Mid season Mason bee update

With the emerging of the males about a month ago, and now the females emerging during mid spring. We are half way through the season for these little solitary bees. This is the last you will see of the males, as they start to die off. But that is normal, the males are only around about half the time the females are. The males just mate and thats it, they do not build homes or anything like that. In this video you can see them flying around, just hanging around looking for female to mate with.

The males can be spotted by their white spot on their face and they are smaller than the females. They are just as friendly as the females and have not been any concern of mine about getting stung, unlike honey bees.

By the table where they hatched I find them congregating, they fly around on the prowl and spend the whole day just looking for the opposite sex to mate with.

Around this time, the females are emerging from their cocoons, and starting to look for perspective homes once they mate with a male.

One mating pair can be seen, at one point there were dozens of mating pairs on the table doing their thing.

I watched these bees emerge from their cocoons and got some macro videos and pictures. Still alot of content I have not posted this year.. Just need to find the time to publish it all, I may just post them over the year way after they are done outside.

Finding them visit the home to the right seems to be their habit first. And then they start using the large bee cubby over head. I think this is because I move the home on the right close to them and they find it first. Hoping after many generations they just start remembering where the homes are and wont need as much help finding them.

The webcam has been a great success on VIMM, thanks alot for everyone commenting while the stream is going.

Once all the bees have emerged I take the empty cocoons and use them as fertilizer in the ground.. As they will break up and feed the soil with whatever the bees used to spin them.

Looking inside the bee home they are getting busy building out the homes. Eventually they will work their way all the way to the front and then cap off the entrance. But being only mid season they have a long way to go.

Another picture taken during one of our spring rain storms, the bees will hide in their homes or other cavities until the storm clears up.

YouTube Video Link