Raising mason bees is as simple as buying or making suitable housing and placing it where it will be discovered by the bees that already live in your area. If …

Most Osmia mason bees are generalist pollinators, foraging on a wide variety of plants. As a rule of thumb, Osmia prefer tube-shaped blossoms or flowers with irregular shapes. Some of their favorites are various mints, penstemon, scorpionweed, and willows. They also like legume family plants such as indigo bush, clover, and vetch along with composites such as thistles.

Often mistaken for flies, mason bees are some of the earliest spring fliers. But the timing of the mason bee life cycle varies with each individual species — and we in North America have an enormous variety.

There are more than 20,000 species of solitary bees. Native to nearly every corner of the globe, they are adapted to a vast diversity of climates and habitats.