How to Host Mason and Leafcutter Bees

You don't need to be a beekeeper to host solitary bees. There's no hive, no honey and no queen to manage. Simply provide a bee house, clean nesting material and nearby flowers, and your bees do the rest.

Black bee house with a nesting block, set by a pink magnolia and yellow flowers

We Don't Send You Flying Bees

We send you bees before they emerge. Mason bees arrive hibernating safely inside their cocoons, while leafcutter bees arrive in the larval stage, snug inside their protective leaf cells.

Place them in your bee house at the right time, and when temperatures are warm enough, they emerge naturally and get to work.

No handling flying bees. Just set them out and let nature do the rest.

A mason bee chewing out of a cocoon on a green leaf

Why Host Solitary Bees?

Because they're incredible pollinators. Mason bees work in spring, pollinating fruit trees, berries and early blooms, while leafcutter bees take over in summer to pollinate vegetable gardens, flowers and summer blooms.

Host one or both for powerful pollination throughout the growing season.

A bee working the center of pale pink cherry blossoms

95% Pollination Power

Mason and leafcutter bees belly-flop onto flowers and gather loose pollen on their body hairs. This enables them to easily spread the loose pollen from flower to flower as they forage.

They can pollinate up to 95% of the flowers they visit, compared with about 5% for honeybees.

More pollination means more fruit, more vegetables and a more productive garden.

A blue-green mason bee covered in yellow pollen on a yellow flower

A leafcutter bee with a yellow pollen load on a purple flower

Gentle and Non-Aggressive

Mason and leafcutter bees are gentle, solitary bees with no hive or queen to defend. You can stand right next to their bee house and watch them work without them bothering you. Each female simply goes about her day collecting pollen and building her own nest. Perfect for backyards, gardens and families who want to experience bees up close.

Choose How You Want to Host

Whether you want us to handle the end-of-season care or you want to do it yourself, we make it easy to host solitary bees.

We Clean

Release your bees, enjoy the pollination and return your nesting block to us at the end of the season. We harvest and clean the cocoons, remove predators, clean the nesting block and care for the bees through winter.

Release → pollinate → return

You Clean

Want to care for your own bees? Choose nesting materials you can open, then harvest, inspect and clean your cocoons yourself in the fall. We'll provide the education and resources to help you through the process.

Release → pollinate → clean → keep

How to Host

Two hosts pointing at a black bee house hung on a fence post

Spring

Bees Arrive

Both mason and leafcutter bees will be shipped to you in early spring. Set up your bee house and mason bee nesting block when temperatures reach 55°F or warmer. Store your leafcutter bee block in a cool garage or shed until summer.

Open Pollinator Kit

Spring

Mason Bees

Your mason bees arrive as cocoons inside a white PVC emergence tube. When spring blooms are open and daytime temperatures are around 55°F, remove the tape from one end cap and place the tube inside your bee house. The bees will emerge from their cocoons and crawl out through the opening. Leave the tube in the house for the season.

A leafcutter refill block ready for the same black house

Summer

Swap Blocks

Once mason bee activity ends, remove the mason bee block and replace it with your leafcutter bee block. Store your mason bee block in a cool garage or shed until you mail it back in September.

How to store