Red mason bee
The red mason bee is a fuzzy bee covered in gingery orange hair. It is about as big as a honeybee. It lives on its own, not in a hive, and builds its nest in little holes using mud.
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Fun facts
It does not dig its own nest. It moves into holes in walls, plant stems, keyholes and even empty snail shells.
It builds a row of little rooms with walls of mud, and puts one egg and some pollen in each room.
Mother bees can choose whether each egg becomes a boy or a girl bee.
It is an important helper for farmers because it pollinates crops.
It usually finds food within about 600 metres of its nest.
Most asked questions about Red mason bee
?Where do red mason bees nest?
In ready-made holes like hollow stems, cracks in walls, window frames and old snail shells.
?How big is a red mason bee?
About 1 centimetre long, roughly the size of a honeybee.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Osmia bicornis
- Named by
- Linnaeus, 1758
- Group
- Bees and bumblebees
- Family
- Megachilidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Hymenoptera > Megachilidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Africa, Asia
Where the facts come from
- Osmia bicornis (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by André Karwath aka Aka. CC BY-SA 2.5, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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