mason bee

American  

noun

1. any of numerous solitary bees, as of the family Megachilidae, that construct nests of clay.

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mason bee British  

noun

1. any bee of the family Megachilidae that builds a hard domelike nest of sand, clay, etc, held together with saliva

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Etymology

Origin of mason bee

First recorded in 1765–75

Example Sentences

A mason bee builds the roof of its nest while memorising landmarks around it so it was able to find the nest again.

From BBC • Aug. 30, 2023

Customers pay $75 for 50 to 60 mason bee cocoons, a nesting block and a wooden house.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 7, 2023

Steve Peterson, president of the Orchard Bee Association and a California mason bee grower, said the fly has been reported in the port cities of Seattle, Portland and Vancouver, B.C.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 7, 2023

From perfecting the color of the hanging home to the machine that breaks open the nesting blocks, developing the mason bee side of the business has taken about nine years, he said.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 21, 2021

At length, between the twelfth and the fifteenth day, all that remains of the larva of the mason bee is a white granule, hardly as large as a pin's head.

From The Life of the fly; with which are interspersed some chapters of autobiography by Teixeira de Mattos, Alexander