Mason Bee Video Library

We are thrilled to finally unveil "Life Cycle of a Mason Bee," it took us two years to film this captivating video that offers a mesmerizing glimpse into the extraordinary world of these remarkable pollinators. Join us on this epic journey as we gather a treasure trove of macro photos and videos that chronicle the entire life cycle of Mason Bees. From their humble beginnings as eggs to their remarkable transformation into industrious pollinators, this video showcases the awe-inspiring beauty and importance of these tiny creatures.
Prepare to be amazed by the intricate stages of their development and the vital role they play in our ecosystem.
Our mission goes beyond just sharing their story. WE WANT TO INSPIRE YOU TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
So, sit back, relax, and get ready to be enchanted by the fascinating "Life Cycle of a Mason Bee." Thank you for joining us on this incredible journey!
🌼 #RentMasonBees #NatureLovers #Savethebees #LifeCycleOfMasonBees #pollinators #bees #solitarypollinators

About Rent Mason Bees:
Whether you rent from our program and we clean your bees or your host your own, it's important to harvest and clean your mason bee cocoons every fall. Watch this video as we walk you through our process step by step to learn how.

FIRE- We sterilize all our nesting blocks to remove predators like pollen mites and chalkbrood fungus.
WATER - We give our bees a bath in a mild water and bleach solution to clean off all the mud and predators.
LIGHT - We pick out every cocoon that is no longer viable on our light table.

Our program makes it easy to become a solitary bee host. Gardeners purchase a bee kit that comes with house, nesting block, clay and bees. You release solitary bees into your yard and RENT our nesting blocks for your bees. When you release the bees into your yard they will lay babies in your natural habitat and your nesting block. Harvesting and cleaning the cocoons and blocks is a critical step when hosting solitary bees to remove harmful predators. When you rent from us we take care of the maintenance and cleaning for you. You keep the black house and return the nesting blocks back to us. The following year, you will just need to reorder an “insert” with a sterilized nesting block and clean bees. Please watch our Fall Harvest Video to see how we clean them.
• Our Mason Bee Fall Harvest (why you Rent… we do all the cleaning) - • Mason Bee Fall Harvest - https://youtu.be/wzDWeADhOno?si=cgFNRaZXY8wJJ2e5.

Please visit our website for more information.

Whether you rent from our program and we clean your bees or your host your own, it's important to harvest and clean your mason bee cocoons every fall. Watch this video as we walk you through our process step by step to learn how.

FIRE- We sterilize all our nesting blocks to remove predators like pollen mites and fungus.
WATER - We give our bees a bath in a mild water and bleach solution to clean off all the mud and predators.
LIGHT - We pick out every cocoon that is no longer viable on our light table.

About Rent Mason Bees:
Our program makes it easy to become a solitary bee host. Gardeners purchase a bee kit that comes with house, nesting block, clay and bees. You release solitary bees into your yard and RENT our nesting blocks for your bees. When you release the bees into your yard they will lay babies in your natural habitat and your nesting block. Harvesting and cleaning the cocoons and blocks is a critical step when hosting solitary bees to remove harmful predators. When you rent from us we take care of the maintenance and cleaning for you. You keep the black house and return the nesting blocks back to us. The following year, you will just need to reorder an “insert” with a sterilized nesting block and clean bees. Please watch our Fall Harvest Video to see how we clean them.
• Our Mason Bee Fall Harvest (why you Rent… we do all the cleaning) - https://youtu.be/wzDWeADhOno
• Inside a Mason & Leafcutter Block (the importance of why you need to harvest and clean… remove predators) https://youtu.be/oDNejgF-w5g

Mason bees need spring blooms and leafcutter bees need summer blooms. We provide a variety of options to help you become a solitary bee host. Our Mason Bee Starter kits come with a black shelter, nesting block, bag of clay and pollinator seeds. If you would like both spring and summer pollinators, our Pollinator Package comes with spring mason and summer leafcutter bees, two different nesting blocks for both bees, bag of clay for your masons and flower seeds. We send you both bees and you put out the mason block out first in spring and swap the blocks with the leafcutter block in summer. Don’t worry, we’ll notify you and teach you along the way. Here is a video we did about swapping blocks: “When to Swap Nesting Blocks” - https://youtu.be/nmAIqvJkW50

Here is our store link. https://rentmasonbees.com/rentals/

Here are some of our favorite videos about solitary bees:
• PBS did a beautiful video on mason bees and how they build their nests - https://youtu.be/oPbH1YhsdP8
• Life Cycle of a Mason Bee - https://youtu.be/rbqnruwG6pA
• How to Successfully Raise Mason & Leafcutter Bees - https://youtu.be/NADMbe8WB3A
• A Year with Mason Bees (this is a compilation of the 30 educational videos we made in 2021) - https://youtu.be/N6icZmNTzq8
• Mason Bee Tribute Video in macro lens and slow motion - https://youtu.be/JMbP7BIdYuo
• Learn About Mason Bees - https://youtu.be/-ca5tykSlF8
• Learn About Leafcutter Bees - https://youtu.be/iiCiKRt7a_w

Please sign up for our newsletter so you can get all the important information we send to our hosts on successful hosting tips.

Newsletter Sign up - https://rentmasonbees.com/newsletter-...
• Please make sure your spam filter accepts [email protected]

If you have kids or grandkids, we created a program to teach kids about pollinators with free printable workbooks and worksheets. Turn Kids into Backyard Scientists - Teach Kids About Mason Bees & How They Make Our Food - Rent Mason Bees

Learn what to plant in your garden to support pollinators. Pollinator Partnership has created “recipe” cards for your region. https://www.pollinator.org/gardencards

Since we’re on a roll, one more item to share… Birds & Blooms Magazine and Mother Earth News both published articles this month on solitary bees. In addition to all the above information, you’ll learn so much more reading this article in Mother Earth News: “Backyard Solitary Bees”

Visit our website to learn more: https://rentmasonbees.com/

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Welcome to our recorded video presentation from the WSU Master Gardeners Advanced Education session. Join us as we offer expert guidance on the proper care of mason and leafcutter bees. This informative session will provide you with all the essential knowledge about these remarkable solitary bees.
Whether you raise your own solitary bees or opt to rent our nesting blocks, which you can conveniently send back to us for cleaning, one thing remains constant: essential maintenance and care are vital for ensuring the well-being of these incredible pollinators. By practicing responsible bee stewardship, you play a pivotal role in supporting bee health and bolstering the vibrancy of our ecosystems.

About Rent Mason Bees:
Rent Mason Bees stands as the foremost provider of solitary bees in the United States. We are on a mission to champion the cause of solitary bee conservation and are deeply committed to raising awareness of the indispensable role these remarkable pollinators play in our ecosystem.

Our pioneering efforts extend far beyond simply offering solitary bees to gardeners. We are at the forefront of groundbreaking research initiatives, closely collaborating with esteemed research teams and bee laboratories to investigate the ever-increasing threat posed by harmful predators to solitary bee populations.

The widespread popularity of charming bee hotels, with millions being sold each year, has given rise to a crucial challenge - these well-intentioned accommodations can inadvertently become hunting grounds for the very predators we seek to protect solitary bees from. We take a proactive stance in addressing this issue, ensuring that bee hotels serve as sanctuaries for solitary bees, fostering a secure and nurturing environment. When you rent, you are releasing solitary bees and renting our nesting blocks. You send your blocks back to us in September and we do all the cleaning and maintenance.

Rent Mason Bees invites gardeners, environmental enthusiasts, and communities to join our cause. By embracing solitary bees and incorporating them into your gardens, you not only support solitary bee populations but also reap the benefits of these exceptional pollinators. Together, we can make a significant impact on pollination, biodiversity, and the overall health of our ecosystems.

