Beekeeping is a great way to connect more with nature, contribute to your local environment, and benefit from the pollinating abilities of our flying friends! Solitary bees are a great choice for anyone new to beekeeping, and we get a lot of these bee varieties in North America.

Below, we will discuss common solitary bees in Canada and the US, their differences, and which type may be best for your gardening goals! Keep reading to learn how you can get your own solitary leaf cutter bees from Kind Bee Farms.

What Are Solitary Bees?

Solitary bees are the loners of Bee Kingdom. Unlike honeybees that live and work in hives, solitary bees work and live independently, usually in small cocoons or holes in the ground.

There are over 19,000 solitary bees globally, and around 3,600 in North America. You’ve likely spotted some varieties before and mistook them for baby honeybees or houseflies!

Hive varieties like honeybees often require a lot of upkeep for beekeepers, especially when it is time to harvest the honey. However, solitary varieties like leafcutter bees do all the work to maintain their nests! All you need to worry about is properly mounting their bee house and safely storing it (and their cocoons) in the winter.

Best yet? Most solitary bees are very docile and rarely sting, making them safe for kids and pets running around the yard. If you want to try your hand at keeping bees, a solitary variety like leafcutter bees is a great way to begin!

Common Solitary Bees in North America

We have a lot of solitary bees in Canada and the US, but some are more common to spot than others. Here are a few solitary bee varieties you may see flying about your garden, including varieties that you can order for pollinating gardens and crops:

Leafcutter Bees (Megachile)

Our sweet and kind bees! Leafcutters are pea-sized solitary bees that were originally brought to Canada to pollinate alfalfa for seed (that’s actually how our business at Kind Bee Farms began!).

These small bees are fast flyers and can pollinate plants and flowers 20 times faster than honeybees. Their fuzzy bellies have a pollen brush that they use to spread pollen over plants and flowers. Their quick abilities earned them the nickname “superpollinators.”

Leafcutter bees make their homes in tiny nesting tubes. In nature, they burrow holes into trees and wood. At Kind Bee Farms, we provide pre-cut nesting tubes made from paper that we place in an acacia-wood Bee House so your bees don’t have to create their own (though they are more than welcome to find their own place to sleep!).

Mason Bees (Osmia)

Mason bees are cavity-nesting pollinators, often confused with houseflies due to their look, sound, and dark blue colour palette. Like leafcutter bees, they pollinate at an accelerated rate, making them a common choice for gardeners and homesteaders growing larger crops.

Mason bees nest in tubes that they fill with wet mud. They lay their lay eggs in mud clay, and also seal off their chamber with mud (clearly, they enjoy a good mud bath!).

Unlike leafcutter bees, which are most active during summer and early autumn, mason bees are active during the spring and target early blooms like apple blossoms, cherries, pears, almonds, and berries.

Mining Bees (Andreniade)

Mining bees are the largest solitary bee group, with over 200 species in Canada! They have a small, stout, furry body and collect pollen on their hind legs. Due to their similar appearance, mining bees are often mistaken for honey bees. They range in size from 6mm to the size of honey bees.

Unlike leafcutter and mason bees, mining bees are ground nesters. The females dig small holes in the soil to create nests for their baby larvae!

Squash Bees (Peponapis)

Squash bees are another variety of ground nesters that carry dry pollen in a brush of hairs on their hind legs. These solitary bees got their name from their preference to squash blossoms/flowers, and are excellent for growing vegetable gardens!

The male squash bees are the romancers of the bee world, as they search for mates by flying to and from flowers. They also love to take naps; by noon, they usually fall asleep inside the flowers.

Carpenter Bees (Xylocopa)

Carpenter bees are the largest native bees in the United States, next to bumble bees, and they are spread throughout the world. Females are black with a shiny abdomen and no hair, while males are orange and black.

These bees are called carpenters because they build their homes by digging and burrowing into wood, bamboo, and other hard materials.

Carpenter bees are important to pollination, but their wood-burrowing practices can harm the structure of greenhouses, sheds, and houses. Although it is not generally recommended to attract carpenter bees, if they appear in your garden, they can be a great benefit to blossoms like oregano and passion flowers.

What Type of Solitary Bee is Right for Your Garden?

If you want to have solitary bees on your property, you can order a set of bees to release into your garden (You can find Saskatchewan-raised leafcutter bees from Kind Bee Farms).

Here’s a simple guide to follow when deciding which bees you want or can attract to your plants:

• Early Spring blooms: Mason bees prefer the cooler temperatures and blooms of spring. You can attract mason bees with plants like asters, echinacea, and daisies.
• Vegetable gardens: Squash bees love veggies like zucchini, pumpkins, cucumbers, and gourds—if it’s a squash, they’ll want to pollinate it!
• General garden maintenance and pollination: Mining bees are beneficial for most plants and flowers, but they love fruit trees and flowering plants like buttercups and thistles!
• Summer gardens and greenhouses: Leafcutter bees thrive in the height of summer heat! You can pre-order your bees from Kind Bee Farms to make sure they arrive at the right time and temperature for your garden.

Get Solitary Leaf Cutter Bees from Kind Bee Farms

Add leaf cutter bees to your garden in 2026 and watch it explode with growth! Subscribe to our newsletter to learn when our pre-order dates go live so you can get your own Pollinator Kit. Our kit includes an orange box of bees, nesting tubes, and our sturdy Bee House!

Check out our Blog for more interesting facts about leaf cutter bees!