What your yard needs for solitary bees
Will mason bees or leafcutter bees thrive in my yard?
Our spring mason bees and summer leafcutter bees are easy to raise, all you need to do is make sure that you provide:
- Plenty of flowers: each female mason bee can visit 2,000 or more flowers per day. Add more spring or summer-blooming flowers to your garden if needed.
- A bee-friendly yard: solitary bees only fly about 300-feet from their bee house each day, this short flying range means the bees have a higher likelihood of being deterred by lawn care applications.
- Daytime temperatures that are right for them: minimum 53F for mason bees, roughly 75F for leafcutter bees
- Natural nest-building materials like moist clayey mud for mason bees or supple leaves for leafcutter bees
- A bee house installed in a location with morning sun
Please bee patient if it looks like bees are not nesting in your bee house.Some of our gardeners report that they found nesting holes filled even though they never saw any bee activity.
How do I attract mason bees to my garden?
Mason bees are easy to raise but there are certain things they need to help them move into your bee house. These tips will help you look at your garden to see if it will be a good home for bees. The most important tips are listed first. Now you know how to look at your yard like a bee!
Spring Mason Bees
- Clayey mud: mason bees protect their nests with moist clayey mud and they won't nest if they can't find a mud source nearby. Add Mason Bee Mud Mix if your soil is sandy, loamy, or has too much organic material.
- Nesting holes: mason bees prefer 8mm size nesting holes. 8mm is about the size of your pencil and nesting holes that are too big or too small will not be used by mason bees. Provide one nesting hole for each of your mason bee cocoons.
- Smells like home: mason bees like to nest where it smells like other bees have nested before. Apply InvitaBee Plus+ to the front of your nesting holes immediately before releasing your mason bee cocoons.
How do I attract leafcutter bees to my garden?
Leafcutter bees are easy to raise but there are certain things they need to help them move into your bee house. These tips will help you look at your garden to see if it will be a good home for bees. The most important tips are listed first. Now you know how to look at your yard like a bee!
Summer Leafcutter Bees
- Non-fibrous leaves: leafcutter bees protect their nests with leaf bits and they won't nest if they can't find leaves of the right texture nearby. Plant leaves like those of peas, beans, strawberry, hosta, lilac, or rose near your bee house.
- Nesting holes: leafcutter bees prefer 6mm sized nesting holes. Provide one nesting hole for two of your leafcutter bee cocoons.
- Smells like home: leafcutter bees like to nest where it smells like other bees have nested before. Apply InvitaBee to the front of your nesting holes immediately before releasing your leafcutter bee cocoons.
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