Mason bees and flowers

The native wildflowers I've been planting are blooming! As you can see, they are very colorful.

I also have native mason bees at my "bee hotel". The hotel is basically a piece of wood with holes drilled into it. Native bees use the holes to raise young in. They put pollen (food) into the hole, lay an egg, and then seal the hole with mud to keep the developing bee safe. So far I have seen several cells being sealed with mud. Dozens of bees may be raised there! If you want to help native pollinators, definitely consider putting up a bee hotel. You can see a bee at work above.

You can see a couple of bees on my bee hotel in this picture. If you look closely, you can also see mud-capped cells.

You can see a bee is building a mud wall to protect young. The hole above the one it is working on is already sealed with mud. The mud wall is good protection against predators and the elements.