Mason bee

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Mason bee
Osmia rufa couple (aka).jpg
Osmia bicornis
Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Animalia
Clade: Euarthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Suborder: Apocrita
Superfamily: Apoidea
Family: Megachilidae
Genus: Osmia
Panzer, 1806
Type species
Apis bicornis
(Linnaeus, 1758)
Species
>300 species, including

Osmia atriventris
Osmia avosetta
Osmia bicolor
Osmia bicornis
Osmia caerulescens
Osmia californica
Osmia cornifrons
Osmia cornuta
Osmia inermis
Osmia latreillei
Osmia lignaria
Osmia ribifloris
Osmia uncinata
Osmia xanthomelana

Home made nest block showing full occupation

Mason bee nest cell with egg on pollen bed

Mason bee nest cell with cocoon

Mason bee is a name now commonly used for species of bees in the genus Osmia, of
the family Megachilidae. 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; when
available some species preferentially use hollow stems or holes in wood made by
wood-boring insects.[1]

Species of the genus include the orchard mason bee Osmia lignaria, the blueberry
bee O. ribifloris, and the hornfaced bee O. cornifrons. The former two are native
to the Americas and the latter to Japan, although O. lignaria and O. cornifrons
have been moved from their native ranges for commercial purposes. The red mason
bee, Osmia bicornis, is found across the European continent. Over 300 species are
found across the Northern Hemisphere. Most occur in temperate habitats within the
Palearctic and Neartic zones, and are active from spring through late summer.[2]

Osmia species are frequently metallic green or blue, though many are blackish and
at least one rust-red. Most have black ventral scopae which are difficult to notice
unless laden with pollen.[1] They have arolia between their claws, unlike Megachile
or Anthidium species.[1]

Historically, the term mason bee has also been used to refer to bees from a number
of other genera under Megachilidae such as Chalicodoma, most notably in "The Mason-
Bees" by Jean-Henri Fabre and his translator Alexander Teixeira de Mattos in 1914.
[3]

Contents
1 Lifecycle
2 Management
3 See also
4 Further reading
5 References
6 External links
Lifecycle
Unlike honey bees (Apis) or bumblebees, Osmia species are solitary; every female is
fertile and makes her own nest, and no worker bees for these species exist.[1]

Osmia conjuncta

Hornfaced bee Osmia cornifrons

When the bees emerge from their cocoons, the males exit first. The males typically
remain near the nests waiting for the females, and some are known to actively
extract females from their cocoons. When the females emerge, they mate with one or
several males. The males soon die, and within a few days the females begin
provisioning their nests.

Osmia females typically nest in narrow gaps and naturally occurring tubular
cavities.[1] Commonly this means hollow twigs, but can be in abandoned nests of
wood-boring beetles or carpenter bees, in snail shells, under bark, or in other
small protected cavities.[4] They do not excavate their own nests. The material
used for the cell can be clay, mud, grit, or chewed plant tissue. The palearctic
species O. avosetta is one of a few species known for lining the nest burrows with
flower petals.[5] A female might inspect several potential nests before settling
in.

Within a few days of mating the female has selected a nest site and has begun to
visit flowers to gather pollen and nectar for her nests; many trips are needed to
complete a pollen/nectar provision mass.[6] Once a provision mass is complete, the
bee backs into the hole and lays an egg on top of the mass.[7] Then, she creates a
partition of "mud", which doubles as the back of the next cell.[7] The process
continues until she has filled the cavity.[7] Female eggs are laid in the back of
the nest, and male eggs towards the front.

