I have too many Mason bee tubes I raised from last year. I have taken about half of them out. I would like to give the other half away, more than 50 6-inch tubes, to someone in need. There are about 5-10 bees in each tube. They are great pollinators for apple and cherry trees. Just in time for spring.

I prefer not to deal with shipping and handling. So they are for local pickup only. I live in Vancouver area, BC, Canada. PM me if interested. Thanks.

Great offer for someone in Vancouver area. You'll be called the bees knees for this, you know.

How long have you been providing shelter for the mason bees?  Any simple suggestions on how to get started?  I could count on both hands the #of honey bees I have seen on our property over the last 5 years.  About the same #for toads...   :0(   I use no pesticides or herbicides, either...

simple get any piece of wood at least four inches deep drill a bunch of 5/16 holes in wood and whala you now have a mason bee home. look up images online for images. lots of ideas there. if you build it they will come. a real fun kid project.

The shelter is needed for only about 2 months a year. I usually bring it out in the end of March or the beginning of April, one or two weeks before my apple trees blossoms. By late May or early June when the blossoming period is over and tubes are filled, I bring it inside my garage, where the eggs hatch and develop into pupae. By next spring, I will bring it out again, so the cycle begins.

As shown in the picture, the tubes in the attic were filled from last year. The tubes in the blocks are new. When the weather warms up, the bees in the filled tubes will break the seal. Each female will claim a tube and begin laying eggs. It's important to use new tubes every year to avoid parasite buildup.

Mason bee is unique in the sense that each female is able to lay eggs. Unlike other bees, there's no "queen".

Thank you both for the info.  I am interested in this relationship with nature.  I never knew about Mason bees until the last couple of years.  Hope I can help their numbers increase and maybe get my grandson interested in them too...

As said above, you can just get some 4x4 posts and drill holes in them. I used cedar and it works great. Get some spiders, too. Mason bees are pretty clever - one set up shop in my hollow garage door handle. 

I have access to logs from the property that I can sink and drill.  My locust clothes line pole rotted off and I can reset that and drill.  I don't kill spiders unless they are brown recluse or black widows.  And I have never seen any here.  I try to live an let live.  :0) 

@willwall , really interesting!  Are those special tubes or some sort of plastic straw type of material that you had them nesting in?

PhilaGardener - they are made of recycled computer paper. I hand-rolled them with a dowel.

Hi greenbud, you might really enjoy the Crown Bees website. I already had a mason bee house, but in the past didn't have a lot of luck. We moved and this year I bought a nesting tube variety set (different diameter straws and some cardboard, others reeds) and mason bee pheromone attraction cloths (two for $6 or so) to attach to the bee house. The different tubes will appeal hopefully to whatever species already exist in our yard. They have a really cool bee observation house where you can actually watch the mom mason bee creating her nest.

Crown Bees also does a bee buy back program. They will identify the species in your yard and sell your excess cocoons to people only in your region. You send them cocoons, they send you free supplies.

I'm also hoping to instill a strong love of nature in my son and nephews. If I have luck in the next few months using the pheromone cloths/variety nesting tubes, I'll repost to this thread!

Are these the same bees that tunnel in any wood structure?  

Thanks BrightGreenNurse!   I will check out their site tomorrow.  I will look forward your posts.  It is good for us to learn about nature but even more valuable if the future generations can appreciate the beauty and nurture it.

Blue orchard mason bees are very effective pollinators that only nest in pre-existing holes. They do not defend their nests either. They are extremely gentle. You can find videos on you tube. I think you're referring to the larger wood bee (looks more like a bumblebee).

Yes, BrightGreenNurse is right. Mason bees are very gentle. They rarely sting. Since I started it 2 years ago, we have never been bothered by the bees. Even my 7-year old learns not to be concerned when they are in sight.

I haven't tried any attractors, but then again, mason bees (or at least the type I have) are native to our area. This is my 3rd year, and I started from about 20 4-ch tubes my friend gave me 2 years ago. Now I have more than 100 6-in tubes, way too many than my little garden can support.

Can they be sent to Nanaimo?

So now you're trying to bee generous, eh? :-}

nice offer, wish you were in my area or could ship!

I really enjoy the Mason Bees in my area. Just last summer was the first time I really tried to identify and attract them. Turns out I get large swarms of them around my Red Bud trees. Also see plenty of them around my other flowering fruit trees. Mason Bees seem to start coming out earlier than honey bees but also don't seem to hang around all summer like the "Solitary Bees" do.

Here are a couple pictures of my Red Bud trees with Mason Bees as well as a host of other types of bees swarming them. It's amazing just how loud the buzzing can get with so many bees in one place. I spent hours watching and photographing them. Unfortunately, the only camera I had working at the time was my very cheap cell phone camera. The close ups are blurry because it's hard to tell if you're too close when trying to view a screen in the bright sun. Much to be said about looking through a viewfinder.

 
 

Having trouble loading multiple pics in same post.

That first pic above is actually one of the dozens of Bumble Bees that were there that day.    

I love to see red bud blooming.  As a child this was a sign for the beginning of spring in VA.   I will try to plant one in the next year or two here in WI.  The next was the dogwood but that will not grow in zone 4.  Another sign of spring was the wild day lilies pushing up.  Up here in zone 4 my sign of spring is the turning of the willow branches from mustard to chartreuse.  I am happy to say that has begun!  Yessss!  We have survived another winter!!!   : 0 )

Almost - we just got 5 inches of new snow around Philly!

Thanks to everyone for their contributions to this interesting thread!

Willwall, I wish you success in your generous offer.  I also thank you for starting this thread.  I have learned a lot because of your post!

Greenbud - thank you very much for your thought.