Summary
A mason bee gathers mud, petals, and pollen to build tidy nest cells, one for each egg. Deep Look reveals how this careful builder makes a home and feeds her young -- pollinating flowers with every trip.
Viewer safety
All ages
Our rating is a quick teacher-to-teacher guide — preview before showing.
Teaching resources
Discussion questions
Talk about it
A mason bee visits many flowers to collect pollen and nest materials. She builds sealed cells stocked with pollen for her young, and along the way carries pollen that helps the plants make seeds.
- What does the mason bee use to build her nest?
- How does gathering pollen for her babies also help the flowers?
- Why is one animal doing two jobs -- nesting and pollinating -- useful in a habitat?
Quick work-a-long
Vocabulary: pollen, nest, pollinate, cell.
Try it: Build a tiny 'nest cell' from clay and fill it with a pretend pollen ball. Write how the bee stocks food for her young.