We are getting ready to put the bees you raised last spring out into orchards.
We’re building totes and nesting blocks that we will take with our mason bees to farms in Washington, Oregon, and California and show the farmers how to use mason bees to pollinate their crops.
Our relationships with local farms would not be possible without our backyard hosts!
Each backyard that helps us raise bees through our rental program has a direct impact on the continued success of using mason bees as solitary pollinators on farms!
More about our work on orchards:
Our orchard kits contain six nesting locations per acre with the mason bee cocoons released at the center point of each acre.
Mason bees are so efficient, it only takes about 400 females to pollinate an entire acre. That amount of work would required at least 40,000 honey bees!
The farmers we work with know that monocultures can restrict access to food for foraging bees.
That’s why our partner farms are planting hedgerow flowers in between their crops to provide extra foraging resources for the bees throughout the entire spring season.
This video was produced by one of the organic almond orchards we provide mason bees to in central California showcasing their work towards creating a bee-friendly farm.
In addition to providing more bee-friendly food on farms, farmers are adopting more sustainable practices regarding the use of chemicals.
Mason bees are extremely susceptible to harsh chemicals used to control weeds and pests. To participate in our pollination program, farmers are now adopting safer practices in order to protect and support their mason bee pollinators.
Mason bee season is just around the corner!
We are looking forward to mason bee handouts starting in March
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