DIY Mason Bee Nest from Old Juice Glasses

This easy upcycled project will help bring pollinators to your backyard by providing mason bees with a place to lay their eggs. 

This DIY bee hotel is made from paper straws and old glasses from the thrift store. Every spring, mason bees are looking for holes to lay their eggs in, and these upcycled juice jars are the perfect nesting area.

All About Mason Bees

I’ve tried to learn as much as I can about native pollinators so I can naturally bring them into my yard. Mason bees and monarch butterflies are the two pollinators that fascinate me the most! (Here’s the butterfly cage I built to rear monarch eggs into butterflies.)

What are mason bees?

• small, docile bees that rarely sting
• extremely efficient pollinators, even more so than honeybees
• solitary bees
• live for a short time, only about 6-8 weeks
• lay their eggs in holes (they do not make the holes themselves, they just find them and use them)
• lay female eggs in the back half of the nest and male eggs in the front (isn’t that fascinating!?)

Information about Mason Bee Nests

I don’t know about you, but I’ve seen mason bee motels popping up everywhere I look the last couple of years.  I love that people are trying to do more to bring these important pollinators into our yards and communities, but there is really not a lot of information on these products about the correct way to use these fancy (and expensive) little structures.

For example, it’s actually recommended that the tubes that are in these nests should be replaced every year or two. This provides a clean place for each year’s mason bees to nest. In those bee hotels, the wooden tubes should be replaced, or lined with paper straws that can be replaced, every year (or every other year).

I’ve also made mason bee nests from 4 x 4 cedar posts by drilling holes into the end of the 4×4. I stop drilling before reaching the end of the post so it’s closed on the end.

I added these mason bee homes to my yard two years ago, and I can not believe how many bees emerged this spring. We had hundreds of them! They quickly reused the two 4×4 pieces of wood I had, so I made two more, and they filled all of the holes with eggs!

Basic Requirements to Build and Hang a Mason Bee Hotel

• optimal hole diameter is 5/16″
• optimal hole depth is 6″
• hang the nest in a south or southeast facing direction
• hang under an awning, or create a roof over nest to shelter from the elements
• hang at least 3 feet off of the ground to minimize water splashing up from the ground
• be sure there is easily accessible dirt nearby (the bees will use this to seal off each egg)
• hang the nest after the last frost in the early spring
• at the end of the summer, bring the entire nest into a garage or basement (the eggs will remain dormant over the winter)
• at the start of spring, hang the nest back outside and the bees will emerge
• after the bees emerge, replace the paper straws with new ones to prevent disease and mold

With all of that background information about mason bees and their homes, let me show you how I used all of this information to create a upcycled version.

If you prefer to watch rather than read, here’s a quick video tutorial on my Youtube channel.

How to Make a Mason Bee Nest from Old Glasses

I started with some tall glass cups from the thrift store. The recommended length of holes for mason bees is 6 inches, so taller cups are better, because you’ll also want the straws to sit in the glass a bit so they are protected.

Mason bees like to lay their eggs in holes that are 5/16″ in diameter.  One option is to use paper straws. They are slightly under this diameter, but still within the optimal size range for nesting.  It’s important to fold the end of each straw because mason bees will travel to the end of a closed hole to lay their first egg.

Another option is to make your own paper straws by rolling paper, parchment paper, or wax paper around a pencil to create a tube.

I used both paper straws and homemade straws to fill my glasses.  Mason bees remember where they lay their eggs, so the difference in tube diameter will help the mason bee’s visual memory to find their correct nest.

I used a grommet kit to make the hanging piece out of felt. Simply follow the directions on the packet (or watch the video) to see how easy it is to add grommets to a piece of fabric.

You’ll want to hang your mason bee nest in a south or southeast facing location, at least 3 feet above the ground. If you are able to place it under a overhang, that is the best, but because the straws sit within the cup, they will still be shielded from rain.

A mason bee will continue to lay eggs throughout the tube, and seal up the end with a bit of mud. In the winter, bring the jars into a shed or covered area (so they don’t fill with water), but still in a place that is not climate controlled.