Mason Bees & Bats at the Library

Have you ever wanted to raise native mason bees in your community garden, backyard, or apartment balcony? Don’t know where to start? In this video, the Library’s resident mason bee expert covers everything you need to know to entice mason bees to your garden this Spring.

This guide published by the Oregon State University Extension Service will teach you how to construct a house using either a block of wood or paper lined carboard tubes.

This video tutorial will show you everything you need to know about how to harvest, wash, and store cocoons prior to Spring emergence. A variety of different nesting materials, including natural reeds and paper tubes, will be reviewed.

This short video created by bethinking.com discusses many interesting facts about solitary bees (mason and leafcutter bees), including their life cycles and how the differ from honeybees.

For those interested in learning how commerical farmers are using mason bees to pollinate larger crops like blueberries and almonds, this YouTube video is an excellent resource.

Beautiful macro-photography accompanies this simple yet informative video about the mason bee's life cycle.

This article about the Library's Mason Bee Tree was published in Vol 8 (2016) Issue 3 of BCLA Perspectives.