Houseworks: Build a small house for hard-working bees

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If you’re looking for a simple home workshop project that can improve your garden in co-operation with nature, you might want to build something I made several years ago to encourage mason bees.

It’s easy to take pollinating insects for granted. Flowers appear and fruit develops, all without effort on our part. Behind that quiet process are bugs of all kinds, moving pollen from one flower to another. But as you’ve probably heard, some pollinators are in serious decline.

It’s not clear what the cause is, but the issue is real. Canada has more than 700 native bee species, and many live very different lives from the familiar honeybee. Without pollinators, gardens are less productive, wild plant communities are poorer and foods become harder and more expensive to grow.

One encouraging part of this story is that ordinary homeowners can help a little in practical ways. You don’t need a lot of land, specialized equipment or a beekeeper’s suit. A small patch of flowers, restraint with insecticides and a suitable nesting place can make a meaningful difference. All of which brings me to mason bees.

Mason bees are small, solitary native bees and remarkably energetic pollinators. They don’t live in large colonies or produce honey. Each female works on her own, gathering pollen and preparing a series of protected chambers for her eggs.

Sometimes described as stingless, strictly speaking, that’s not quite true. Male mason bees can’t sting, and while females are capable of it, they’re exceptionally non-aggressive and rarely sting unless trapped or handled roughly. I’ve never been stung by a mason bee, so for a backyard project they’re about as easygoing a tenant as anyone could ask for.

Their name comes from they build. A female finds an existing narrow hole, places a supply of pollen inside, lays an egg and seals the chamber with mud she makes herself. The process continues, working towards the opening until the tube contains a row of separate nursery cells. The young develop inside, eventually emerging to begin the cycle again.

In nature, mason bees use beetle holes in dead wood, hollow stems and other small cavities. In a garden, we can offer something more deliberate: a weather-protected house filled with open-ended nesting tubes.

I built one for my own garden as a small woodworking project a few years ago. The wooden house protects a group of specially made plastic nesting trays. When assembled, tubes in the trays form a series of correctly sized tunnels. The trays can later be taken apart for inspection and cleaning.

The woodworking itself is straightforward and well suited to a modest home shop. You can download plans and instructions at baileylineroad.com/mason-bee-house/

The larger idea is simpler than the plans make it appear. Mason bees look for dry, sheltered tunnels near flowers and a source of suitable damp mud. A well-built house gathers those necessities into one dependable location and gives developing bees protection from rain and disturbance.