The orchard mason bee book

As a pollinator, it is far more efficient than the honeybee by transferring more pollen and visiting more types and numbers of flowers. They are less famous than the european honey bee or the bumblebee, but they deserve our attention and admiration. Osmia lignaria, referred to as the orchard mason bee or blue orchard bee, is the most. In recent years, the blue orchard bee bob has become established as an alternative orchard pollinator in north america. Orchard mason bees become a beekeeper with mason bees and havethe best native pollinator around. The orchard mason bee osmia lignaria is a gentle beneficial insect that has potential as a pollinator of apples, cherries, and other tree fruits. With a strong preference for fruit trees, bobs are highly efficient pollinators. From the life history and propagation, to the explanation of predators and parasites, the author shares his personal experiences with this nonaggressive bee. This book is a thorough guide to establishing a thriving mason bee population and pairs well with one of our orchard mason bee hives. It is a treat to read this classic by a man speaking from real experience.

Looking for a good childrens book about beekeeping. Nesting blocks, mason bee houses, mason bee tubes, sphagnum reed tubes, mason bee liners, mason bees, blue orchard bees, orchard mason bees, masonbees, orchard mason bees, native pollinators. Become a beekeeper with mason bees and have the best native pollinator around. Orchard mason bees often called blue orchard bees are solitary, holenesting bees native to north america.

The orchard mason bee, osmia lignaria, is an effective early pollinator native to. Over the winter, reline the bee house holes with new parchment and reattach the back plate. Mason bees used for orchard and other agricultural applications are all readily attracted to nesting holes reeds, paper tubes, nesting trays, or drilled blocks of wood. Items you may need for your bees to be successful, such as nesting tubes, protective covers, and books to be a more informed beekeeper.

It is also known as the orchard mason bee because it uses mud to build its nests. This shopping feature will continue to load items when the enter key is pressed. The blue orchard bee, osmia lignaria, native to north america, has been developed as a pollinator for orchard crops. Griffin s the orchard mason bee book as the mason bee bible. This primer has become a definitive text on keeping mason bees. They are easy to maintain, and delightful to watch. From the life history and propagation, to the explanation of predators and parasites, the author shares his. These straws can be bundled together and inserted into a coffee can or even into the nesting block featured below.

I used to think of bees and beekeeping in terms of hives, honey, queens, protective clothing, angry swarms, and running. Mason bees are named for their habit of using mud or other masonry products in constructing their nests, which are made in naturally occurring gaps such as between cracks in stones or other small dark cavities. While this book is packed with information, it doesnt read like a textbook. Shop for vermontmade honey, lotion bars, tshirts and more from bee the change. The life history, biology, propagation, and use of a north american native bee. The home orchard society, established in 1975, is a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to assisting both novice and expert fruit growers, preserving heirloom fruit varieties, and promoting the science, culture, and pleasure of growing fruit at home. Observation nests can be fashioned from transparent plastic or glass tubes placed in a box that can be opened for observation. The orchard mason bees worlds best pollinators orchard mason bees may be the best thing that happens to your garden, even if you never heard of them. One orchard mason bee can do the work of 100 honeybees. Sometimes called the orchard bee or blue orchard bee, these incredible nonaggressive bees dont even look like bees. Conservation and management of north american mason bees. Attract mason bees no protective gear needed ecological. Griffin has spent a long career in business, but has always found time to observe and enjoy nature. Osmia lignaria, commonly known as the orchard mason bee or blue orchard bee, is a megachilid bee that makes nests in reeds and natural holes, creating individual cells for its brood that are separated by mud dividers.

In late winter, hang your mason bee nest against a wall in a sunny location that has morning light. Orchard mason bees are not honeybees but a small, modest, hardworking, solitary little bee native to the new world. This is important if you have early blooming fruit trees. Everything you need to know before keeping mason bees. For many years he has propagated orchard mason bees. A short but informative look at the life cycle of the orchard mason bee. This kit will help attract these beneficial bees to your garden. This is a great little book that introduces the reader to the orchard mason bee. The incredible orchard mason bees lawn care academy. Griffin, was our first resource when we began researching mason bees. Of course the only reason we should welcome something into our garden isnt the practical, concrete purpose it serves, and so it is with the mason bees. Its the musthave book for everyone who wants to learn the basics about mason bees. Contains all the information needed to capture and release these docile bees in your backyard.

