Bees are vital to our ecosystem— did you know that 80% of flowering plants need pollinators to survive and thrive? Without pollinators like bees, butterflies and birds, the earth would not be as biodiverse as it is today.
The bee population has significantly decreased in the last twenty years, but Kind Bee Farms is working hard to be part of the solution. Whether rural or urban, Kind Bee Farms has the pollination solution we need to combat the concrete jungles of North America with our pollination house kits.
Continue reading to learn how to create a pollinator’s paradise in your backyard!
Understanding Leafcutter Bee Behavior
Because of their gentle nature, leafcutters are the best bees for first-time beekeepers, hobby gardeners or homesteaders. We call them kind bees for a reason! The female leafcutters’ fuzzy bums do have stingers, but their sting is much milder than a honeybee or wasp, so you don’t need to be concerned about allergic reactions. They might bite you if you accidentally squish them, but that’s fair play!
Did you know there have been no known anaphylaxis reactions to leafcutter bees? Kind Bee Farms owner Layne is allergic to bees but has never had a reaction when handling our gentle leafcutter bees.
Fair Weather Friends
Hot weather and sunny skies are what keep the bees motivated to work. Leafcutters love warm weather, so they hang out inside their house when it’s cloudy. If the weather is overcast, windy, and a little chilly, these hard-working ladies will take a day off at home until it warms up again.
If you live on the west coast of the United States and Canada and are concerned about the wildfires, don’t worry too much. While leafcutter bees might not love cloudy weather, they will still fly around the garden if the temperature is hot.
The smoke will make them lethargic, but leafcutter bees are nothing if not resilient! They will adapt to the wildfire smoke and continue pollinating your garden.
Note: Rainy, chilly and cloudy weather is dangerous for leafcutter bees. They do not like to get wet at all. Be careful with automated sprinklers!
Optimized Bee House Design
The Kind Bee loft house underwent many prototype designs to become what it is now! After careful research and consideration, we landed on a log cabin design modelled after our owner’s log-style home! We learned that 5mm nesting tubes made from paper are the best size and material for the little bees.
5mm is just the right size for the leafcutter bees to fly in and out of with their leaves without needing to cut as more leaves to fill a larger space. The more leaves they have to cut, the harder they work and the shorter their lifespan is. Additionally, the smooth paper tubes don’t catch on their delicate wings like bamboo did.
Best Pollinator House Placement
The best place to mount your Kind Bee pollinator house is approximately 4ft. off the ground, close to your flowers and plants. Leafcutter bees are low-flying bees, so anything higher than 4ft would be challenging to access. These little bees are easily swept up in the wind, which could potentially prevent them from accessing their nesting tubes!
We do not recommend mounting the pollinator house on a tree because it attracts ants, birds, and other pests. It’s best to place the house near the flowering plants and with some overhead coverage for protection in rain storms.
If the nesting tubes get wet or destroyed, you can temporarily replace them with paper straws while waiting for your replacement tubes to be delivered.
Management and Maintenance Tips
The care and keeping of leafcutter bees is remarkably simple. Once the bee house is securely mounted near or in your garden, open the bee box outside, place the orange bee box in the loft, and leave them bee.
That’s it. That’s all you have to do. Leafcutter bees are remarkably self-sufficient. As long as there is an abundance of blooms within 300 feet of the bee house, you will have happy little bees all summer long.
Once the winter hits, store your bee house with the full nesting tubes in a box somewhere cool and dark, like the basement or garden shed. To make things easier, keep the shipping box your bee home kit came in!
For more information on winter maintenance, check out our FAQ.
Experience the Power of Pollination
Ready to have the best growing season of your garden’s ever seen? We ship our bees to Canada and the continental United States. Pre-order your pollinator house kit from Kind Bee Farms today!