This DIY mason bee house is my attempt at attracting more pollinators to my yard and providing them a save place to feed and reproduce. I had never heard the term ‘mason bee’ before, but once I checked them out on Wikipedia I knew what they were. They are named from their habit of making compartments of mud in their nests, which are made in hollow reeds or holes in wood made by an assortment of bugs.
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Basically, instead of hives, like traditional honey bees, mason bees lay their eggs in hollow twigs. This DIY mason bee house was incredibly simple to make with one upcycled tin can and a ton of bamboo we had tossed into the weed pile. If you are concerned about bringing bees to your yard, check out my post on how to avoid bee stings to protect yourself.
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Table of Contents
Tips for Making a Mason Bee House
If you don’t have bamboo or any hollow reeds (some dried flower stalks work!), you can use rolled up paper. Just sit your kids down with a pile of scrap paper and roll it up to form ‘straw like’ structures. Tuck those inside the can.
Once your diy mason bee house is done, hang it in your garden or wherever you want your pollinators to hang out. I poked a hole in this bee house with a nail so I could string some twine through it and hang it on the fence post. You don’t even have to paint the can like I did but I thought it looked pretty and maybe the bright color would attract more mason bees.More Garden DIYs
- DIY Earwig Trap for Your Garden
- Easy DIY Garden Markers Spoons
- How to Preserve Hot Peppers
- What Honeybees Do and 10 actionable ways YOU can help protect them.
Please remember that pollinators are very sensitive to chemical pesticides. Protect their health by using only natural garden products. Check out my post on cheap and organic gardening solutions for more info.
What is a Mason Bee?
Mason bees are a type of native bee that’s common throughout most of the U.S. They are usually a little smaller than a honeybee, and typically metallic blue or blue-black in color. All Mason Bees are solitary, so each female is a queen who also does all of the chores.
In North America, there are about 140 different mason bee species — with about 200 species worldwide! They are great little pollinators and like a very particular type of cavity for nesting.
DIY Mason Bee House Directions
Supplies:
- 1 empty tin can, label removed and washed.
- spray paint in your desired color (optional)
- rolls of scrap paper, hollow bamboo stalks, or hollow reeds to put inside
- Nail and hammer to make a hole in the can
- Twine to hang your diy mason bee house
Instructions:
Make your rolls of paper or cut your stalks of bamboo/hollow reeds to whatever length is needed to fit the can
Using a thick nail and hammer, make a hole in the bottom of the can to thread the twine through
Paint the tin can if desired
Thread the twine through the hole and knot the end
Add the hollow structures inside the can, packing as tightly as possible
Hang your mason bee house wherever you want your bees to hang out.
DIY Mason Bee House to Help Save the Pollinators!
This DIY mason bee house is a great way to help do your part to save the pollinators.
Materials
- 1 empty tin can, label removed and washed.
- spray paint in your desired color (optional)
- rolls of scrap paper, hollow bamboo stalks, or hollow reeds to put inside
- Nail and hammer to make a hole in the can
- Twine to hang your diy mason bee house
Tools
- Nail
- Hammer
Instructions
- Cut your stalks of bamboo/hollow reeds to whatever length is needed to fit the can
- Using a thick nail and hammer, make a hole in the bottom of the can to thread the twine through
- Paint the tin can if desired
- Thread the twine through the hole and knot the end
- Add the hollow structures inside the can, packing as tightly as possible
- Hang your mason bee house wherever you want your bees to hang out.
Notes
Try to cut the reeds so they fit inside the tin can. Mine got wet in the rain which is not good for bee houses.
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Diane is a professional blogger and nationally certified pharmacy technician at Good Pill Pharmacy. She earned her BS in Microbiology at the University of New Hampshire and has worked in cancer research, academics, and biotechnology. Concern over the growing incidence of human disease and the birth of her children led her to begin living a more natural life. She quickly realized that the information she was learning along the way could be beneficial to many others and started blogging and freelance writing to share this knowledge with others. Learn more about her HERE.
What a cute and clever idea. I’m going to visit my nieces this weekend and I think this will be a great spring project for us to do together. I like the yellow color too 🙂
Glad you liked it! Thought about giving the can black stripes like a bee but I was too lazy 🙂
This is a great idea! My kids love bees and would love to make this with me!
I have read such awful reports about the decrease in number of bees. I love that there’s something we can do to help motivate them to come to us.
Okay, I’ve made hummingbird feeders, ant farms and bird houses but this ones new to me. I’ll admit, I have a fear of bees, since I am allergic….but this would be cool out in the countryside.
Thi is so cute and creative! I am definitely making some of these for my yard!
Such a wonderful idea, as bees are dying off I heard. Although I don’t like bees all in my face (mainly hornets and wasps) they are needed for our environment and so doing this DIY mason bee house would be useful to educate my kids about the importance of bees while having fun!
Very cute! We did the same thing last year with the watering station and the Mason Bee House we received. hopefully our’s fills with bees this year.
I love this so much! It has been warming up here and I am in gardening mode- maybe a bit to early 🙂 but planing what I am going to grow and wanting more bees to find us. Do you have a suggestion about if this should be in the shade or sun? Thanks!
