Do your kids or grandkids understand where their natural food comes from? Do they know the role pollinators play in making their food grow? Teaching kids about pollinators and where their food comes from helps build bonds between the next human generation and bees of all sorts.
Children of all ages love to explore and go on adventures. They love to interact with nature and learn new things about their world. Helping your kids become Backyard Scientists has never been easier.
If you are looking for something beautiful and symbolic to demonstrate you are leaving winter behind and transitioning into spring, the season of new growth and new beginnings, bringing bees onto your property is an exciting way to set this energy in place.
Solitary bees are some of the most amazing pollinators on the planet, and kids love to watch these friendly, non-stinging and therefore non-threatening bees.
Teach kids the difference between honeybees and mason bees, how pollinators make food for humans, and explain their ecosystem and how they can care for ALL pollinators.
Experience the interactive Multichannel News Release. Check out the printable workbooks and worksheets and video library created to teach kids.
This 1:13-minute video by Rent Mason Bees shows you how to Rent and Host Mason Bees:
FUN FACTS ABOUT MASON BEES:
- MERMAID BEE – Mason bees have an iridescent sheen that looks like a glimmering mermaid tail.
- BELLY FLOPPERS – Honeybees carefully collect pollen on their back legs, whereas mason bees BELLY FLOP onto flowers and get pollen all over their bodies.
- BEE AMAZED! – Mason bees pollinate 95% of the flowers they land on.
- HARD WORKERS – Mason bees visit up to 2,000 flowers a day.
- HELP HONEYBEES – Mason bees co-exist with honeybees and help reduce the stressful demand placed on honeybee colonies.
- WORK ALONE – Solitary bees work by themselves, find their own food, build their own nest, and lay eggs.
- APPLES, BLUEBERRIES, ALMONDS, PEARS & CHERRIES – These foods you love to eat were made by pollinators.
RENT MASON BEES is the only company in the country that brings families and farmers together with their bee rental program. They achieve this by finding families who want to host non-stinging bees to pollinate their yard. Solitary bees are the easiest bees to host. They are low maintenance and kids enjoy watching these fuzzy, friendly bees hard at work.
HOW TO HOST - Purchase a mason bee kit, which includes 50-60 mason bee cocoons. Hang up the bee house and insert the nesting block. When the weather warms up, bees will emerge, pollinate your yard and lay eggs. By fall, the baby larva weaves a cocoon and hibernates over winter. It's very important to clean cocoons and nesting blocks every year to remove predators that are harmful to mason bee populations. That's where the renting part comes in. In the fall, you mail nesting block back to Rent Mason Bees and they do all the cleaning. The following spring, your bees are sent to farmers to help pollinate orchards and increase food production. YOUR BEES MAKE FOOD!
ABOUT RENT MASON BEES
Rent Mason Bees works with three species of bees across the US: blue orchard & horn-faced mason bees and leafcutter bees. They are a division of Watts Solitary Bees, which is family owned and operated for over 56 years. Rent Mason Bees program offers a way to be involved in your food sources and promote healthier urban and rural ecosystems with a minimal commitment. By utilizing gardeners, farmers are able to use these solitary bees to grow more food.
We thought this concept may appeal to some of our readers, especially as spring unfolds soon. We have no further information about this program so please contact Rent Mason Bees directly with any questions you may have. Happy pollinating and happy gardening!