just hang the house and wait for local bees to find it and set up shop?

I hung up the houses by my garden and some moved in but I am thinking thatI might buy some to increase the amount with some more home made homes.

I just ordered some bees and a few supplies from Crown Bees. The bee house is from Gardeners Supply. The project set me back about $80 total, but I figure if I'm successful the bees will return every year for nesting, so it's just the initial layout (plus some new tubes every year). I've been thinking about doing this for a few years now, this thread finally jump-started my motivation! :0)

Mxk3...I think I am going to do the same thing..I want LOTS of blueberries this year! Thanks for the info)