Join us in our mission to create a more vibrant and sustainable garden ecosystem, and together, let's ensure the future of solitary bees and the prosperity of our environment.

To learn more, please visit our website at https://rentmasonbees.com/

When you set out a "bee hotel" to attract mason bees, you're also attracting invasive predators. In nature they find natural holes in their environment that are camouflaged and harder for predators to find, but a bee hotel has a sign hanging on it that says "VACANCY COME ON IN" Using the proper nesting material and fall maintenance is a key component to a healthy and thriving bee population. Pollen mites, houdini fly larvae, chalkbrood and mono wasps are invasive predators that will eventually overrun your bee hotel and cause your bee tenants to perish. If you are raising your own bees, it is important to harvest and clean them every fall. In this video we'll show you step by step how to do this. If you rent with our program, please send your blocks back to us in September and we will clean everything for you.

Dollar Store Shopping List:
• Mesh Grease Splatter Screen
• Bucket
• 1 or 2 plastic containers (1 for extracting cocoons/1 for clean water)
• Cat litter scoop
• 2 slotted spoons
• Measuring spoons
• Plastic food storage container
• Flashlight
• Roll of paper towels
• Pens with pointy lids
• Bleach
Videos we referenced in the video:
•"Life Cycle of a Mason Bee, Their Predators and How You Can Protect Them" https://youtu.be/7JLquOZdtwU?si=OMaHIZieq5c9sd-G
•"Mason Bee Fall Harvest" How we clean 3 million mason bee cocoons https://youtu.be/wzDWeADhOno?si=OxgCXdzgmdJBoN6z
•"Identify What is Inside Your Nesting Block During a Mason Bee Harvest" https://youtu.be/zLg0bYXgu-U?si=d5v-ijS8u8V6Vr_T
•"How to Transition Old Nesting Material to Healthy Nesting Material and Rescue Your Baby Bees Inside" https://youtu.be/PFNEnJWC-YA?si=pc00mxDhr-73A-g_

Solitary bees are gaining popularity with backyard gardeners because of how easy they are to care for because they don’t sting and are incredible pollinators. Our program makes it easy to become a solitary bee host. Gardeners purchase a bee kit that comes with shelter house, nesting block and bees. You release solitary bees into your yard and rent our nesting blocks for your bees. When you release the bees into your yard they will lay babies in your natural habitat and your nesting block. Harvesting and cleaning them after the season is a critical step when hosting solitary bees to remove harmful predators. When you rent from us we take care of the maintenance and cleaning for you. You keep the black house and return the nesting blocks back to us in September. The following year, you will just need to reorder refills of a new clean block and clean mason bees.

Mason bees emerge in early spring when temperatures are 50+ degrees and only live 6-8 weeks. Leafcutter bees emerge when temperatures are 75+ degrees.

If you’re interested in both mason (Spring) and leafcutter (Summer) pollinators, please watch our Pollinator Kit Video explaining how to set them up.
How to set up Pollinator Kit - https://youtu.be/CiHTwK52Wj4?si=iadjum6IpjME-4SP

Leafcutter bees are found across North America and are used around the world for alfalfa pollination. Honey bees do not efficiently pollinate alfalfa due to a spring-loaded pistil mechanism found in the alfalfa flower, which they avoid. The small leafcutter bee effectively pollinates by “tripping” the pistil and is therefore responsible for creating a majority of the food for pigs and dairy cows. They are an equally gentle generalist bee that will visit a majority of types of flowers in your backyard during their flying months of July and August including your flowering vegetable garden. As their name suggests, leafcutter bees use leaf pieces, which they cut using their mouthparts, to construct their nests.

To learn more, please visit our website.
https://rentmasonbees.com/

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Pollinate your garden all spring and summer long with gentle, solitary bees! We will ship the bees directly to your door in early spring with everything you need to host both mason and leafcutter bees.

In this video we will teach you how to unpack your Pollinator Package and how to set up your bees.

Your kit will include: 50-60 mason bee cocoons in an emergence tube, mason bee nesting block, hangable wood house, a second nesting block filled with 50-60 leafcutter bees, a packet of flower seeds, and a bag of clay. The kit will also contain instructions for how to hang the house, when to put out each bee species, how to send the bees back, and a return shipping label.

About Rent Mason Bees:
Our program makes it easy to become a solitary bee host. Gardeners purchase a bee kit that comes with house, nesting block, clay and bees. You release solitary bees into your yard and RENT our nesting blocks for your bees. When you release the bees into your yard they will lay babies in your natural habitat and your nesting block. Harvesting and cleaning the cocoons and blocks is a critical step when hosting solitary bees to remove harmful predators. When you rent from us we take care of the maintenance and cleaning for you. You keep the black house and return the nesting blocks back to us. The following year, you will just need to reorder an “insert” with a sterilized nesting block and clean bees. Please watch our Fall Harvest Video to see how we clean them.
• Our Mason Bee Fall Harvest (why you Rent… we do all the cleaning) - https://youtu.be/wzDWeADhOno
• Inside a Mason & Leafcutter Block (the importance of why you need to harvest and clean… remove predators) https://youtu.be/oDNejgF-w5g

Mason bees need spring blooms and leafcutter bees need summer blooms. We provide a variety of options to help you become a solitary bee host. Our Mason Bee Starter kits come with a black shelter, nesting block, bag of clay and pollinator seeds. If you would like both spring and summer pollinators, our Pollinator Package comes with spring mason and summer leafcutter bees, two different nesting blocks for both bees, bag of clay for your masons and flower seeds. We send you both bees and you put out the mason block out first in spring and swap the blocks with the leafcutter block in summer. Don’t worry, we’ll notify you and teach you along the way. Here is a video we did about swapping blocks:
"HOW TO SWAP YOUR MASON BEE BLOCK WITH YOUR LEAFCUTTER BEE BLOCK" - https://youtu.be/nmAIqvJkW50

Here is our store link. https://rentmasonbees.com/rentals/

Here are some of our favorite videos about solitary bees:
• PBS did a beautiful video on mason bees and how they build their nests - https://youtu.be/oPbH1YhsdP8
• Life Cycle of a Mason Bee - https://youtu.be/rbqnruwG6pA
• How to Successfully Raise Mason & Leafcutter Bees - https://youtu.be/NADMbe8WB3A
• A Year with Mason Bees (this is a compilation of the 30 educational videos we made in 2021) - https://youtu.be/N6icZmNTzq8
• Mason Bee Tribute Video in macro lens and slow motion - https://youtu.be/JMbP7BIdYuo
• Learn About Mason Bees - https://youtu.be/-ca5tykSlF8
• Learn About Leafcutter Bees - https://youtu.be/iiCiKRt7a_w
"HOW TO DIG A MUD/CLAY HOLE FOR YOUR MASON BEES" - https://youtu.be/QCFG2F7L1j4

Please sign up for our newsletter so you can get all the important information we send to our hosts on successful hosting tips.

Newsletter Sign up - https://rentmasonbees.com/newsletter-...
• Please make sure your spam filter accepts [email protected]

If you have kids or grandkids, we created a program to teach kids about pollinators with free printable workbooks and worksheets. Turn Kids into Backyard Scientists - Teach Kids About Mason Bees & How They Make Our Food - Rent Mason Bees

Learn what to plant in your garden to support pollinators. Pollinator Partnership has created “recipe” cards for your region. https://www.pollinator.org/gardencards

Since we’re on a roll, one more item to share… Birds & Blooms Magazine and Mother Earth News both published articles this month on solitary bees. In addition to all the above information, you’ll learn so much more reading this article in Mother Earth News: “Backyard Solitary Bees”

Visit our website to learn more: https://rentmasonbees.com/

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Rent Mason Bees rents two types of bees, mason bees and leafcutter bees. Mason bees are spring pollinators that emerge when temperatures reach about 55+ degrees. You then remove your mason bee block and replace it with a leafcutter block. Leafcutter bees are summer pollinators that fly when temperatures reach about 77+ degrees. They are a tiny little bee that is much faster than the mason bee. Both bees are incredible pollinators!

