Solitary & Mason Bees

Pollinator

Solitary bees do not form large colonies: each female usually makes and provisions her own nest. Mason bees are one useful group, often nesting in holes and sealing cells with mud. Gentle and highly efficient pollinators, they can make a major difference to fruit blossom and early-season flowers in small gardens.

How to identify it

Solitary and mason bees range roughly from 5-15 mm long. Many are compact and hairy, often ginger, dark brown, metallic green or black, but they lack the obvious worker crowds of honeybees. Adults emerge at different times according to species. A female lays an egg beside a pollen-and-nectar store; the grub develops within a separate cell, pupates, then emerges as an adult. Mason bees may carry mud into small nest holes.

How it helps your garden

These bees transfer pollen very effectively because much of it collects loosely on their body hairs. Mason bees are particularly helpful around apples, pears, cherries, currants and spring flowers. Other solitary bees extend pollination through summer. Their nesting habits need little space, so even a balcony-sized garden can support them alongside larger pollinators.

How to attract it

Grow single, open flowers through the year, using RHS Plants for Pollinators as a guide. Provide a well-made bee hotel with clean, smooth nesting tubes of varied widths, fixed in a dry, south-east-facing spot, or leave bare, sunny soil for ground-nesting species. Keep a little damp soil available for mason bees. Avoid pesticides, preserve hollow stems and leave a relaxed wild corner.

Tips

Place bee hotels securely, out of persistent rain, and keep tubes free from splinters. Do not plug occupied holes or pull nests apart. Replace removable nesting materials carefully between seasons if they become mouldy, following advice from the RHS, a local wildlife trust or garden centre.