March 6, 2014…Cocoons transferred from refrigerator to this “Launch Box,” ready for action. There should be about 100…
Launch box complete with about 100 cocoons.
March 6, 2014…first set of Mason bee blocks set up on new shelf.
March 30, 2014…We have lift-off. After 24 days of anxious waiting, we see a bee emerge.
HB says this is a male. You can see a little yellow fuzz on the face and it has long antenna. I’m soooo relieved to see bees, because after pulling them out of their tubes last year, I wondered if I had handled them too roughly.
March 30, 2014…I’m guessing this is a male mason bee. (“Not so fast, Pat”. HB says this is a FEMALE) The males live but a few days. After they mate with the female, they die.
A female has already chosen her first tube.
Carolyn Prola, author and historian who lives in Myrtle Point, Oregon, shows off her Mason bees. Her bees are ahead of mine by a week or two. Carolyn is responsible for getting me back into Mason bees after a couple of false starts.
Adventures in Natural Beekeeping 
Cool!
Now that was so interesting to see! I am just as relieved as you are. Great video and shots! 😀
Relieved too. I think we will all sleep a bit better tonight. 🙂
You can probably tell how happy I was to see them emerge. I had set up the camera on a tripod when I thought I saw some movement in the box. When I came back about 10 minutes later, that’s when I saw one slowly crawling out. I wanted to give them a big hug and thank them for being alive. 🙂
fascinating, I hope you will update when you can
I will be posting photos as the bees start mudding up the tubes. Maybe I’ll catch one in action.
i love mason bees! especially the males with their cute fuzzy yellowy-white faces, cute as heck. 🙂 way to go!
http://beehiveinmyheart.wordpress.com/2013/08/12/introducing-mason-bees/
Well, I must say, your mason bees are much more personable than mine. Mine didn’t show the slightest inclination to crawl on my hands and sometimes when I’m waiting for them to exit the tube, they will wait for me to leave first. How do I know? I leave the camera on. 🙂
Great stuff, but I was expecting more of a mission control type voice over 🙂
Our wild plum tree came into bloom a few days ago and noise from the various bees; I’d like to think some of them as masons with the funny handshakes, made me feel good inside. I can feel a good year for bees ahead,
You probably have mason bees there. If I was near I’d make you a set of nesting blocks. I just dashed some off to my kids for them to hang. I’m told that if you provide places for them to nest, even if it’s just some hollow reeds tied up, they will nest in them. I don’t know about the handshakes though. 🙂
What a great video! How exciting to see them emerge. I have left mine in their nests. I don’t recognise your mason bees at all. Have you any idea what they are? My first lot are out and have filled up three holes already. They are Osmia cornuta and are black and red – nothing like yours.
According to Brian L. Griffin, author of “The Orchard Mason Bee,” our bees are the Osmia Lignaria Propinqua Cresson, aka The Blue Orchard Bee (west of the Rockies) East of the Rockies, it’s cousin is Osmia Lignaria Lignaria. The only difference is the angle of the female’s two facial horns.
Thanks for that. Enjoy your bees, I will enjoy seeing them on the blog but I won’t find any in my bee boxes 😦
Hey, Pat. As always, love your videos and your enthusiasm. Just thought I’d drop a line to let you know an easy way to tell a male from a female mason bee. Males have moustaches! A golden tuft of fuzz on their face means you’re looking at a male. Very long antennae are another giveaway. I think this applies to all masons, not just Osmia Lignaria, but I’ve only just started with Osmia Californica and Hornfaced bees.
Thanks for that HB. Moustaches, eh? So would you be saying the bee coming out of the ‘Launch Window’ was a male because the face looks slightly yellowish? And the bee up on the green painted wood would be a female? Let me know so I can correct it.
The bee on the launch box is definitely a male. He has a magnificent set of antennae. The bee on the green wood has short antennae in comparison, so yes, I’d say that’s a nice fat female.
Okay, HB. Got it corrected. Thanks for pointing that out.