If you’ve enjoyed hosting mason bees you may want to consider hosting leafcutter bees for the summer. The nesting blocks are put out at different times (see our How to Swap Block Video Below). If you rented mason bees for the spring, you can use the same outer black house and rent our leafcutter insert. The leafcutter bees start inside of the nesting block and will emerge when day time temperatures are in the mid 70s F.

Leafcutter bees will construct their nests with tiny pieces of crescent shaped cut leaves or flower petals, which does not harm the plant. She will then chew it until it becomes pliable and then push it up along the walls of the cavity of her nesting chamber. She will then lay an egg and place a pollen loaf for her baby before gently wrapping up the leaf chamber and making a cozy little “sleeping bag” for her baby. This process can sometimes take her up to three hours to wrap each baby. The egg will hatch into a larva which will then consume the pollen loaf. Different than a mason bee, leafcutters do not weave a cocoon. They will over-winter in their “sleeping bag” and emerge as an adult bee the following summer.

You can rent both spring mason bees and summer leafcutter bees with our Pollinator Package.

VIDEOS TO LEARN MORE ABOUT LEAFCUTTER BEES:

When & How to Swap Your Mason Bee Block for your Leafcutter Block - https://youtu.be/nmAIqvJkW50
Learn About Leafcutter Bees - https://youtu.be/iiCiKRt7a_w
Inside a Mason & Leafcutter Block - https://youtu.be/oDNejgF-w5g
Watch Leafcutter Bees in Slow Motion - https://youtu.be/tYJogbZ6LxE

How to Host:
Our program makes it easy to become a solitary bee host. Gardeners purchase a bee kit that comes with house, nesting block, clay and bees. You release solitary bees into your yard and rent our nesting blocks for your bees. When you release the bees into your yard they will lay babies in your natural habitat and your nesting block. Harvesting and cleaning the cocoons and blocks is a critical step when hosting solitary bees to remove harmful predators. When you rent from us we take care of the maintenance and cleaning for you. You keep the black house and return the nesting blocks back to us. The following year, you will just need to reorder an “insert” with a sterilized nesting block and clean bees. Please watch our Fall Harvest Video to see how we clean them.
• Our Mason Bee Fall Harvest (why you Rent… we do all the cleaning) - https://youtu.be/wzDWeADhOno

Website - https://rentmasonbees.com/

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Watch mason bees emerge as they wake up from their long winter slumber. Mason bees need early spring blooms once they emerge and will pollinate for about 4-6 weeks and lay their babies.

About Rent Mason Bees:
Our program makes it easy to become a solitary bee host. Gardeners purchase a bee kit that comes with house, nesting block, clay and bees. You release solitary bees into your yard and RENT our nesting blocks for your bees. When you release the bees into your yard they will lay babies in your natural habitat and your nesting block. Harvesting and cleaning the cocoons and blocks is a critical step when hosting solitary bees to remove harmful predators. When you rent from us we take care of the maintenance and cleaning for you. You keep the black house and return the nesting blocks back to us. The following year, you will just need to reorder an “insert” with a sterilized nesting block and clean bees. Please watch our Fall Harvest Video to see how we clean them.
• Our Mason Bee Fall Harvest (why you Rent… we do all the cleaning) - https://youtu.be/wzDWeADhOno
• Inside a Mason & Leafcutter Block (the importance of why you need to harvest and clean… remove predators) https://youtu.be/oDNejgF-w5g

Mason bees need spring blooms and leafcutter bees need summer blooms. We provide a variety of options to help you become a solitary bee host. Our Mason Bee Starter kits come with a black shelter, nesting block, bag of clay and pollinator seeds. If you would like both spring and summer pollinators, our Pollinator Package comes with spring mason and summer leafcutter bees, two different nesting blocks for both bees, bag of clay for your masons and flower seeds. We send you both bees and you put out the mason block out first in spring and swap the blocks with the leafcutter block in summer. Don’t worry, we’ll notify you and teach you along the way. Here is a video we did about swapping blocks: “When to Swap Nesting Blocks” - https://youtu.be/nmAIqvJkW50

Here is our store link. https://rentmasonbees.com/rentals/

Here are some of our favorite videos about solitary bees:
• PBS did a beautiful video on mason bees and how they build their nests - https://youtu.be/oPbH1YhsdP8
• Life Cycle of a Mason Bee - https://youtu.be/rbqnruwG6pA
• How to Successfully Raise Mason & Leafcutter Bees - https://youtu.be/NADMbe8WB3A
• A Year with Mason Bees (this is a compilation of the 30 educational videos we made in 2021) - https://youtu.be/N6icZmNTzq8
• Mason Bee Tribute Video in macro lens and slow motion - https://youtu.be/JMbP7BIdYuo
• Learn About Mason Bees - https://youtu.be/-ca5tykSlF8
• Learn About Leafcutter Bees - https://youtu.be/iiCiKRt7a_w

Please sign up for our newsletter so you can get all the important information we send to our hosts on successful hosting tips.

Newsletter Sign up - https://rentmasonbees.com/newsletter-...
• Please make sure your spam filter accepts [email protected]

If you have kids or grandkids, we created a program to teach kids about pollinators with free printable workbooks and worksheets. Turn Kids into Backyard Scientists - Teach Kids About Mason Bees & How They Make Our Food - Rent Mason Bees

Learn what to plant in your garden to support pollinators. Pollinator Partnership has created “recipe” cards for your region. https://www.pollinator.org/gardencards

Since we’re on a roll, one more item to share… Birds & Blooms Magazine and Mother Earth News both published articles this month on solitary bees. In addition to all the above information, you’ll learn so much more reading this article in Mother Earth News: “Backyard Solitary Bees”

Visit our website to learn more: https://rentmasonbees.com/

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Spring is coming and it's time to get ready for your mason bees to arrive. In this video we will teach you what comes in your mason bee kit, when is the right time to put out your bees and how to hang it up.
**************************
Newsletter Sign up - https://rentmasonbees.com/newsletter-signup/
Please make sure your spam filter accepts [email protected]

Other videos we reference:

HOW TO SAFELY STORE MASON BEES OVER SUMMER - https://youtu.be/ReJmfnISTZQ

HOW TO MAKE YOUR MUD/CLAY HOLE - https://youtu.be/QCFG2F7L1j4

About Rent Mason Bees:
Our program makes it easy to become a solitary bee host. Gardeners purchase a bee kit that comes with house, nesting block, clay and bees. You release solitary bees into your yard and RENT our nesting blocks for your bees. When you release the bees into your yard they will lay babies in your natural habitat and your nesting block. Harvesting and cleaning the cocoons and blocks is a critical step when hosting solitary bees to remove harmful predators. When you rent from us we take care of the maintenance and cleaning for you. You keep the black house and return the nesting blocks back to us. The following year, you will just need to reorder an “insert” with a sterilized nesting block and clean bees. Please watch our Fall Harvest Video to see how we clean them.
• Our Mason Bee Fall Harvest (why you Rent… we do all the cleaning) - • Mason Bee Fall Ha...
• Inside a Mason & Leafcutter Block (the importance of why you need to harvest and clean… remove predators) • Predators On the ...

Mason bees need spring blooms and leafcutter bees need summer blooms. We provide a variety of options to help you become a solitary bee host. Our Mason Bee Starter kits come with a black shelter, nesting block, bag of clay and pollinator seeds. If you would like both spring and summer pollinators, our Pollinator Package comes with spring mason and summer leafcutter bees, two different nesting blocks for both bees, bag of clay for your masons and flower seeds. We send you both bees and you put out the mason block out first in spring and swap the blocks with the leafcutter block in summer. Don’t worry, we’ll notify you and teach you along the way.

