Mud… It’s important!

  • Surprisingly, this is an important element that Crown Bees is conducting research on. Mason bees use a particular type of soil that is more silty-clay than sandy. The bee will pick around large grains of sand
 Mason bee packing mud into wood tray

Photo by Anna Howell
  • Moisture content is also important.  Too dry or too wet has the mason bee looking for optimal mud that they can grasp with their mandibles and pack easily.
  • Crown Bees is developing a product that will be available in 2013.  We’ll be conducting 300 trials with our product in 2012…
 Mason bee carrying mud Photo by Anna Howell
  • Here’s a simple solution.  Look closely at this picture:
  • A concrete and bark yard…
  • The lower container holds water.
  • Part of vegetable container with slots on the side that has mud in it.
  • The mud is clayey, but not clay.  You’ll notice that small narrow “tower” could be built about two inches.  You shouldn’t be able do this with silty material.  That’s a nickle in the mud for size.  This mud is very fine with no large grains of sand.
  • The mud is slanted at an angle so that the moisture content varies.  Maybe too dry on top and definitely too wet on the bottom.
  • Grass is tossed on the water so that our mason bees can crawl out if they fall in.  (No life guard on duty here…)
  • This mud is from a flood plain near Crown Bees
  • If you notice that birds seem to be attracted to your mason bees, place chicken wire over the top of the pit.
  • Remember to watch the water depth in the lower container and fill it occasionally.