The Mason Bee Diary

Introduction

Before sharing the mason bee diary, I want to thank all my sponsors for supporting me and helping to keep the website going. Some of you generously send one–off donations, and other kind supporters send regular generous monthly donations. Some people support me by contributing guest blogs, and others sign up to read them —I greatly appreciate all of you.

With this comes a responsibility on my part to keep the content relevant, engaging and succinct since many of you have little spare time and lots of other pressures competing for attention. If I miss sending out a blog post one week this is because I haven’t had enough time to research and write an interesting one. Since June I’ve been caring for my toddler grandson at least three days a week. It’s great fun and a privilege too but anyone who has looked after one of these active little people for more than a few hours at a time knows how much energy one is left with at the end of a day–very little!

Blog launch

The Beelistener was launched in April 2019 not long after I came back from a trip to Australia visiting friends and family and exploring wild honey bee colonies. The blog was initially intended as a means for me to share what inspired me without working to deadlines and prescribed topics. Improving my own writing skills was also on the agenda. I think that the goals remain the same though I never expected such a large and wide readership. One thing that has changed though is my management strategy, so there are fewer ‘how-to’ blogs in terms of doing things like shook swarms and complicated manipulations. I’m very much trying to work more in harmony with the bees and do as little disturbing as I can get away with.

The Mason Bee Diary

I’ve already shared part of the mason bee story, but today I want to include my diary entries and let you see how I observed the development, and give you the latest news. In a previous blog I described finding mason bee eggs under the roof of one of my honey bee colonies on World Bee Day this year https://www.beelistener.co.uk/other-insects/pollinators/red-mason-bee-encounters/  I actually saw the mother bee fly towards the hive carrying pollen. I removed the eggs carefully with my hive tool because leaving the eggs would be complicated when it came to hive inspections and preparing for winter and adding insulation.
I was doubtful that anything good would come from my interference but it just might for one of those little bees.

20/05/25 Four probable red mason bee eggs under the crown board of hive six. All stuck to lumps of pollen inside mud pots so pretty sure they are mason bees. Caught a glimpse of mother bee approaching hive with pollen loads of a delicate primrose yellow colour.

Removed eggs and pollen carefully with hive tool but mud pots shattered. Now all in clear container on my desk. Eggs are pearly white.

22/05/25 One egg looks discoloured but have just discovered that it has hatched and the larva is wriggling. There are actually two wriggling larvae and two eggs that remain pearly white and standing out of pollen lumps at an angle. I can see the larvae are feeding, and, if I use a magnifying glass, it is clear that they are bending round so that their mouths reach the pollen balls.

25/05/25 Three eggs have now hatched and the large larva at the back seems bigger than the others.

27/05/25. The fourth and last egg has hatched. The largest larva has detached itself from the pollen ball and is mobile.

31/05/25 The fourth larva has died.

03/06/25 I think that I need to supply more pollen but I’m not sure what the best diet is, and whether it will it matter if I feed some pollen that I’ve collected from the bottom boards of my colonies. Pollen analysis of the yellow pollen indicates that it may be birch pollen. A new research study shows that red mason bees don’t actually prefer pollen from apple and OSR like some literature suggests, and that they prefer pollen from the beech and oak families. I’m now confident about using the pollen I have stored.

06/06/26 Day 16. Two of the largest larvae have moved in together in the top groove on the cut comb honey box that is now their home.

08/06/25 The largest larva is fat, white and glistening and I can see its mouthparts moving away from the pollen.

22/06/25 The smallest larvae went black three days ago so I moved the others to the safety of a clean box. I see silky threads on the old floor and hope that it is not fungus. I expected them to weave a silken cocoon around themselves. The largest larva is still fat, healthy and moving.

25/06/25 I think that they are trying to pupate, either that or they have bellyache. They are weaving and writhing and continually moving on the spot. More silken threads on the new floor.

30/06/25 All are now still. Are they dead?

07/07/25 Oh, wow, how amazing! Larva one has pupated and I can clearly see the head, thorax and abdominal segments.

11/07/25 Larva two pupating.

12/07/25 Pupa one is developing legs.

17/07/25 Pupa two’s head has darkened and it’s probably dying.

19/07/25 Pupae two and three dead.

03/08/25 Pupa one is changing colour—darkening. Wings developing.

04/08/25 Not looking good, head blackish.

07/08/25 Abdomen stripey and body dark and shiny. Wings appear to be growing so maybe not dying.

08/08/25 Looked under my dissecting microscope and it is moving. All dark now apart from the very long antennae and tongue. Feet clearly seen and wings are clear but not fully developed.

21/08/25 Three months old now. The body is striped and wings fully developed. Still moving when touched. Black and white hairs on thorax. Light abdominal stripes.

27/08/25 Louise came over and took photos to ID online. It seems that it is most likely a red mason bee. The bee is very hairy, and still alive. We researched more and discovered that red mason bees normally have cocoons unless raised under abnormal conditions such as this. Now able to make a decision and so placed bee in the cool bee shed for winter. It seems so strange that this insect has had no food since the larval stage but then it should be inside a cocoon waiting for spring. What a long development stage with so much to go wrong along the way. Even inside a cocoon these little insects are prone to fungal disease.

22/09/25 The little bee is still alive. Overnight temperatures are dropping to 4 degrees C now.

The story is not over yet and it remains to be seen what happens over winter. If all goes well this little bee will become active when the weather warms again and the days lengthen. Hopefully it will fly off in search of a mate. There is a fully furnished mason bee house on the outside front wall of the bee shed and I hope to see it occupied next year. I’m sorry that I had to disturb this little bee’s family but I’ve learned so much over the last few months and is has been fascinating to see its development unfold before my eyes without fancy equipment other than a magnifying glass and a microscope.