Visit our website to learn more: https://rentmasonbees.com/

25 4

When you set out a "bee hotel" to attract mason bees, you're also attracting invasive predators. In nature they find natural holes in their environment that are camouflaged and harder for predators to find, but a bee hotel has a sign hanging on it that says "VACANCY COME ON IN"

Using the proper nesting material and fall maintenance is a key component to a healthy and thriving bee population. Pollen mites, houdini fly larva, chalkbrood and mono wasps are invasive predators that will eventually overrun your bee hotel and cause your bee tenants to perish.

Nesting material that can be opened so that cocoons can be extracted is the best kind to use. Blocks of wood with holes drilled in or bamboo reeds cannot be opened and over time will be a breeding ground for predators.

If you have old nesting material that has never been cleaned and you have holes that are plugged with mud, you have baby bees inside. In the video below we’re going to teach you how to transition your old nesting blocks to provide a healthier habitat for your mason bees and save the bees inside.

Please do your part to clean nesting blocks and cocoons EVERY year. If this is something you’re not able to commit too, then you can rent from us and we can do all of the cleaning for you.

Watch this video to see what predators look inside a nesting block - https://youtu.be/oDNejgF-w5g

What our Fall Harvest where we clean 3 million mason bee cocoons - https://youtu.be/wzDWeADhOno

What How to Be a Successful Mason and Leafcutter Bee Host - https://youtu.be/NADMbe8WB3A

About Rent Mason Bees:
Our program makes it easy to become a solitary bee host. Gardeners purchase a bee kit that comes with house, nesting block, clay and bees. You release solitary bees into your yard and RENT our nesting blocks for your bees. When you release the bees into your yard they will lay babies in your natural habitat and your nesting block. Harvesting and cleaning the cocoons and blocks is a critical step when hosting solitary bees to remove harmful predators. When you rent from us we take care of the maintenance and cleaning for you. You keep the black house and return the nesting blocks back to us. The following year, you will just need to reorder an “insert” with a sterilized nesting block and clean bees. Please watch our Fall Harvest Video to see how we clean them.
• Our Mason Bee Fall Harvest (why you Rent… we do all the cleaning) - https://youtu.be/wzDWeADhOno
• Inside a Mason & Leafcutter Block (the importance of why you need to harvest and clean… remove predators) https://youtu.be/oDNejgF-w5g

Mason bees need spring blooms and leafcutter bees need summer blooms. We provide a variety of options to help you become a solitary bee host. Our Mason Bee Starter kits come with a black shelter, nesting block, bag of clay and pollinator seeds. If you would like both spring and summer pollinators, our Pollinator Package comes with spring mason and summer leafcutter bees, two different nesting blocks for both bees, bag of clay for your masons and flower seeds. We send you both bees and you put out the mason block out first in spring and swap the blocks with the leafcutter block in summer. Don’t worry, we’ll notify you and teach you along the way. Here is a video we did about swapping blocks:
"HOW TO SWAP YOUR MASON BEE BLOCK WITH YOUR LEAFCUTTER BEE BLOCK" - https://youtu.be/nmAIqvJkW50

Here is our store link. https://rentmasonbees.com/rentals/

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When harvesting mason bee cocoons, you'll discover many other things in your nesting material. We'll teach you what the mysterious bits are inside your nesting block.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PREDATORS WE MENTIONED:

UC Riverside Study on Pollen Mites and Chalkbrood - https://youtu.be/ms_AHoExOCg

How to Transition Old Nesting Material to Healthy Nesting Material - https://youtu.be/PFNEnJWC-YA

ABOUT RENT MASON BEES
As part of our rental program, you release bees into your yard and rent our nesting blocks. In the fall, you return your nesting blocks and we harvest and clean all the cocoons and nesting blocks.
As part of our harvest, we place all the clean cocoons on a light board and sort ALL of them by hand. This is tedious work that takes months to complete. We do this to pick out all the non-viable cocoons. Either the larva didn't form completely, or it was compromised by a predator. The compromised cocoons will glow amber when we place them on a lightboard. We can easily identify those cocoons and remove them.
To watch our Harvest Video, please click here
https://youtu.be/wzDWeADhOno

To learn more about solitary bees, please visit our website at
https://rentmasonbees.com/

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Learn when to swap out mason bee blocks for leafcutter bees and how to protect your mason bees over the summer. We'll also teach you about leafcutter bees and how to insert leafcutter blocks.
Video - Learn About Leafcutter Bees:
https://youtu.be/iiCiKRt7a_w
Website:
https://rentmasonbees.com/

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Look inside a mason bee nesting block to see what your baby bees are doing and see how mason bees make their nesting cells. It’s June and mason bee season is wrapping up. Once your mason bee activity is over you need to safely store your mason bees in a shed or garage to keep them safe from summer predators like mono wasps and birds.

Learn how to remove your mason bee nesting block and store until you ship back in September. https://youtu.be/nmAIqvJkW50
Please sign up for our newsletter so you can get all the important information we send to our hosts on successful hosting tips and get on the list to be notified of pre-orders for next year.

Newsletter Sign up - https://rentmasonbees.com/newsletter-signup/ Our blog is stocked full of information about solitary bees and you can join our Facebook page to learn more.

Join or Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/rentmasonbees

Visit our Blog https://rentmasonbees.com/news/

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We open up mason and leafcutter blocks to show you the inside and intricate work of solitary bees.

Many people love to raise their own solitary bees, so we'll show you why it's important to harvest and clean your cocoons every fall. When you rent, we do all the harvest and cleaning for you. Come take a look and learn more about how to care for solitary bees.

Part 1 - What are Your Baby Bees Doing https://youtu.be/Bgb_KVmcFLA

Join Our Solitary Bee Community Newsletter:
Please subscribe to our Solitary Bee Community Newsletter and join our BEE-I-P (VIP) elite! Learn about solitary bees and how to care for them, get informed on when to pre-order your mason bees for next spring and receive coupons and sneak peaks before we let everyone else know.
We promise not to bog your email down and we will never share your information. Join Today!
https://rentmasonbees.com/newsletter-...

About Rent Mason Bees:
At Rent Mason Bees we offer a way for people to be a part of their food source and help native solitary pollinators, but not have to worry about doing the fall cleaning which is critical when hosting mason bees.

When you release mason bees into your yard, you help solitary bee populations which have been on the decline, enrich your habitat because of their incredible belly flopping pollination skills and in doing so strength your ecosystem. Pollinated trees and plants grow bigger and stronger which strengthens soil, provides cleaner air and feeds other wildlife.

Solitary bees are non-stinging and live and work by themselves. They gather their own food, find their own nests and lay their own eggs. They don’t make honey or live in a hive, which makes them non-aggressive. They are incredible pollinators that visit over 2,000 blossoms a day and are known for “belly flopping” onto blossoms, gathering pollen all over their bodies which enables them to pollinate 95% of the flowers they land on.

Please reserve your bees early. Farmers use our bees to pollinate their crops, so we have a limited supply for our gardeners. Click here to see our store. https://rentmasonbees.com/rentals/

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At Rent Mason Bees we provide an option to rent solitary bees because we want to offer a way for people to interact with and host native bee populations but not have to worry about doing the work the rest of the year. We realize that some people want the entire year experience of caring and cleaning mason bees, but for those who want to support bees and get their yards pollinated but not worry about cleaning all the mites off cocoons, sterilizing the nesting blocks and storing safely over winter, they rent from us.

