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Garden enthusiasts understand the value of bees in enhancing garden productivity. While some venture into urban beekeeping to draw in hardworking pollinators and enjoy the sweet bonus of honey, others may prefer a simpler approach. A mason bee house is an excellent way to attract solitary bees, providing them a space to nest and reproduce. These bees are often native species, not bred for honey, yet they remain highly effective pollinators.
Essential Supplies for Crafting a Mason Bee House
The materials required vary based on the design of your bee house. Generally, you’ll need wood blocks or boards, such as 2-by-4 or 1-by-6 scraps. Tools like a chop saw, nail gun (or hammer), drill, and tape measure are also necessary to assemble the structure.
Mason bees prefer nesting in tube-like spaces, making their housing straightforward to construct. Simply drill tunnels into a wood block and add a roof to shield the entrances from moisture. While some designs include paper liners to maintain cleanliness and prevent fungal growth, these are not essential. Although bee hotels with removable parts for seasonal cleaning are more practical, they are also more complex to build, so we’ll focus on simpler designs for now.
Constructing the Roof and Frame for a Mason Bee House
Begin by crafting an overhanging roof. For a peaked design, cut two pieces of one-by-six or similar material, each with a 30-degree angle on one edge. Ensure the roof extends beyond the entrances of the bee house. Secure the two angled pieces together along the 30-degree edge to form the peak.
After assembling the roof, build a square box to house the bee nests. The box should measure approximately 5 inches in depth and match the height and width of your roof. Use 1-by-6 boards to create a rectangle that’s 5-1/2 inches deep, around eight inches wide at the top and bottom, and your desired height. Attach a 1-by-3 board to the back, then position the roof over the box’s open end and secure it with nails. This structure will hold the nest tubes.
Creating Nest Tubes for Mason Bees
For the most straightforward nest tubes, drill 7/16-inch holes into 2-by-4 blocks. Cut the blocks to 5 inches in length, then use an extended drill bit to create holes that pass entirely through the block. This ensures the tubes can be cleaned with pipe cleaners or water between nesting seasons. Once drilled, position the blocks with the holes facing outward, and your bee hotel is ready for installation.
For easier-to-clean tubes, use a router with a ½-inch round-nose router bit to carve ½-inch-by-½-inch channels into your nesting boards. These boards, cut to fit inside the bee box, should have channels spaced about an inch apart from front to back. Stack them inside the box to form tunnels. When cleaning is needed, simply slide the boards out and open the channels for maintenance.
Maintaining Your Mason Bee Habitat
Once your bee hotel is assembled, install it outdoors during warm weather to attract pollinators. As temperatures drop and bees vacate, move the structure to a sheltered area like a garden shed or unheated garage. Avoid cleaning until the bees hatch and emerge in spring. Afterward, thoroughly clean and dry the tunnels to prevent fungus, then leave them in place for new bees to inhabit.
