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class=3D"Apple-interchange-newline"></span></div></ Hello, Mason bee species are solitary bees, i.e. they don't form colonies like honey bees and bumble bees do. That's why for pollination purposes honey bee colonies with 50000 worker bees/colony are moved into orchards during blooming season (and moved out right after before the spraying with pesticides starts). Some solitary species are out early in the year and would visit blooming cherries, but you wouldn't want to buy the number of cocoons required to built a reliable population density to take care of an orchard. Looking at the prices some companies charge for a few dozen cocoons the money would buy you a honey bee colony with several 10000 of workers. However, even if you would buy cocoons you would not jam those in your bee house for hatching without doing severe damage. I used similar bee houses like the one you described for solitary bees in the past. Some made from bamboo or cattail stems jammed in an old ceramic flower pot, others just a bunch of holes drilled in a hardwood block. I put them up in weather protected (mainly protected from direct rain), south facing locations early in the spring. There were takers in the first year and over the years the local population grew, at least judged by the increasing number of tenants in the growing number of "appartment" buildings. Breeding species depend on what local species are around, and there are a few solitary bees native to NS that should use such breeding facilities. So just find a good spot for your house, put it up in early spring and wait what happens next. Ulli
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