Our rental program offers a way to be involved in your community’s food sources and promote healthier urban and rural ecosystems with a minimal commitment. We are able to do this by finding hosts across the United States who will hang up a solitary bee house in their yard and release bees. By hosting bees, you will help solitary bee populations which have been on the decline, enrich your habitat because of their incredible belly flopping pollination skills & in doing so strengthen your ecosystem. Pollinated trees and plants grow bigger and stronger which strengthens soil, provides cleaner air and feeds other wildlife.

In the fall, once the developing bees have spun their protective cocoons, hosts mail back their nesting blocks to RMB. The nesting blocks and bee cocoons are thoroughly cleaned and sorted to eliminate pests, including Houdini flies and pollen mites that are a threat to native bee species. After all cocooned bees are cleaned, they are safely stored in hibernation over winter.

The following spring, healthy bees are returned to backyard gardens and sent to farmers across the U.S. to help them produce more food such as apples, blueberries, pears, cherries and almonds. One third of the food we eat is pollinated by bees, so you help farmers make more food and reduce the stressful workload placed on honeybee colonies when they work alongside solitary bees.

Solitary bees are non-stinging and live and work by themselves. They gather their own food, find their own nests and lay their own eggs. They don’t make honey or live in a hive, which makes them non-aggressive. They are incredible pollinators that visit over 2,000 blossoms a day and are known for “belly flopping” onto blossoms, gathering pollen all over their bodies which enables them to pollinate 95% of the flowers they land on.

Please reserve your bees early. Farmers use our bees to pollinate their crops, so we have a limited supply for our gardeners. Click here to see our store. https://rentmasonbees.com/rentals/

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We want to thank all our hosts and mason bee lovers with this special Tribute Video to Mason Bees. Watch these little bees in slow motion and micro film as they're working.

If you're interested in hosting mason bees next season, please follow our Facebook page or join our newsletter.
Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/rentmasonbees

Join Our Solitary Bee Community Newsletter:
Please subscribe to our Solitary Bee Community Newsletter and join our BEE-I-P (VIP) elite! Learn about solitary bees and how to care for them, get informed on when to pre-order your mason bees for next spring and receive coupons and sneak peaks before we let everyone else know.
We promise not to bog your email down and we will never share your information. Join Today!
https://rentmasonbees.com/newsletter-signup/

About Rent Mason Bees:

Rent Mason Bees is the only company in the country that brings gardeners and farmers together with our bee rental program. Our rental program works by finding hosts who will hang up a mason bee house in their yards and gardens. Mason bees are exceptional pollinators, so spring-blooming plants in your yard will flourish.

When you rent from us, you don't have to harvest the cocoons or clean the nesting block in the fall. When the developing bees have built their protective cocoons, you mail your nesting blocks back to Rent Mason Bees. Our team then eliminates all the predators by cleaning each mason bee cocoon and sterilizing all the nesting blocks. We then safely store them in hibernation over winter.

The next spring, healthy mason bee cocoons are sent back to our backyard gardeners and to farmers to pollinate crops such as apple, blueberry, pear, cherry and almond.

The results are: your garden gets pollinated, healthy bees are put back into the ecosystem and you help farmers produce more food.

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SUMMER LEAFCUTTER BEES

Leafcutter bees begin to emerge when temperatures are a consistent 75+ degrees for about two weeks. Like all solitary bees, each female finds her own nesting hole and lays all her own babies. This makes them non-aggressive and very friendly little bees.

Each female will lay about 30 eggs in her lifetime and will live for about 4-6 weeks. She will construct her nest with tiny pieces of crescent shaped cut leaves or flower petals, which does not harm the plant, and will fly it back to her nest where she will chew it until it becomes pliable and then push it up along the walls of the cavity. She will then lay an egg and place a pollen loaf for her baby before gently wrapping up the leaf chamber and making a cozy little “sleeping bag” for her baby. This process can sometimes take her up to three hours to wrap each baby. The egg will hatch into a larva which will then consume the pollen loaf. Different than a mason bee, leafcutters do not weave a cocoon. They will over-winter in their “sleeping bag” and emerge as an adult bee the following summer.

To learn more, please visit https://rentmasonbees.com/when-will-your-leafcutter-bees-emerge/

Videos Mentioned to Watch:

How to Swap Mason Bee Block to Leafcutter Block - https://youtu.be/nmAIqvJkW50

How to Deter Birds - https://youtu.be/D3BAPbUh9jo

Watch our Leafcutter Bee Harvest - https://youtu.be/hy_Zz1V4lZA

Watch leafcutter bees in slow motion - https://youtu.be/tYJogbZ6LxE

About Rent Mason Bees:
Our program makes it easy to become a solitary bee host. Gardeners purchase a bee kit that comes with house, nesting block, clay and bees. You release solitary bees into your yard and RENT our nesting blocks for your bees. When you release the bees into your yard they will lay babies in your natural habitat and your nesting block. Harvesting and cleaning the cocoons and blocks is a critical step when hosting solitary bees to remove harmful predators. When you rent from us we take care of the maintenance and cleaning for you. You keep the black house and return the nesting blocks back to us. The following year, you will just need to reorder an “insert” with a sterilized nesting block and clean bees. Please watch our Fall Harvest Video to see how we clean them.
• Our Mason Bee Fall Harvest (why you Rent… we do all the cleaning) - https://youtu.be/wzDWeADhOno
• Inside a Mason & Leafcutter Block (the importance of why you need to harvest and clean… remove predators) https://youtu.be/oDNejgF-w5g
Mason bees need spring blooms and leafcutter bees need summer blooms. We provide a variety of options to help you become a solitary bee host. Our Mason Bee Starter kits come with a black shelter, nesting block, bag of clay and pollinator seeds. If you would like both spring and summer pollinators, our Pollinator Package comes with spring mason and summer leafcutter bees, two different nesting blocks for both bees, bag of clay for your masons and flower seeds. We send you both bees and you put out the mason block out first in spring and swap the blocks with the leafcutter block in summer. Don’t worry, we’ll notify you and teach you along the way. Here is a video we did about swapping blocks:
"HOW TO SWAP YOUR MASON BEE BLOCK WITH YOUR LEAFCUTTER BEE BLOCK" - https://youtu.be/nmAIqvJkW50
Here is our store link. https://rentmasonbees.com/rentals/

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We had a fun day with host, Gaard Swanson, and his crew and loved showing them our baby bee harvest and how we clean over 3 million bees so that healthy bees are returned back to the ecosystem.

How To Rent Bees - Rent Mason Bees is the only company in the country who has a program where you “host” mason bees. Our bee rental program works by finding hosts who will hang up a mason bee house in their yards and gardens. Mason bees are exceptional pollinators, so spring-blooming plants in your yard will flourish.
In the fall, when the developing bees have built their protective cocoons, you mail your nesting blocks back to Rent Mason Bees. Our team then eliminates all the predators by cleaning each mason bee cocoon and sterilizing all the nesting blocks. We then safely store them in hibernation over winter.
The next spring, healthy mason bee cocoons are sent to farmers to pollinate crops such as apple, blueberry, pear, cherry and almond. The results are: your garden gets pollinated, healthy bees are put back into the ecosystem and you help farmers produce more food.

Please reserve your bees early. Farmers use our bees to pollinate their crops, so we have a limited supply for our gardeners. Click here to see our store. https://rentmasonbees.com/rentals/

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LEARN HOW TO SAFELY STORE MASON BEES OVER THE SUMMER

Depending on where you live and when you put your mason bees out will determine if they're done for the season. With our rough start to spring we are getting reports that some bees are still busy working.

IT IS SAFE TO MOVE YOUR MASON BEE NESTING BLOCK ONCE YOU NO LONGER SEE BEE ACTIVITY.

