- The purpose of your mason bee house is to keep the straws dry and easy for the females to find. We feel it should be attractive as well! (Here are some of our houses we sell. Our favorites are the raindrop and starter house)
- The optimal location:
- Protected, out of direct rain. But don’t place your house too far under a porch, as bees use ultraviolet light to navigate, and may not be able to find the house easily.
- In a place that gets great morning sun on the wall, such as the SE wall of your home. If you don’t have great morning sun, that’s okay, mason bees survive in the wild just fine without this. Your bees just do better with it!
- On or near a vertical wall for mating and warming themselves up in the morning.
- The opening of a mason bee house should face away from prevailing winds and rain, in order to keep the straws dry. The entrance to your house doesn’t have to open up to the morning sun. If it can, that’s best.
- It should be placed within 200-300’ (65-90 m) of a pollen source. The closer the better!
- Place it near a source of mud.
- Try to place the mason bee house away from your bird feeder- mason bees make tasty morsels.
- Don’t install it too high- you will want to watch the mason bees in action! We suggest mounting at a height just above your head. You can put them on a second floor porch just fine. Closer to the ground is more important than under an overhang.
- Don’t place the house over a pond or water source. Your mason bees haven’t taken swimming lessons (!), and many could drown.
- To extend the life of your mason bee house and to protect the bees from predators, we suggest that you take it down in June. Consider this when you set it up in early spring.