I think a partially sunny spot near some brightly colored flowers might be best!
Mason bees and leaf cutter bees do not sting nor will they defend their nests. Don’t worry about getting stung. It won’t happen with these species.
That’s good to know! They really seem to like my mint when it blooms!
This is a wonderful project to do with my daughter. We are preparing to put together our pollinator garden and this will be a wonderful addition.
So glad you liked it and hope you have fun with your daughter!
Hi there! I’d like to use the photos and craft description in a manual I am creating for my summer day camp! Please let me know ASAP if this is okay! 🙂 If you email me, I can send you more information about the day camp and our program.
sent you an email. would love to chat about this.
A little ‘heads up.” If you haven’t already, please do some research as to placement and care of the houses and bees. There are some important considerations to keeping the bees healthy and safe.
I definitely recommend doing research on safe pollinator practices in your yard. I have several articles on this site about protecting pollinators from pesticides and even the safe use of organic compounds.
You need a larger can. It should extend past the ends of the tube at least an inch. Reeds should be around 6”. Anything shorter will yield only male bees. Also, you might want to cover one end of the can with chicken wire to stop woodpeckers from eating them all. A few drainage holes will help keep precipitation out. Wet bee cocoons = dead bees. Also darker colors for can are best to absorb instead of reflect heat. 🙂
Judy H, certified pollinator specialist
thanks so much for your tips!
Judy has made some very sound advice. I have been raising Mason Bees and Leafcutter Bees for about 5 years now.
It is very true that you need lake reeds or some flower stocks that are hollow and dry are very good. Those are the things that I use and brown cardboard tubes also. I found that I could use some parts of the dry stocks of the Japanese Knotweed plants also. They work and free if you find the right length of at least 7 to 8 inch sections so that water can’t get into the tubes, reeds or stocks, etc. Females lay the first eggs all the way in the back and they are fertilized. I have found 4 to 5 female cocoons and about 3 to 4 males, unfertilized in the front areas. Using the cans are not a good idea as the string will wick water into the can and may cause mold and bacteria and kill the Bees. Also the front of any container, wood nest box, etc. should be slightly tilted downward and faced south or south East to collect the warming sun to help the Bees warm up to fly. I love these Bees and I have had a lot of luck with them. Before I started this program, I read lots of info and found several great sites. I buy all my starter Bees from Crown Bees in the state of Washington. They have so many free educational pages and all sorts of programs to get you on the right path.
Have fun and we DO NEED TO SAVE THE BEES or we will be short on FOOD in the future, We also need many pollinators of different types to have all the plants and trees to provide us with oxygen.
thanks so much for the great advice!
I wonder if these Mason Bees are the same as the bees we call “Wood Bees,” who drill holes in our carport rafters, laying eggs (larvae) in the holes? We treat the ones we have as pests, because they are destroying our carport. If these Polllinator attractors you show will distract our “pests,” then it will be a boon!
Those are most likely carpenter bees and yes, they can really destroy the wood on a house!
Awesome tutorial! Will this house bring any other kind of Bees? Also, how thick were the bamboo sticks diameter wise? It looks to be around 1 cm.
Mason bees are very unique in their nesting so I think they are the only ones it would attract. I didn’t measure any of them but that sounds about right.
Put one up last year…really kool how they make the cocoon . I check it out every day to see if I have any new tenants in my bed hotel. It’s nothing like a nest where bees swarm around. In fact I seldom see bees, justthe closed openings they make.
It is an incredibly unique looking little nest!
Mason houses with bamboo reeds, are what many experts say will make your house a bee cemetery. You need to use cardboard tubes or paper straws, never plastic. Also the houses need to face the east, so that the bees start to wake up with the warmth of the morning sun. Although the cans look cute, they need to be more than 6 inches deep, with a little overhang to keep the bees from getting wet when it is raining. I plan to put out a few houses this year and hope to increase the pollination for my vegetable and fruit trees.
Interesting. I have seen numerous reputable garden and bee sites recommend bamboo tubes but will do more research to learn more.
Can the tubes simply be tied together with twine instead of using a can? If you’re not using paper products for the tubes (I plan on using Japanese knotweed reeds) is it necessary to keep the tubes sheltered from the rain? Can plastic bottles be substituted for the aluminum? Water bottles are longer and would cover the tubes better but not sure if the plastic would be good for the bees.
Several people have mentioned that keeping the reeds dry is important but not sure if the container itself makes a difference. Sorry! Might have to try and see if they come!
What Judy H. said: reeds should be 6″ or else eggs will all be good-for-nothing males.
thanks for that tip!
What a great idea! We may do this as a school project for our elementary students. Any suggestions on what size bamboo poles to get? Trying to decide what size and how many each can would need. Also, any recommendations on where to get them? Thanks!
Ours were fairly small. A little bigger diameter than a straw maybe? Not big. We got them from our backyard since we have bamboo growing. You can ask in your community if anyone has some? Not sure what a good alternative would be!
Note: Please smooth the edges otherwise the bees could actually hurt their wings or might not accept your housing offer. 😉
Thanks for the advice!