In our NEW video we'll teach you:

Why you need to remove your nesting block at the end of spring
Where and how to store your nesting block
What temperature it should be stored at
What to do if you see earwigs when you remove your block

Other videos to watch that we talked about:

How to Transition from Old Nesting Material to New - https://youtu.be/PFNEnJWC-YA

What are My Baby Bees Doing - https://youtu.be/f_9WN4k4_Cc

Newsletter Sign up - https://rentmasonbees.com/newsletter-... Our blog is stocked full of information about solitary bees and you can join our Facebook page to learn more.

Join or Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/rentmasonbees

Visit our Blog https://rentmasonbees.com/news/

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Predatory and parasitic wasps are one of the most common predators of cavity-nesting bees that can cause catastrophic losses to solitary bee populations.

In this video learn how to spot them and what to do if you find one.

Read our full blog about mono wasps. https://rentmasonbees.com/predator-mono-wasp/

VIDEO: MONO WASP LARVAE INSIDE COCOON - https://youtu.be/J2PO9XBQfWA

Newsletter Sign up - https://rentmasonbees.com/newsletter-... Our blog is stocked full of information about solitary bees and you can join our Facebook page to learn more.

Join or Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/rentmasonbees

Visit our Blog https://rentmasonbees.com/news/

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This is the first video in our 3 part series "What are your Baby Bees Doing?" We will follow our baby bees through their development phases to see their transformation from baby larva to cocoon.


Follow Along and See Your Baby Bees Development:
Part 2 - https://youtu.be/Qko1wwd1FTU
Part 3 - https://youtu.be/4BJLy-2OsNg


If you’re interested in learning more about leafcutter bees, we have two videos to help you learn about them.
Learn About Leafcutter Bees Video - https://youtu.be/iiCiKRt7a_w


Learn when to swap out mason bee blocks for leafcutter bees https://youtu.be/nmAIqvJkW50
Leafcutter bees are super pollinators and are tiny, friendly little bees that won't sting. Grow more vegetables with the pollination help from gentle leafcutter bees!
We will mail your bees directly to your home in time to pollinate your blooming summer vegetable garden and flower beds. Kits includes: a nesting block with 100-150 leafcutter bees inside, a hangable wooden house, and return label for you to send the bees back at the end of the season.
Visit our store to order your bees - https://rentmasonbees.com/rentals/
More ways to learn about Solitary Bees!
Our blog is stocked full of information about solitary bees and you can join our Facebook page to learn more.
Join or Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/rentmasonbees

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This is a 3 part series of "What are your Baby Bees Doing". If you'd like to see how your bees develop, please check out our other videos:


Part 1 - https://youtu.be/Bgb_KVmcFLA
Part 3 - https://youtu.be/4BJLy-2OsNg


In this video we talk about what a solitary bee is and we follow the progress of baby bees to see what stage of their development they're in 5 days after our 1st video (Part 1). Let’s take a look!!

We mentioned several links in our video:
Our first video in our "What are your baby bees doing?" series
https://rentmasonbees.com/video-what-are-your-baby-bees-doing-lets-take-a-look/


First time host blog – https://rentmasonbees.com/mason-bee-host-story-my-introduction-to-mason-bees/

Pollen mites on Red Mason Bee - https://youtu.be/P_TWtwkcdIY

Pollen mites on the back of a mason bee https://youtu.be/sU2SyIZ7pcY

Our cleaning process - https://youtu.be/sWAYjazxpNI

The Importance of Cleaning Your Nesting Block - https://rentmasonbees.com/why-you-need-to-clean-your-mason-bees-and-nesting-blocks-every-year/

Please subscribe to our Solitary Bee Community Newsletter and join our BEE-I-P (VIP) elite! Learn about solitary bees and how to care for them, get informed on when to pre-order your mason and leafcutter bees and receive coupons and sneak peaks before we let everyone else know.
We promise not to bog your email down and we will never share your information. Join Today!
(Please make sure you update your SPAM filter to accept emails from [email protected])
https://rentmasonbees.com/newsletter-signup/

Website: www.RentMasonBees.com

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Update & Correction to what the black larvae are in the video. Those baby bees have Chalkbrood, which is a fungus that they get from their environment and they carry it back into the nesting hole and it kills them. We did a research study with UC Riverside about Chalkbrood and Pollen Mites. Learn all about their study by watching the video we did: https://youtu.be/ms_AHoExOCg
__________
It's the middle of July and two weeks after our last "What are your baby bees doing?" Let's take a peek and see what our baby bees are doing now? You'll also learn why drilling holes in wood is harmful to solitary bee populations.

If you missed our first two episodes, check them out here:

WHAT ARE YOUR BABY BEES DOING?
NEW VIDEO with Macro Lens Close up of Baby Bees - https://youtu.be/f_9WN4k4_Cc
PART 1: https://youtu.be/Bgb_KVmcFLA
PART 2: https://youtu.be/Qko1wwd1FTU

OUR CLEANING PROCESS - How we Rid Pollen Mites and Other Predators https://youtu.be/sWAYjazxpNI Your questions inspire our blog posts. Everything we want you to learn about mason and leafcutter bees, we post on our blog.

VISIT OUR BLOG: https://rentmasonbees.com/news/

Please subscribe to our Solitary Bee Community Newsletter and join our BEE-I-P (VIP) elite! Learn about solitary bees and how to care for them, get informed on when to pre-order your mason and leafcutter bees and receive coupons and sneak peaks before we let everyone else know. We promise not to bog your email down and we will never share your information. Join Today! (Please make sure you update your SPAM filter to accept emails from [email protected]) https://rentmasonbees.com/newsletter-signup/

Website: www.RentMasonBees.com

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How many Shimmering Bee Bums can you find in your nesting block? Take a flashlight and see if you can see any of them resting for the night.
Your mason bees will find safety in your nesting block or in other parts of your yard.

About Rent Mason Bees:
Our program makes it easy to become a solitary bee host. Gardeners purchase a bee kit that comes with house, nesting block, clay and bees. You release solitary bees into your yard and RENT our nesting blocks for your bees. When you release the bees into your yard they will lay babies in your natural habitat and your nesting block. Harvesting and cleaning the cocoons and blocks is a critical step when hosting solitary bees to remove harmful predators. When you rent from us we take care of the maintenance and cleaning for you. You keep the black house and return the nesting blocks back to us. The following year, you will just need to reorder an “insert” with a sterilized nesting block and clean bees. Please watch our Fall Harvest Video to see how we clean them.
• Our Mason Bee Fall Harvest (why you Rent… we do all the cleaning) - https://youtu.be/wzDWeADhOno
• Inside a Mason & Leafcutter Block (the importance of why you need to harvest and clean… remove predators) https://youtu.be/oDNejgF-w5g

Mason bees need spring blooms and leafcutter bees need summer blooms. We provide a variety of options to help you become a solitary bee host. Our Mason Bee Starter kits come with a black shelter, nesting block, bag of clay and pollinator seeds. If you would like both spring and summer pollinators, our Pollinator Package comes with spring mason and summer leafcutter bees, two different nesting blocks for both bees, bag of clay for your masons and flower seeds. We send you both bees and you put out the mason block out first in spring and swap the blocks with the leafcutter block in summer. Don’t worry, we’ll notify you and teach you along the way. Here is a video we did about swapping blocks:
"HOW TO SWAP YOUR MASON BEE BLOCK WITH YOUR LEAFCUTTER BEE BLOCK" - https://youtu.be/nmAIqvJkW50

Here is our store link. https://rentmasonbees.com/rentals/

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Rent Mason Bees is committed to helping mason bees thrive in their environment. Through partnerships with Universities and Research Teams we are able to learn how to support pollinators who are critical to our ecosystem and food supply.

In this video we partnered with Jessica and Jacqueline who are on the research team for UC Riverside in the McFrederick Lab. They are studying pollen mites and chalkbrood and their goal is to lower bee mortality. Watch to see microscopic videos and photos of what they are finding and discovering.

