MASON BEE?

May 13, 2012

I was so excited to find this itty bitty bee in my garden working really hard on one of my bamboo poles that I'm using to stake my raspberry bush.  I immediately thought it was a mason bee.  Some of the other bamboo poles in the raspberry patch have mud plugged holes already (possibly from last year).  Anyway...

I took some pix and a video to show my daughter Maya but when she saw the video she insisted that it wasn't a mason bee.  She thinks it looks like a wasp but the video is a little deceiving when it comes to seeing the bees size.  It was really tiny, about the size of my fingernail.  I don't think any wasps are that size.  Are there wasps that size????




Teresa Robeson said...

That is so cute the way it worked itself in and out of there. I have no idea what it is though either.

SoapSudsations said...

That's wild! Let us know when you find out what it is.

Strumelia said...

From the photo, the wings are long, thin, and reddish- looks like a small wasp species. Probably one that nests in solitary tunnels or reeds. But would have to see one close up to know for sure it was a wasp. There are also wasps that will lay eggs inside mason bee chambers, thus being parasitic because the wasp larvae destroys the bee larvae during its development. But they are all creatures deserving to live! :)

knoodle kjits said...

We have a lot of mason bees, that is definitely not one of them. It's a wasp.

Michelle said...

Thank you knoodle knits! I learned something new :)

Michelle said...

Strumelia,

Thank you for all of that info. I didn't realize there were wasps so tiny. Very interesting. We have them all over the garden.

Michelle said...

T,

We have so many things flying around the garden, I have no idea what they all are. I thought this one was cute too :)

Michelle said...

Monica,

We've officially learned it is a wasp. Who knew they could be so tiny. Hopefully that means they can't sting. LOL!