Once a bee has finished with a nest, she plugs the entrance to the tube, and then
may seek out another nest location.[7]

Within weeks of hatching the larva has probably consumed all of its provisions and
begins spinning a cocoon around itself and enters the pupal stage, and the adult
matures either in the fall or winter, hibernating inside its insulatory cocoon.[8]
Most Osmia species are found in places where the temperature drops below 0�C for
long durations and they are well-adapted to cold winters; chilling seems to be a
requirement for maturation.[2] Some species of mason bees are semi-voltine, meaning
that they have a two-year maturation cycle, with a full year (plus) spent as a
larva.[1]
Management
Solitary bees produce neither honey nor beeswax. They are immune from acarine and
Varroa mites, but have their own unique parasites, pests, and diseases. The nesting
habits of many Osmia lend themselves to easy cultivation, and a number of Osmia are
commercially propagated in different parts of the world to improve pollination in
fruit and nut production.[9] Commercial pollinators include O. lignaria, O.
bicornis, O. cornuta, O. cornifrons, O. ribifloris, and O. californica. They are
used both as an alternative to and as an augmentation for European honey bees.
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; in their dormant season they can be transported as intact nests (tubes,
blocks, etc.), or as loose cocoons.[10] As is characteristic of solitary bees,
Osmia are very docile and rarely sting when handled (only under distress such as
when wet or squeezed), their sting is small and not painful, and their stinger is
unbarbed.

Orchard mason bee

Osmia californica
See also
List of Osmia species
Further reading
Dogterom, Margeriet (2002). Pollination with Mason Bees: A Gardener's Guide to
Managing Mason Bees for Fruit Production. Beediverse Publishing. ISBN
9780968935705.
Bosch, Jordi and Kemp, William J. (2001). How to manage the blue orchard bee.
Sustainable Agriculture Network Handbook Series. p. 98. ISBN 978-1888626063.
Retrieved 3 October 2017.
References
Michener, Charles D. (2007). The Bees of the World. The Johns Hopkins University
Press.
Sedivy, C.D.; et al. (2013). "Host range evolution in a selected group of osmiine
bees (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae): the Boraginaceae-Fabaceae paradox". Biological
Journal of the Linnean Society. 108: 35�54. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8312.2012.02013.x.
Fabre, Jean-Henri (1914). The Mason-Bees. New York: Dodd, Mead and Company.
Sedivy, C.; et al. (2012). "Evolution of nesting behavior and kleptoparasitism in
a selected group of osmiine bees (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae)". Biological Journal
of the Linnean Society. 108: 349�360. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8312.2012.02024.x.
Holland, Jennifer S. (October 2010), "Flower Beds", National Geographic, 218 (6).
Zurbuchen, A.; et al. (2010). "Long foraging distances impose high costs on
offspring production in solitary bees". Journal of Animal Ecology. 79: 674�681.
doi:10.1111/j.1365-2656.2010.01675.x.
Rozen, Jerome G.; et al. (2010). "Nests, Petal Usage, Floral Preferences, and
Immatures of Osmia (Ozbekosmia) avosetta (Megachilidae: Megachilinae: Osmiini),
Including Biological Comparisons to Other Osmiine Bees". American Museum Novitates.
3680: 1�22. doi:10.1206/701.1.
Rozen, Jerome G.; et al. (2009). "Biology of the Bee Hoplitis (Hoplitis)
monstrabilis Tkalcu and Descriptions of Its Egg and Larva (Megachilidae:
Megachilinae: Osmiini)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 167: 28�42.
Kemp, Bosch, J., W.P. (2002). "Developing and establishing bee species as crop
pollinators: the example of Osmia spp. (Hymenoptera: Megachilidae)". Bulletin of
Entomological Research. 92: 3�16.
Sheffield, C.S.; et al. (2008). "Diversity of cavity-nesting bees (Hymenoptera:
Apoidea) within apple orchards and wild habitats in the Annapolis Valley, Nova
Scotia, Canada". Can. Entomol. 140: 235�249. doi:10.4039/n07-058.
External links
Wikisource has the text of the 1905 New International Encyclopedia article
Mason Bee.
Osmia Identification Guide (female)
Osmia Identification Guide (male)
List of Species
Worldwide Species Map
Palaearctic Osmiine Bees
Wikibooks has a book on the topic of: Beekeeping/Solitary Bees
Categories: Osmia
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