Before luring mason bees into your garden, its helpful to understand some basics. Mason bee colonies can do over 200 times the pollinating of similarly sized honey bee colonies. Grow and learn about the fascinating marvels of these bees. The blue orchard mason bee, technically known as osmia lignaria, is an excellent pollinator.

Set the mason bee house outside well before the orchard trees start flowering. Mason bees also fly close to home within 500 ft half a km and pollinate all flowers present in the vicinity. Although we have moved on from some of the advice in the book, it was an entertaining read that helped us understand these little creatures and get started. The solitary bee web solitary bees, or pollen bees, especially osmia, the blue orchard bee orchard mason bee and the hornfaced bee. This page offers www links outside wsu as an option for finding further information. These osmia bees are more efficient pollinators of some crops than are honey bees. Orchard mason bee osu extension service oregon state. Our mason bee box comes with 20 or 100 of these amazing bees. One blue orchard bee can pollinate 2,000 blossoms in a single day, the equivalent of what 100 honeybees can do.

The female orchard mason bee then backs into the tunnel and lays an egg atop the pollen mix. Orchard mason bee overview the orchard mason bee, osmia lignaria, is an effective early pollinator native to the western us and canada. Since 2009, scientists, growers, solitary bee keepers, entrepreneurs, and students from around the world have been networking at an annual mason bee event. His passion for bees grew rapidly, and by 1992 his study into the life of the orchard mason bee had turned into a full time business operation. Raising orchard mason bees there is a hardworking bee called the mason bee that many of you may wish to raise. At the same time, and also in the orchard, place the cocoons in a hatching box for spring emergence ensuring another season of bees and hopefully more of them. The life history, biology, propagation, and use of a north ame. A mason bee update aka, the tale of beatrice my sweet. A film, the orchard mason bee, depicting the life history and management of the orchard mason bee is available from the instructional media. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading the orchard mason bee. They are related to other orchard pollinators like the leaf cutter bees featured in previous pollinator of the month highlights see leaf cutting bees, megachile spp. Griffins the orchard mason bee book as the mason bee bible.

You can make a mason bee house out of paper straws never use plastic by following these instructions from louis county beekeepers. Griffin 1993, paperback at the best online prices at ebay. Everything you need to know before keeping mason bees bee built. You do not need to maintain a hive, nor do you need to rely on the commercial or retail mason bee homes. Orchard mason bees become a beekeeper with mason bees and have the best native pollinator around. He has written a second book about native bees, humblebee bumblebee.

Since mason bees are solitary bees and do not make hives, they are always looking for a place to make a home. This fact makes mason bees the perfect candidate for pollinating early spring blossoms such as apple, peach and pear. The gardening and horticulture activities books include. A bee home plus mason bee cocoons is the easy way to get started with these friendly beneficial bees. Brian griffin started the line of products by writing the book the orchard mason bee, which you can find in our online store. As you can see from the photo, these beneficial insects look more like black flies and have a blue tint in the sunlight. Orchard mason bees are indigenous to north america, and their role as pollinators is crucial to our indigenous plant life. Orchard mason bees look very similar to common house flies, with black bodies and a dark blue iridescent sheen. No endorsement of products or information is implied by including those sites. There are about 140 mason bee species in the united states. Threats to mason bees include habitat loss and degradation, diseases. Species of the genus include the orchard mason bee osmia lignaria, the blueberry bee o. The reader will better understand the world of these tiny orchard helpers. Keeping mason bees is a low cost way to improve our natural environment.

Orchard mason bee the super pollinator six 6 mason bees 10,000 honeybees pollinate one fruit tree books. The life history, biology, propagation, and use of a north american native bee kindle edition by griffin, brian l download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. If you are very lucky you might find the mason bee males huddled together beneath a flower blossom having a snooze. Its easy to make bee boxes for nesting to support this beneficial insect. The author, brian griffin, was a pioneer on the systematic management of mason bees for.

