Here is a link for a homemade nest that uses paper liners that are easy to remove... I tried it for the first time this year.

http://snohomish.wsu.edu/mg/ombblock/paper%20liners%20that%20work.pdf

Here is a link that might be useful: DIY Mason bee nest with paper liners

I see that the Beediverse site that your link links to talks about removing the bees from the outside in July. Other sources have said June.

I wonder if waiting til July might expose the bees to wasp predation.

Itilton, I have read the same info as you have re: June v/s July. June seems to make sense as the wasp population here doesn't get going until July. (I;m not saying they are not around, one just doesn't see many of them). I would love to have mason bees, but after reading about the tube situation I might not purchase the 'mason' bee condo I was looking at on line. They are such hard workers! Mrs. G

I tried raising Mason bees over a 3 year program, regretfully a total waste of time. I didn't get a return to the nest site, out of 175 cocoons released.
Found out much later that I was using Western Mason bees. Should have used Eastern in my area.
So I suggest you start and determine which variety suits your area.
Someone suggested the Hornfaced bee as an alternative.

My hornfaced bees did really well until last year, and it wasn't all their fault. Now I need to rebuild.

One thing I'll be trying is putting the dormant bees out in the spring inside a box with a small hole for them to exit, so they can't get back in to try to use the old dirty tubes.

My understanding is the only reason for waiting is so you don't dislodge the egg from the food source. If careful not to jar it I'm sure you can move it early. Try to keep temp consistent so the egg can hatch and spin a cocoon.

One source that spoke of moving them in June said it takes the larva just 10 days from egg to cocoon. I'd like to see confirmation of that, if true.

It would be good to count forward from the cessation of bee activity to a point when the bees should be safely wrapped.

I live one city away from Crown Bees and tried Mason bees for the first time last year.Starting with ten cocoons and thirty cardboard tubes,plus a house that a coworker made,twenty six tubes were filled with about 150 of them.
I left them there til Fall I think and peeled open the tubes and put the cocoons in a refrigerator.This year,I'm using the few leftover tubes,plus a block another coworker made using a lathe,that comes apart and splits in half,each hole,of which there are 45.I've also just added a Corn Eco Stack that I bought from Raintree Nursery,that splits each cell in half also.They like the wooden block the best so far and have sealed about five holes with mud. Brady
PS I'll try to get a picture to post.

I took this photo this morning.It was still kind of cold and some bees were in the holes,waiting for things to get warmer.

How early in the growing season do Mason bees get out and begin working? Say in Wisconsin? I'll be starting my haskap orchard this fall and will be looking for pollinating help within three years or so. The site seems quite rich in bumblebees of various species-I don't really know my bees yet-and they tend to be extremely numerous later in the summer, but of course with haskap, it's the early-season you need to cover. Any other bee-related thoughts for a person growing haskap in a northern-tier state? Thnx!

+oM

I think the temperatures should be above 50F for awhile to get the Mason bees going.Bumblebees are the first ones out around here and do most of the pollinating of Haskap,from what I see. Brady

Thanks! I've always like bees but this new hobby-I can see it already-is going to make me more of a bee guy than ever. Like I said, there are huge numbers of bumblebees present at that site. It's just the very early season I must ensure. Do the big guys plant any other early-flowering plants in and around their haskap to aid and assist the bumblebees in this early-season timeframe? That's something I've been considering. When I mostly see them, it's the late-summer asters, goldenrods. etc. I wonder what pollinates Canada anemone flowers. I should look that up. we've got a ton of that plant growing around there, and it, of course, is a very early bloomer.

+oM

ps....OK, just looked it up....Canada anemone is visited by Halictid and Andrenid bees, and by Syrphid flys, so presumably, these little guys are doing the pollination. Not at all sure what role they might play with haskap blooms.