The Friends of Portland Community Gardens are selling Mason Bee houses and cocoons as a fundraiser for the organization. Proceeds from the sale will also fund their ongoing program of donating Mason Bee houses and bee cocoons to every City of Portland community garden. At present, there are 60 community gardens, with more to be developed in the near future.
The annual Mason Bee house sale and membership drive is offering a cedar Mason Bee house, reusable cocoon nesting trays, 70 cocoons, two seminars on Mason Bees (one in March and one in the fall) and ongoing assistance for those with questions at a cost of $75. If people join the Friends of Community Gardens, they will receive 20 percent off the $75 price and discount options for Portland Nursery and Concentrates nursery/farm store.
Mason Bees are native to the Pacific Northwest. They are different from honey bees in that they don’t produce honey, build a hive or have a queen bee. They are solitary bees that pollinate flowers much more efficiently than honey or bumble bees. With the focus of their activity in the spring, they are important pollinators for fruit and nut trees and all spring flowering plants.
The female bee lays her eggs in holes found in nature or a bee house. She walls off each egg with mud, from which their name derives. The larvae spin a cocoon around themselves from which the adult bees hatch in the spring, generally April. Only female Mason Bees have a stinger and it’s rare for them to sting someone.
To help the Mason Bee population through this sale, visit portlandcommunitygardens.org/programs/mason-bee-program. The sale goes through March until they are sold out.
Mason Bee house. Photo by Friends of Portland Community Gardens.
