Rent Mason Bees is partnering with Bainbridge Island Parks and Recreation, Bloedel Reserve and several farms on Bainbridge Island to help pollinate plants to enrich habitat and create a healthier ecosystem. If you’re hiking around Bainbridge, keep an eye open for mason bee totes that hold over 1,600 mason bee cocoons that will emerge and then pollinate in April and May. Mason bees have a short life-span and only live 4-6 weeks and lay about 15 eggs in their lifetime.
A little more about these friendly little bees: Blue Orchard Mason Bees DO NOT STING and are native to the Pacific Northwest. They are super pollinators and are vital to our food production and ecosystem. They belly-flop onto flowers and collect pollen all over their bodies, which enables them to pollinate 95% of the flowers they land on, and they can visit up to 2,000 blossoms a day.
Solitary Bee Facts:
- Solitary bees live alone and do not have a hive. They find their own nest, gather their own food, and lay their own eggs.
- They are non-aggressive and DO NOT STING.
- Mason bees lay around 15 eggs a year, compared to honeybees that lay 2,000 eggs a day.
- Similar to a butterfly, the larva spins a cocoon, hibernates over winter, then emerges as an adult bee.
Read Bainbridge Review Article here
If you’re interested in hosting mason bees next season, please follow our Facebook page or join our newsletter to be notified of when we’re accepting pre-orders.
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