by Guest Blogger and Bee Expert, Dave Hunter
This summer we’ve been helping gardeners learn about SUMMER gentle native bees, in addition to the spring mason bees.
Many gardeners don’t realize that when we say “mason bees” we’re saying “Cat” or “Dog”. There are over 130+ “cavity nesting” bees across North America.
A common summer hole-nesting bee is the leafcutter. Similar to the spring blue orchard, each female is a queen and performs all of the chores from gathering pollen/nectar, laying eggs, and separating these eggs with a nesting material. The spring mason bee uses mud. Since there is little mud in the summer, the different species adapt to what is available!
Leafcutter Bee
In the case of the leafcutter, (maybe not so surprisingly), she uses neatly cut leaf sections for her nesting material. In this photo by Roberta Gibson, the bee is nearly complete cutting her near-perfect circle from a milkweed leaf.
This nifty bee is a generalist, meaning she pretty much pollinates anything. By having her nesting in your garden, she will pollinate all your peas, squash, cantaloupes, etc. The leafcutter bee is heavily used in pollinating alfalfa and similar crops. Millions of these bees are actively pollinating this month throughout the U.S.
Leafcutter cocoons
Caring for the bee is easy. They nest in tubes/reeds/wood trays through July and August and overwinter in a larva state. They should be harvested in January from the nesting material and refrigerated until June. Their “cocoons” look like little leaf pellets!
We want your spring mason bees healthy!
If you can’t hold your mason bee cocoons in your hand, you will wind up losing mason bees due to pest build up. Come attend a hands-on harvesting class next month, September 16, 2012 at the Plant Farm. I’ll teach you what pests to look for and help you clean your cocoons. Don’t come empty handed! Bring your tubes, reeds, or wood trays. I look forward to seeing you all there and answering any of your spring or summer Mason Bee questions.
Dave Hunter, of Crown Bees, is a bee expert, and our friend! His seminars are always full of great information, and well-attended. Be sure to sign-up for his September 16th class by going to the Events page of The Plant Farm website.
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