WHAT ARE SOLITARY BEES? Unlike the social honey bees, solitary bees do not have a queen, do not live in a hive and do not produce honey. Without the need to protect a queen and honey, solitary bees are gentle, friendly and non-aggressive. Each female must find or create her own nest, and collect all of the food needed to feed herself and her eggs.

ONE OF NATURE'S BEST POLLINATORS Honey bees collect pollen on their back legs, whereas solitary bees are belly floppers. They flop onto blossoms collecting pollen all over their bodies. This enables them to pollinate 95% of the flowers they land on and they visit over 2,000 flowers a day. They truly are one of nature's best pollinators.

HOW TO HOST: Our program makes it easy to become a solitary bee host. Gardeners purchase a bee kit that comes with house, nesting block, clay and bees. You release solitary bees into your yard and rent our nesting blocks for your bees. When you release the bees into your yard they will pollinate and enrich your habitat and ecosystem. Solitary means alone… by themselves. They don’t have a hive or queen to protect. Each female finds all her own food and all her own nests. They use pre-made holes in your environment and will lay babies in your yard and your nesting block. Harvesting and cleaning the cocoons and blocks is a critical step when hosting solitary bees to remove harmful predators. When you rent from us we take care of the maintenance and cleaning for you. You keep the black house and return the nesting blocks back to us. The following year, you will just need to reorder an “insert” with a sterilized nesting block and clean bees. Please watch our Fall Harvest Video below to see how we clean them.

Here are some of our favorite videos about solitary bees:
•PBS did a beautiful video on mason bees and how they build their nests - https://youtu.be/oPbH1YhsdP8
•Life Cycle of a Mason Bee - https://youtu.be/rbqnruwG6pA
•Mason Bee Tribute Video in macro lens and slow motion - https://youtu.be/JMbP7BIdYuo
•Inside a Mason & Leafcutter Block (the importance of why you need to harvest and clean… remove predators) https://youtu.be/oDNejgF-w5g
•Our Mason Bee Fall Harvest (why you Rent… we do all the cleaning) - https://youtu.be/wzDWeADhOno
•What Are Your Baby Bees Doing? Sneak a peak inside to see how mason bees develop. This is a 3 part series. Here’s number 1 https://youtu.be/Bgb_KVmcFLA

Birds & Blooms Magazine and Mother Earth News both published articles this month on solitary bees. In addition to all the above information, you’ll learn so much more reading this article in Mother Earth News: “Backyard Solitary Bees” https://www.motherearthnews.com/homes...

Please sign up for our newsletter so you can get all the important information we send to our hosts on successful hosting tips.
Newsletter Sign up - https://rentmasonbees.com/newsletter-...

Visit our website for more information - https://rentmasonbees.com/

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WHAT ARE SOLITARY BEES? Unlike the social honey bees, solitary bees do not have a queen, do not live in a hive and do not produce honey. Without the need to protect a queen and honey, solitary bees are gentle, friendly and non-aggressive. Each female must find or create her own nest, and collect all of the food needed to feed herself and her eggs. Your kids and pets will be safe in the company of solitary bees!

ONE OF NATURE'S BEST POLLINATORS Honey bees collect pollen on their back legs, whereas solitary bees are belly floppers. They flop onto blossoms collecting pollen all over their bodies. This enables them to pollinate 95% of the flowers they land on and they visit over 2,000 flowers a day. They truly are one of nature's best pollinators.

HOW OUR BEES ARE DIFFERENT? Mason bees are one of the easiest bees to host, but you do need to take care of your bees in the fall. If you don’t harvest the cocoons and clean the nesting block you are not protecting your bees from evasive predators such as pollen mites and Houdini flies, which lay their eggs on the mason bee pollen inside your holes. When you rent from us, you don’t have to worry about any of this. You send your nesting block back to us and we do it all for you. During our mason bee harvest we clean millions of mason bee cocoons and sterilize their nesting blocks to eliminate predators. Which means the bees you rent from us are predator free, strong and healthy and your nesting block is clean and ready to start using. In addition to healthy bees, all our bee houses and nesting blocks are made in our wood workshop. We make thousands of bee homes for backyard gardeners to decorate and pollinate your yard. All our nesting blocks are made with holes of a precise size to support laying eggs and keep their babies safe. We also place a cardboard backing on the back of their nesting block to keep out predators and create a dark tunnel for bees to lay their eggs.


Please reserve your bees early. Farmers use our bees to pollinate their crops, so we have a limited supply for our gardeners. Click here to see our store. https://rentmasonbees.com/rentals/

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Pollinator. Mason. Jeweler. A female blue orchard bee is a multitasking master. She fashions exquisite nests out of mud and pollen that resemble pieces of jewelry. And in the process, she helps us grow nuts and fruits.

SUBSCRIBE to Deep Look! http://goo.gl/8NwXqt
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DEEP LOOK is a ultra-HD (4K) short video series created by KQED San Francisco and presented by PBS Digital Studios. See the unseen at the very edge of our visible world. Get a new perspective on our place in the universe and explore big scientific mysteries by going incredibly small.

* NEW VIDEOS EVERY OTHER TUESDAY! *

A new type of bee is buzzing through California's orchards. And researchers are hoping that the iridescent, greenish insect may help provide a more efficient way to pollinate nuts and fruits in an era when traditional honeybees have struggled.

Unlike honeybees, blue orchard bees don’t sting humans. And instead of building large colonies with thousands of worker bees caring for eggs laid by a queen bee, female blue orchard bees work alone to build their nests and stock them with food. They’re solitary bees, like most of the 4,000 species of bees in North America.

Blue orchard bees, which are native to the United States, are of increasing interest to scientists, government agencies and farmers for their ability to pollinate almonds, sweet cherries and other tree fruits more efficiently than honeybees.

“This is, I think, the moment for these bees to shine,” said entomologist Natalie Boyle, who studies blue orchard bees at the United States Department of Agriculture in Logan, Utah.

Boyle works with almond growers in California, whose crop is worth $5.2 billion a year and who rely heavily on honeybees to pollinate their orchards every February. Research has found that 400 female blue orchard bees are as effective at pollinating almonds as the more than 10,000 bees in a honeybee hive, said Boyle.

Between 40 and 50 percent of honeybee colonies die each year around the country, according to the yearly National Honey Bee Survey, carried out by universities with the sponsorship of the USDA and the California Almond Board, among others.

Finding other bees that could work side by side with honeybees could offer what Boyle calls “pollination insurance.”

--- What is a mason bee?
The blue orchard bee is a mason bee. Females build their nests out of mud that they collect with two huge pincer-like tools on their face called mandibles. In nature, they build their nests in places like hollow twigs. But they will also build them in pencil-wide drill holes in a wood block.

--- What makes blue orchard bees good pollinators?
One thing that makes blue orchard bees good pollinators are hairs on their abdomen called scopa, on which they collect and spread pollen. Blue orchard bees are particularly good at pollinating almonds and tree fruits like cherries and apples because they love foraging in their flowers. And they’re particularly well-suited to pollinate almonds, which are in bloom in February, when it’s chilly in California’s Central Valley, because they will fly around and forage at a cooler temperature than honeybees.

---+ Read the article on KQED Science:
https://www.kqed.org/science/1928378/watch-this-bee-build-her-bee-jeweled-nest


---+ For more information:
Download the free book How to Manage the Blue Orchard Bee:
https://www.sare.org/Learning-Center/Books/How-to-Manage-the-Blue-Orchard-Bee

---+ More Great Deep Look episodes:

This Vibrating Bumblebee Unlocks a Flower’s Hidden Treasure
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZrTndD1H10

What Do Earwigs Do With Those Pincers Anyway?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuOnqWpIL9E

---+ See some great videos and documentaries from PBS Digital Studios!

