Friday, March 22, 2019

How to Build a Mason Bee Hotel Series

Te first of a three part guest post series.
Earlier this month, I made a comment on Farmgal's blog Just Another Day on the Farm. It was a post about ordering Mason and Leaf Cutter bee cocoons and an interesting viewing house to watch all the action inside. That led to an invitation to write guest posts about my Mason Bee hotel experiences. Click the links below to read the posts.

Monday was the first of three guest posts in Farmgal's How to Build a Mason Bee Hotel Series. It tells how Wayne and I made nesting blocks by drilling pieces of driftwood.

Wayne helped me drill the holes part way through the blocks.

Tuesday's guest post focused on how we repurposed old birdhouses into Mason Bee hotels to hang on our front porch's south facing post.

Giving the old birdhouse a facelift with new paint.

Wednesday's guest post focused on attracting mason bees and caring for their nesting blocks through the year.

We mount the Bee Hotels on a south facing surface.

If you would like to read my original Powell River Books Blog posts in their entirety, please click on the links below.

Building a Simple Mason Bee Hotel
Drilling Nesting Blocks for a Bee Hotel
Bee Hotel Update
Revitalizing a Bee Hotel

It all started in 2015 with two native Mason Bees nesting behind a small solar panel on our front porch.

The two original Mason Bees nesting in a crevice on the front porch in 2015.

Each year we've expanded the number of nesting blocks to accommodate all of the bees we are helping to multiply. That's good for my garden and for the natural surroundings where we live.

Chickens pictured on Farmgal's blog.
Thank you Farmgal for letting us share our experiences.

I encourage you to get to know Farmgal. She's a fellow Canadian who lives on a farm near Ottawa. You can find her online at:

Just Another Day on the Farm
On Twitter as @farmgal1800
On Facebook Just Another Day on the Farm
And Farmgal for Hire

Do you have a Mason Bee hotel or nesting sites for other natural bees? Do you raise honeybees? What are your experiences? All bees need our help so they can continue to help us! -- Margy

8 comments:

  1. I have a mason bee house, but the wasps have taken it over!

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    1. I've read about that, having wasps drill in and lay their eggs. I guess even yellow jackets do some pollinating, but not as much as bees. I hate lake summer when they become pesky. We always have to destroy a nest or two each year. - Margy

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  2. Someone was selling bee homes at the Art Safari on Saturday. They looked so CUTE! Have a great week and thank you for stopping by my blog last week.

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    1. They are very popular now. Lots of stores even sell the bee cocoons. - Margy

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  3. Very creative and very cool and it looks great.

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    1. Thanks. They were a lot easier to make using an old birdhouse rather than starting from scratch. - Margy

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  4. The bee hotels look really neat!

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    1. Thanks. I enjoy watching the bees and this is a colourful way to make it part of my home. - Margy

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We welcome your comments and questions. - Wayne and Margy