Red Mason Bee
An introduction
Latin name = Osmia rufa

Red Mason Bee
An introduction
Low-maintenance home for Red Mason bees

Honey bees and bumble bees
In the UK
Honey bee species
1
Bumble bee species
6
Total bee species
>250

Characteristics common to Red Mason bees,
honey bees and bumble bees
Relationship with flowering plants
The plants
ATTRACT
by means of colour and scent
REWARD
by providing nectar
BENEFIT
from cross-pollination

Characteristics common to Red Mason bees,
honey bees and bumble bees
Relationship with flowering plants
The bees collect
NECTAR
containing carbohydrates and
water
POLLEN
containing protein

Characteristics common to Red Mason bees,
honey bees and bumble bees
Adaptation
All bees have
Excellent eyesight
Keen sense of smell
Good navigational skills

Characteristics common to Red Mason bees,
honey bees and bumble bees
Gender Differences
Males
Compete for the chance of passing on their
DNA by fertilising one or more females.
Females
Do everything else!

Characteristics common to Red Mason bees,
honey bees and bumble bees
Gender Differences
Males
Compete for the chance of passing on their
DNA by fertilising one or more females.
Females
Lay eggs
Forage for food
Rear the next generation
Maintain and protect the colony

Differences between Red Mason bees,
honey bees and bumble bees
Colony size
Honey bee
Social
>10,000
Bumble bee
Social
30 to 400
Solitary
1
Red Mason bee

Differences between Red Mason bees,
honey bees and bumble bees
Division of Labour
Honey bee
Social
One queen, many workers
Bumble bee
Social
One queen, many workers
Solitary
Combined rôle
Red Mason bee

Differences between Red Mason bees,
honey bees and bumble bees
Physical Appearance
Honey bee
Medium
Yellow/black
Bumble bee
Large
Yellow/black
Red Mason bee
Small
Ginger/black

Life cycle (Part 1)
Hatch and match
When the new generation emerges in late
March/early April, they
Practice navigation
Locate food
Mate
Then the males die.

Life cycle (Part 2)
Home building
Each fertilised female
Chooses an individual nest site
Cleans the nest
Collects clay
Seals the inner end of the nest
Collects food (10 to 15 foraging trips)

Pollination (Part 1)
A digression
The Red Mason female
flies at temperatures below which the honey bee is
grounded.
visits more flowers per minute than the honey bee (at the
same temperature).
is more promiscuous in terms of the number of trees
visited per foraging trip than the worker honey bee.
C. O’Toole

Pollination (Part 2)
A digression
The Red Mason female
does not store honey in the nest: she is entirely pollen
driven and uses nectar only as an energy source to satisfy
immediate needs. Unlike the honey bee, she always
scrabbles around for pollen when visiting fruit blossoms.
is not as efficient as the honey bee in grooming herself.
When visiting flowers, she is much more heavily dusted
with pollen, increasing the chances of pollination.
C. O’Toole

Pollination (Part 3)
A digression
The Red Mason female
has her pollen collecting apparatus situated on the
underside of her abdomen rather than on the hind leg.
This increases the chance of pollen coming into direct
contact with receptive stigmas of flowers.
is at the peak of her activity during the flowering of all
the major orchard fruits.
C. O’Toole

Life cycle (Part 2)
Home building
The fertilised female
Chooses an individual nest site
Cleans the nest
Collects mud
Seals the inner end of the nest
Collects food (10 to 15 foraging trips)

Life cycle (Part 2A)
Home building
The fertilised female
Seals the inner end of the nest
Collects food (10 to 15 foraging trips)

Life cycle (Part 2A)
Home building
The fertilised female
Seals the inner end of the nest
Collects food (10 to 15 foraging trips)
Lays one egg
Collects mud
Seals the cell
Collects food etc.

Life cycle (Part 3)
More home building
The female
Continues until 6 to 10 eggs have been laid
Seals the mouth of the nest site
Repeats the process at another nest site
She may have laid as many as 40 eggs in five sites
by the end of her life cycle in mid-June.

Life cycle (Part 4)
The next generation
During the summer
Each egg develops into a larva
Each larva
consumes its food store
moults through 4 or 5 stages of growth
spins a cocoon around itself
becomes an adult
The adult remains dormant in the cocoon until it
emerges during the following Spring.

Man-made nest sites (Part 1)
The solitary nature of the Red
Mason bee means that a nest
box can be set up much as one
does for birds.
This commercially available nest box is available
in two sizes.
The smaller version contains 30 cardboard tubes.
The larger version shown above contains 100.

Man-made nest sites (Part 2)
The dimensions of
the cardboard tubes
have been chosen
specifically to suit the
Red Mason bee.
The outer tube is of plastic, open only at one end.

Man-made nest sites (Part 3)
Nest-seeking bees scan
South-facing walls and
fences.

Man-made nest sites (Part 4)
With the nest placed close to a south-facing wall,
4 or 5 tubes were populated in the first season.

Man-made nest sites (Part 5)
All 30 tubes were
populated in
subsequent years.