Parks in Powell River will be abuzz with activity next spring as newly hatched mason bees shed their cocoons and go in search of pollen and nectar in the city’s flowering trees.
City of Powell River elected officials are looking at a plan to introduce Blue Orchard mason bees, one of about 4,000 species of wild bees native to North America, to some of the city’s parks next spring.
Bill Reid, director of parks, recreation and culture for the city, said that with fewer and fewer bees, the plan is a way to support local agriculture with the garden-friendly super pollinator.
The plan is to install nesting boxes in some of the city’s parks. Reid said the bees would be a good fit because they are docile, stinging only if handled roughly or stepped on and they could provide a way to close the bee gap with fewer wild and honeybees in the area. He plans on having city staff install the nesting boxes, with signs indicating what they are, within the next few weeks.
Over the past 30 years a noticeable decline in bees worldwide has been occurring. Scientists call it colony collapse and 2012 was one of the worst years yet. Experts fear if honeybees continue to disappear at this rate the effects on global economy, food security and other species that depend on bees could be devastating.
Honeybee pollination in British Columbia is responsible for more than $160 million a year in fruit and vegetable production—$56 million per year alone in blueberries—while other products like honey account for just $8 million per year.
Some people put the blame on destruction of natural bee habitat, widespread pesticide use and even mites, but no one knows for sure why there are fewer bees today.
One of the most deadly factors for bees, though, has been in use in Canada since the early 2000s. It is a class of insecticides called neonicotinoids commonly known as “neonics.” In 2013 the European Food Safety Authority imposed a two-year ban on their use, specifically because of the risk they pose to bees.
Neonics is a class of synthetic pesticides similar in makeup to natural nicotine and is highly toxic to bees and other animals. The chemical pesticide is applied as a coating to the outside of a genetically modified organism (GMO) seed’s shell.
Varroa mites, which have spread widely throughout North America and Europe, yet only in recent years begun to show up in Powell River hives, could also play a role in the population collapse. Doug Brown, owner of Wildwood U-Pick and Apiary, said Powell River was one of the few places in the province that had not been affected by the parasites until they were brought here out of sheer human carelessness. The varroa mites infest the honeybees and suck hemolymph, the bee equivalent of blood, spreading harmful viruses in the process.
Last spring, city council and other municipalities on Vancouver Island received a letter from Village of Cumberland Mayor Leslie Baird inviting them to participate in a plan which had seen great success in the mid-island village.
Cumberland introduced Blue Orchard mason bees and placed a nesting block in its No.6 Mine Historic Park as a way to increase pollination in the area for its heritage fruit trees.
“Unlike honeybees, mason bees are more self-sufficient and play an important role in pollinating crops, flowers, fruit trees and vegetables in our gardens,” Baird wrote. “Protecting our native beneficial bees through habitat conservation helps to support local food production.”
Using wild mason bees as a backyard gardener’s help is not exactly a new idea. Don Boese, who lives south of town near Kelly Creek, has been fascinated with the creatures for more than 35 years. A passionate bee hobbyist, the retired nursery owner builds what he calls “bee condos,” and collects their cocoons from his backyard apiary.
Boese has made a video of how he maintains his bee nesting blocks throughout the year, how he harvests the cocoons and keeps his bee colony healthy.
He and his wife Katherine sell the nesting blocks and cocoons at Seedy Saturday each year. Boese annually collects between 10,000 to 20,000 cocoons.
The bees are called “mason” because they build nests with walled-off mud chambers for each egg. Each female lays about 40 eggs.
“They look like a house fly,” said Boese, “but chests look yellow when covered in pollen.”
They have a limited range for pollination, at about 190 metres—much less than honeybees—which makes them great for the backyard gardener, said Boese.
The males emerge from their cocoons around the first few days of April and then the females, which are a little larger, a few days later, he said.
When the females emerge the males immediately mate with them and then die soon after. The females then look for a suitable nest. Once a nest location has been found they start to collect nectar and pollen.
“A honeybee will just land on a flower and put the pollen in pouches on its hind legs, whereas these will land right in the centre of the flower and rake the pollen onto the hair of their chest,” described Boese. “They’ll go from flower to flower like that until they go back. Sometimes they’re so loaded they can barely fly.”
The mixture of pollen and nectar is placed at the back of the cell and an egg is laid on it. By the end of September the larva has transformed into a bee inside a waterproof cocoon. The bees wait dormant over the winter for spring to arrive.
Mason bees compare well to honeybees. They don’t produce honey, but they are prolific pollinators. A single mason bee efficiently pollinates about five kilograms of cherries—a task that would require approximately 50 honeybees to achieve the same result. This 1:50 ratio applies to other spring fruits like apples, nuts, blueberries and other flowering plants. On average, a honeybee visits about 700 blossoms per day, but only pollinates 30 of them. One mason bee visits an average of 1,500 flowers and pollinates almost all. Mason bees are mostly commonly used in commercial orchard and hot house pollination.
“Too many people think that they’ll just get a few and put them in the backyard and they’ll do wonders, but it’s just like everything else, you’ve got to keep up with them and be interested,” said Boese.
