Mason bees have occupied a single hole drilled into brick siding every year for the last 30 before the time I even knew what they were. Since finding out what they were I found they track ridges looking for new holes for homes. If one of my gutters looks like it has a woody object they will sniff it out. Otherwise continuing on all the way around other edges of the gutters. So ridges are how to attract them. Any white gutter or white window frame with a dark object screwed to it will be inspected and moved into. My brick hole must be short but it also is situated on the brick edge next to a white door.

On a skinny support pole and very near a home is a bad place. The house shape and color contrasts will out compete the shape of something like that. I've watched them fly and seen empty blocks. Maybe you should not cover your wood with a foil reflective metal roof either. I noted bees inspecting wood holes covered with tin and they never choose to go inside metal objects. They enter a hole then sense something odd and 10 seconds later move into the uncovered wood block next to the one with no metal.

Then for this year I got the hollowed out teasel idea from you. I would like to know how you guard the exterior of the reeds from predatary wasps depositing eggs through the walls?

Dave: I thought we may need to protect tubes so my idea with teasel is building something wood around the tubes like on the right. Thanks.

John: This arrow pointing to the metal can. This is what I said thought had caused bees to look inside and not like it. One hole got filled by something after summer and it isn't the all familiar mud cap. So they looked inside and refused it. The bigger block under the arrow got all filled before the halfway point apple flowering. Then months later squirrels and birds perch there and have since harvested the first chamber of bees.

AndrewD12 said
. . . should I purchase them? see if anyone has an extra tube or so? or just wait and see if they pop up naturally. I've seen mixed results. any tips or help is more than appreciated. again sorry I'm a newbie.   

If you are near undisturbed/non-landscaped areas like parks or woods or pastures there may be a population of solitary bees that will make use of your tubes.  Having lots of forage in bloom will attract more bees and they will be looking for nesting holes.  Densely populated residential areas with new landscaping might not have so many bees.  

Plant cilantro, oregano, and carrots and let them flower. You should attract loads of bees.  Some will fill 1/8" holes.  Carrot is biennial so maybe buy a couple untrimmed carrots at the grocery store and plant them if you want results this year. 

I have mason bee blocks directly under a big-leaf maple.  They really go after that pollen. 

Montana uses leaf cutter bees to pollinate alfalfa for seed production. When driving through Montana I used to think that the shelters in the alfalfa fields were abandoned calf shelters.  Turns out they shelter for stacks of trays for leaf cutter bees.

There are a couple forum threads about bees, I posted photos of blocks I made in the first one:

https://forums.homeorchardsociety.org/discuss/general-forum/too-many-mason-bees/

https://forums.homeorchardsociety.org/discuss/general-forum/making-mud-available-to-mason-bees/