Courtesy & © Lindsie McCabe, Photographer
Courtesy & © Michael Branstetter, Photographer
Osmia bruneri Male
Courtesy & © Michael Branstetter, Photographer
Filled and Leaf-capped Nest Tubes
Courtesy & © Anna Goates, Photographer
Female Osmia bruneri Harvesting Leaf Material
Courtesy & © Anna Goates, PhotographerWhen you think about what a bee needs to live, you probably think of flowers and a big hive. Bees do need flowers, and some live in a hive, but many bees also need other materials to build their nests. Some of my favorites build nests with mud, small rocks, pieces of leaves, sap from trees, flower petals, or even the fuzzy hairs that grow on plants. These bees are often solitary, relying on just one strong mama to take care of the whole nest.
It’s almost my favorite time of the year, when I get to watch these moms emerge and start their nests. Some solitary bees, like the ones I study, make their nests in holes in wood. Usually this means nesting in a wooden tunnel drilled out by a beetle, but it also means that they will nest in manmade nesting boxes. These nesting structures consist of a wooden block with long dead-end drilled holes where each hole belongs to a different mom, like rows of single story condos.
If I stand patiently next to a nesting box, I’m rewarded with the sight of a mama bee backing out of one of the nesting holes. She rests for a moment at the entrance to her nest, basking in some sun. She rubs her back legs together and wiggles her abdomen a bit. Then, she takes flight. I watch her buzz away to a leaf where she lands and rapidly chews on the leaf edge. Her motions are quick and urgent. Then she buzzes back to her nesting hole. She hovers for a moment, and pokes at the neighboring hole before landing back at her own and depositing the small bit of chewed leaf. She begins drywalling her new nursery, several trips of collecting, chewing up and puttying this bright green leaf pulp will result in a wall that protects her babies. Those babies develop throughout the rest of summer and fall and go into hibernation for the winter. When temperatures warm up, these new bees will chew through that leafy wall to enter the world.
My name is Anna Goates. I am a student at Utah State University and I study bees at the USDA-ARS Pollinating Insects Research Unit. I’m studying the nesting of one species of bee, Osmia bruneri, a bee that’s native here in Utah and throughout the Great Basin area. Like many other bees, bruneri need more than flowers. Bruneri bees use leaf pieces to build their nests. A mama bee will bring lots of pollen to her nest using fuzzy hairs on her belly. Then she lays an egg on top of the pollen and builds a wall out of leaf pulp. Female bruneri are a shiny metallic blue, and male bees are a metallic lime green with a fuzzy white mustache on their faces. If you don’t look closely, you might think they are flies.
As spring approaches, bees and other insects will start coming out from their winter hideaways. I’m excited to see my little bee friends again.
I’m Anna Goates, a volunteer for Stokes Nature Center, and I’m wild about Utah.
Credits:
Images: Capped Nesting Straws & Leaf-harvesting Osmia Female, Courtesy and Copyright Anna Goates, Photographer
Male & Female Osmia bruneri, Courtesy and Copyright Michael Branstetter, Photographer
Bee at tube entrance, Courtesy & Copyright Lindsie McCabe, Photographer
Featured Audio: Courtesy & Copyright Anderson, Howe, and Wakeman..
English Text & Voice: Anna Goates, Stokes Nature Center Volunteer, https://logannature.org/volunteer
Spanish Text & Voice: Carlos Ramos, Stokes Nature Center, https://logannature.org/staff
Additional Reading Links: Lyle Bingham, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/
Additional Reading:
Wild About Utah Pieces by Anna Goates, https://wildaboututah.org/author/anna-goates/
Bruner’s Mason Bee — Osmia bruneri. Montana Field Guide. Montana Natural Heritage Program. Retrieved on April 5, 2026, from https://FieldGuide.mt.gov/speciesDetail.aspx?elcode=IIHYMA2610
Indiscriminate Cuckoo Bee