Mason Bee Workshop at WPGA

By Ara Chatur '34 and Sasha Khouw '34 

On Monday, Matthew from Alvéole came to share some facts about bees with the Sustainability Leaders. We learned about mason bees. They are a type of bee that works solo and they also use our bee hotel. Mason bees hatch from a cocoon when they are in the sunlight. The Bee Club got to hold the cocoons and watch the bees hatch and fly away to start their life. It was fun and cool, but they had their first poops on us! We learned that mason bees prefer not to use their stinger because they don’t have a queen or a hive to protect.

Also, did you know that a single mason bee can pollinate 2,000 flowers in a day? We all got packets of wildflower seeds to grow flowers for the bees to pollinate. We have a bee hotel at WPGA, near the Upper Gym. There are mason bee cocoons in the bee hotel that you can see if you open the small drawers. If you have time, ask a member of the Bee Club to tell you about mason bees, and maybe they can even show you the bee hotel!