PBS Eons: When Insects First Flew
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QMcXEj7IT0

CrashCourse: The Plants & The Bees: Plant Reproduction - CrashCourse Biology #38
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExaQ8shhkw8

---+ Follow KQED Science:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kqedscience/
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/kqedscience
KQED Science on kqed.org: http://www.kqed.org/science
Facebook Watch: https://www.facebook.com/DeepLookPBS/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/deeplook


---+ About KQED

KQED, an NPR and PBS affiliate in San Francisco, CA, serves Northern California and beyond with a public-supported alternative to commercial TV, radio and web media.

Funding for Deep Look is provided in part by PBS Digital Studios. Deep Look is a project of KQED Science, which is supported by the Templeton Religion Trust and the Templeton World Charity Foundation, the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, the Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation, the Vadasz Family Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Fuhs Family Foundation Fund and the members of KQED.

#deeplook #blueorchardbee #wildlifedocumentary

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At Rent Mason Bees, gardeners release solitary bees into their yards and rent nesting blocks. When you release solitary bees into your yard, they will enrich your habitat and support a healthy ecosystem that cleans the air, stabilizes soil and supports other wildlife. Harvesting and cleaning mason bee cocoons is a critical step when hosting bees, but for those that want to support bees and not worry about any maintenance, they can rent and return nesting blocks in the fall to be cleaned.
• HEALTHY BEES ARE RETURNED TO THE ENVIRONMENT - By removing all predators, gardeners will release healthy and strong bees the following spring.
• WATCH OUR FALL HARVEST VIDEO - https://youtu.be/wzDWeADhOno
• ONE OF NATURE’S BEST POLLINATORS – Solitary bees are extraordinary pollinators due to the tiny hairs on their body called scopa. Honeybees collect pollen on their back legs, whereas solitary bees belly flop onto flowers and collect pollen all over their bodies. This enables them to pollinate 95% of the flowers they land on and they can visit over 2,000 flowers a day.
• HONEYBEE PARTNERS – The stressful workload that is placed on honeybee colonies is reduced when they work alongside solitary bees.
Gardeners can welcome two types of solitary bees into their garden, mason and leafcutter bees. Mason bees are spring pollinators and leafcutter bees are summer pollinators. You can help solitary bee populations thrive by taking proper care of your gardens and releasing healthy bees back into your habitat.
Check out our website for more information
www.RentMasonBees.com

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VIDEO CORRECTION - The markings on your tube are the boys marking the tube with their scent mark... aka bee poop. I called it mud as a description of what it looks like.
If your bees have been out and you haven't seen any bee activity, please watch this video on how to examine your bee cocoons. Do this outside next to your bee house. Grab a piece of paper or paper towel and tip out all the contents of your PVC tube and examine your cocoons. If they’ve all emerged, then you know they’re in your garden. We mark your nesting block with a scent marker to attract them back, but sometimes they just prefer your yard and habitat, which means they’ve laid babies in your garden. One of mine laid babies in my deck umbrella hole. After looking at everything please slide everything back in the tube and place back on top of the nesting block (the bee smells inside will help the bees track their block).

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With the help from Abigail, from UC Davis, and Jacqueline, from UC Riverside, they helped us identify what we were looking at inside our nesting block and provided some out of this world pictures of microscopic pollen mites.
Here is the video from UC Riverside study of Pollen Mites and Chalkbrood
https://youtu.be/ms_AHoExOCg

MORE ABOUT POLLEN MITES AND HOW THEY DEVELOP from Jacqueline at UC Riverside
There are six life stages of these mites (egg, larva, protonymph, deutonymph, tritonymph, and adults), but when there is enough food and moisture in the nests there are usually only five life stages because they will skip the deutonymph stage.

All life stages of these mites feed, only the deutonymph (second immature stage after the larva stage) do not feed.

In my experience, when mites start to yellow it is because they are unhealthy, in the lab it seems to be related to mold developing in the pollen. Also, dead mites look yellow. The phoretic deutonymph is a brownish color, they look yellow in the slide mounted photo due to the microscope lighting and setting I was using and my phone camera. This life stage is differently colored because they have a thicker exoskeleton and it helps them survive outside the nest.

The SEM photo I sent was of a phoretic deutonymph, they are not adults, they are an immature life stage that disperses on the adult bees.

ABOUT SOLITARY BEES
Everyone knows what a honeybee is, but do you know what a solitary bee is? Did you know 90% of bees are SOLITARY? Solitary bees are gaining popularity with backyard gardeners because of how easy they are to care for because they don’t sting and are incredible pollinators. Solitary means each female lays all her own eggs, forages for her own food and makes a nesting chamber for each baby. They do not have a hive or make honey and they have no queen to protect, which makes them friendly and non-aggressive.

Our program makes it easy to become a solitary bee host. You release solitary bees into your yard and rent our nesting blocks for your bees. The success of our program is releasing solitary bees into your ecosystem to help pollinate and enrich your habitat. They do not chew wood and need to find natural holes in your yard to lay their babies. We mark your nesting block with scent to attract them back, but sometimes they’ll lay their babies in other great spots in your yard, so don’t get discouraged if you don’t have many holes plugged. It’s not about how many holes get plugged up, it’s about helping our solitary bee populations and releasing more bees.

Harvesting and cleaning the cocoons and blocks is a critical step when hosting solitary bees to remove harmful predators. When you rent from us we take care of the maintenance and cleaning for you. You keep the black house and the following year, you will just need to reorder an “insert” with a sterilized nesting block and clean bees.

We cleaned over 3 million mason bee cocoons last year and over 40 million leafcutter bees. WATCH HOW!!!
• Our Mason Bee Fall Harvest (why you Rent… we do all the cleaning) - https://youtu.be/wzDWeADhOno
• Inside a Mason & Leafcutter Block (the importance of why you need to harvest and clean… remove predators) https://youtu.be/zLg0bYXgu-U
• Leafcutter Bee Harvest - https://youtu.be/hy_Zz1V4lZA

Visit our website to learn more
https://rentmasonbees.com/

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We were honored to be asked to speak on the main stage at the Northwest Flower & Garden Festival at the Seattle Convention Center and teach more people about solitary bees. We did an extensive talk about mason and leafcutter bees and how to create a healthy habitat for them.

Full videos that we referenced in our talk:

BABY BEES!! Look Inside a Mason Bee Nesting Block - https://youtu.be/f_9WN4k4_Cc

WATCH MASON BEES EMERGE - https://youtu.be/AGzb5S1LarI

IDENTIFY WHAT IS INSIDE YOUR NESTING BLOCK - https://youtu.be/zLg0bYXgu-U

BEE BUMS!! WHERE DO BEES SLEEP AT NIGHT? - https://youtu.be/pzjGBWEbBV4

MASON BEE PREDATOR - MONO WASPS - https://youtu.be/xUpILU1PVOY

TAKE CLOSE LOOK AT MONO WASPS INSIDE A COCOON - https://youtu.be/J2PO9XBQfWA

MASON BEE PREDATOR RESEARCH BY UC RIVERSIDE "POLLEN MITES & CHALKBROOD" - https://youtu.be/ms_AHoExOCg

HOW TO TRANSITION OLD NESTING MATERIAL TO HEALTHY NESTING MATERIAL - https://youtu.be/ms_AHoExOCg

HOW TO PROTECT AND STORE YOUR MASON BEES OVER THE SUMMER - https://youtu.be/ReJmfnISTZQ

WHAT DO LEAFCUTTER BEES LOOK LIKE - https://youtu.be/FRF6Hg9axJw

MASON BEE FALL HARVEST - https://youtu.be/wzDWeADhOno

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