Orchard Mason Bees

The weather finally got above 55 degree this week, so I took the box of Orchard Mason Bee larvae out of the refrigerator where they had been slumbering for several months, and taped the box on an east-facing wall of the solar wood shed. In a few weeks, the bees will emerge and begin their work of pollinating an area of a half mile in every direction. After their few weeks of work, they will return to their bee 'condo', also on the side of the shed, lay their eggs, and create a mud plug at the entrance. The eggs will lay dormant until next year at this time.

Once the bees are at work, the whole neighborhood bursts into bloom.