Local Blogger, Tairalyn from Little Miss Mama wrote all about our Mason Bee workshop that her husband Sammy and daughter Sofia attended. See all about their experience, including great tips about making your very own Mason Bee House and the best way to find a forever home in your yard for them:
This past Sunday was epic, because I said so! Now with me working Friday and Saturday our Sundays are extra special, it’s our time as a family to connect, explore, have fun but most importantly, be together. This last Sunday we hit our local Farmers Market, the Port Moody Winter’s Farmers Market, and not only shopped our list of weekly necessities, but also got our craft on. Sammy and Sofia were registered in a Mason Bee Workshop that was put out by the Farmer’s Market and hosted by Dr. Veronica Wahl, from the Institute of Urban Ecology at Douglas College, where she taught them all about Mason Bee’s, including walking them through making a Mason Bee House. We left the market that day with not only our usual, freshly baked pretzels from Gesundheit Bakery, Popcorn from Cravings Kettle Corn, and Tuna from Wild West Coast Seafoods, but we also left with 10 new buzzing family members via Backyard Bird.
Here are some of the main points that Dr. Veronica Wahl taught us about Mason Bee Homes:
- Hang your mason bee home against a wall in a sunny location that has morning light
- Placing it about 5′ to 6′ off the ground; eye level is best
- Timing is everything; choose a warm sunny day with little wind, and place your cocoons out on the nest in early March
I found that her site, unibug, is a great resource for anything and everything Mason Bees, including year round care. We’re so excited to get started however we put our grand release on hold just another week. We chose to keep our cocoons in the fridge for another week, we will hit the nursery next weekend and find some appropriate plants that we know they can feed off of and be confident they will have what they need near. We really hope we can encourage them to stick around, coming back to stay in our little home we made for them all year round. It will help so greatly not only in our beautiful garden but the overall health of our neighborhood eco-system.
Here are the few basics steps they did to make our Mason Bee House:
- Find a 2 liter pop bottle or milk carton and paint the outside {providing shade to the interior}
- Roll brown ink-less paper on a #2 pencil and wrap with white tape
- Make 25 to 50 tubes and elastic band them together is a cluster
- Cover the one end with paper to block out the light and put them inside the carton
EXCITED to update you via Instagram on how these 10 little bees manage in their new accommodations. I’m sure with the service we are planning to provide, it will be just fine. Stay tuned!