Summer Upgrade kit with Natural Reeds

Summer Upgrade kit with Wood Trays

Our Summer Garden Upgrade Kit comes with everything you need to raise gentle leafcutter bees for summer pollination.

The upgrade kit is designed to work in any of our classic cedar bee houses (Chalet, Cottage, or Tower) or you can add the kit to your own DIY bee house. Just make sure your homemade bee house has minimum interior dimensions of 4”H x 6”W x 8”D.

Instructions:

• Select a location that faces S to SE, morning sun is optimal to warm the bees so they can begin to fly. Provide afternoon shade in hot locations that are consistently above 90F/32C.
  
• Install bee house on a sturdy wall or fence, at eye level for easy observation of bee activity, about 5ft (1.5m) from the ground to protect from pests and predators.
  
• Locate the house within 300ft (100m) of your flowers.
  
• Position your bee house away from birdhouses and bird feeders.
  

1. In the summer when your blooms are opening and the weather warms to 75F/24C, set up your bee house. Place the 78-hole reusable wood tray (6mm) OR the 70 natural reeds (6mm) for leafcutter bees into bee house, lightly apply InvitaBee Spray for Leafcutter Bees to the front of the wood trays, and set your leafcutter bee cocoons on top and towards the back.
   
2. Summer leafcutter bee activity will stop when the fall weather cools to below 60F/15C. Remove the filled nesting tray and store with the open end facing up in the BeeGuard Bag. Store over the winter in an unheated garage or shed.
   
3. Harvest your summer leafcutter cocoons next spring, around the time that you see dandelion blooms begin to open.

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