Have you noticed that in the Spring and Summer there are not very many honey bees around? Have you had trouble in the past getting your fruits and vegetables to set because of lack of pollination?
Then you need to get a Mason Bee box! Why? Well…..to attract the excellent pollinating Mason Bees!
Mason Bees pollinate our spring fruit trees, flowers and vegetables. They are named from their habit of making compartments of mud in their nests, which are made in hollow reeds or holes in wood made by wood boring insects or woodpeckers. If they can’t find these types of holes in which to build their nests, they will go elsewhere. That is why providing a bee box with ready made nesting holes for them is such a great idea!
Mason bees are very effective spring pollinators. Two or three females can pollinate the equivalent of a mature apple tree in one season! They fly in cool or rainy weather and can supplement or replace honey bees as commercial pollinators in some situations.
Unlike honey bees, they are solitary and produce neither honey nor beeswax. Since they have no honey to defend, they will only sting if squeezed or stepped on. They make excellent garden “pets” since they both pollinate the plants and are safe for children and pets.
What could be more perfect for your garden? The Mason Bee is an excellent pollinator and doesn’t sting unless it gets squished. I think that I would fight back then too!
My first thought was…..I have to protect the house!! But how?….I went into the kitchen and grabbed our bottle of white vinegar, ran out to the front yard…..the dog thought I was crazy….and poured it over the hole they were coming out of. That stopped them dead in their tracks. I didn’t see any more come out of that hole again. And….I did it without using those nasty chemical sprays!! Has anyone else had this problem?
Our oldest daughter’s class from 
Later, we took a hayride out to the pumpkin patch so that the kids could get their treasured pumpkins. There was a long dirt road in between two corn fields lined with sunflowers and filled with pumpkins. It was a beautiful sight. These gourd-like squashes ranged in size from soccer balls to large globes. Most of the children opted for ones that they could barely carry.
Next, we saw a working bee hive behind glass walls. The Queen bee was marked with a green dot. It was neat to see the inside structure and the hundreds of bees. The docent told us that in the spring time, they have a 
We heard a wonderful sound in our backyard today! The buzzing of hundreds of bees collecting pollen from the flowers of our fruitless Pepper tree. Now most of you are probably saying…..what..are you nuts? That makes you happy? Well, yes it does…along with other things of course. Many years ago, you would always hear the loud humming of the bees in that tree. Then year after year, it got quieter and quieter.
The plight of the bee in recent years has been a difficult one. Their numbers have been diminishing dramatically. This has been blamed on a variety of different factors. Honey bees are susceptible to the same chemicals that are sprayed on many crops for insect control. These pesticides are known to be toxic to bees. Parasitic mites and Colony Collapse Disorder have also reduced their populations.