The blue orchard bee gathers the pollen, but being dry, much of it falls off and as a result, they pollinate nearly every flower they visit. This primer on the orchard mason bee, by brian griffin, has become a definitive text on this native pollinator. This book is a recitation of his experiences with and study of the orchard mason bee. Find out more learn about keeping orchard mason bees. In late winter, hang your mason bee nest against a wall. And we have books on the orchard mason bees and the blue orchard bees. Oct 12, 2018 the orchard mason bee keeping books and supplies on this page are offered for sale in association with.

The life history, biology, propagation and use of a north american native bee by brian l. The blue orchard bee or orchard mason bee, osmia lignaria, is found naturally throughout most of the united states, though populations adapted to one location may require special management to thrive in other regions. The optimal location to hang your mason bee house is 6 to 7 feet off the ground, preferably under an eave of your house, garage, shed or some other shelter. The orchard bee association oba is dedicated to enhancing the use of native and naturalized bees in orchards throughout the world. These books are designed to give the reader a good solid background of knowledge on each topic.

But these things are all associated with the honey bee. When the egg is fixed onto the pile, the mother orchard mason bee builds a thin mud wall and seals off the egg. Its clear that the author is passionate about his topic, and as the reader its easy to get just as excited. Mason bee houses, cocoons and leafcutter bees by beediverse. Griffin, is a lovely book dedicated to the orchard mason bee, an important native pollinator in your own backyard. In 2017 knox cellars was sold to jim and suzanne ullrich of bremerton, wa on the beautiful kitsap peninsula. Osmia lignaria, referred to as the orchard mason bee or blue orchard bee, is the most common species found in the pacific northwest. This book tells all about orchard mason bees and some other native pollinators, what they look like, what they do, why theyre particularly good at it, and most of all how we can help. Read on for everything you need to know before starting out. The orchard mason bee, also called the blue orchard bee, osmia lignaria, is a native us species found in most parts of the country, and also widely used for orchard pollination. One of the hardest working and easily attracted to the garden is osmia lignaria, the orchard mason bee or blue orchard bee. The former two are native to the americas and the latter to japan, although o. He also touches on how to attract populations of native solitary pollinating bees. Mason bee is a name now commonly used for species of bees in the genus osmia, of the family megachilidae.

There are many species of mason bees, 120 in north america alone. Orchard mason bees may be the best thing that happens to your garden, even if you never heard of them. Consider putting the cocoons out near or on the nest in early march. In north america, there are about 140 different mason bee species with about 200 species worldwide. It describes the life history of this important spring pollinator and tells the reader how to propagate the orchard mason bee. There are a number of bees, called mason bees, that are very good at pollinating fruit trees, so much so that they are also known as orchard bees. There are a number of bees, called mason bees, that are very good at pollinating fruit trees, so much so that they are. All you have to do is just release the mason bees directly from our provided box when your fruit trees begin to bloom each year. How to manage the blue orchard bee how to manage the blue i. The life history, biology, propagation and use of a north american native bee charming and instructive book describing the life history and propagation of the orchard mason bee osmia lignaria.

Carefully researched and written in an easy and pleasing style, it covers topics ranging from building homes for the bees to predators and parasites of the bees. If using the bees for pollinating your fruit trees, wait until. They are sometimes called spring bees or just mason bees. Orchard mason bees buy orchard mason bees buy beneficial.

This is the third edition of the book which was first printed in october of 2011. The life history, biology, propagation, and use of a north american native bee by brian l. Griffin 1999, paperback, revised at the best online prices at ebay. For individual book or supplly descriptions, content, prices, and availability, click on the items title. They do not sting as they dont have a hive or a queen to protect. These numbers and all other facts, unless otherwise stated, come from the delightful book, the orchard mason bee by brian griffin. The orchard mason bee book, brian griffin hiveandgarden. Even though illustrations are just line drawings, they are nicely done.

Blocks of pine no cedar with holes drilled in will do fine. They are tunnelnesting, solitary bees, which means that unlike the social honeybee, every female is a queen who lays eggs and raises offspring on her own, without the support of a highlyorganized, social colony. The orchard bee has a very short season, but is busy as a bee long before the honey bees show up. The author, brian griffin, was a pioneer on the systematic management of mason bees for pollination. Product information and suppliers pollinator paradise. The orchard mason bee is a great pollinator of fruit trees. If this is not an option, choose a house design that provides adequate shelter from the elements on its own, like the beeworks kit with bees. This book was written by the founder of knox cellars, brian griffin.