Mason Bee (specifically likely a Blue Orchard Mason Bee)
Scientific Name: Osmia lignaria
Order & Family: Order: Hymenoptera, Family: Megachilidae
Size: 10 to 14 millimeters (roughly the size of a common honeybee)
Natural Habitat
Orchards, gardens, and edges of forests across North America; they utilize pre-existing holes in wood or hollow stems for nesting.
Diet & Feeding
Adults feed on nectar; larvae consume a provision of pollen and nectar gathered by the mother.
Behavior Patterns
Solitary nesters that do not live in colonies. They are active in early spring, creating individual mud-walled cells inside cavities to lay eggs. They are known as 'buzz pollinators'.
Risks & Benefits
Extremely beneficial as highly efficient pollinators for fruit trees and flowers. They are very docile and rarely sting humans unless squeezed or handled roughly; their sting is much milder than a honeybee's.
Identified on: 4/26/2026