Re: OT: Does anyone know of a source of orchard mason bees?

[Kelley <amaranth@uninets.net>]

Do these bees do well in northern New England?

Kelley

gardenbetty@earthlink.net wrote:

> Osmia family bees, as opposed to Apis family bees, do not produce honey. They
> are solitary bees that do not hive or form social groups or tend their young.
> They emerge from their holes in early spring, the females mate, line those
> holes with pollen, lay eggs in the pollen, "mason" up the hole with mud, then
> die. The males do not pollinate very well, and die after they mate. Osmia
> family bees are excellent orchard pollinators because they emerge at the same
> time as the fruit trees come into bloom. They are also excellent pollinators
> because it is their biological imperative to collect as much pollen as they
> can to feed the next generation.
>
> dawn
>