Mason bees are premier pollinators
By Larry Mauter LCSWA director The season for Mason bees on our tree farm near Waterloo is over. Todd and Kari Stutzman have come and gone twice from our foothill farm. They will be back in late winter 2021 to set up more hives in the two bee condos they’ve installed. The Masons are pollinators. They are eventually moved to California’s Sacramento Valley where they are crucial to fruit and nut crops. The Stutzmans used to make the trips south with their bees but now sell their bees through a broker. That is allowing them begin expanding their mason bee operations in the Willamette Valley and foothills. Masons are solitary bees and their sole purpose is to reproduce, explained Kari Stutzman. They collect pollen and nectar to provide food for their offspring. In the process they provide pollination, she said. Mason bees are natives and have a one-year life cycle. They are not aggressive. Food sources include early spring flowers, maple trees, fruit trees and e