Depending on when you received your bees and where you live will determine how long it will take for your leafcutters to emerge. One of the big differences between mason and leafcutter bees is their life cycle. When you rent leafcutter bees from us, we send you a leafcutter nesting block with 3 rows of the block full of 60-80 leafcutter bees snug in their leaf sleeping bags for safe and easy transport. When we send you your bees, leafcutters arrive in their larvae state, whereas, mason bees are fully grown in their cocoons.
Since your leafcutters arrive in their larvae state, it usually takes them about 6-8 weeks to grow into a fully developed adult bee and they can only do this when temperatures are a consistent 75+ degrees for more than 2 weeks. This usually occurs towards the middle or end of July.
Once they emerge, they live for about 4-6 weeks pollinating and laying their eggs. Sometimes you can get two life cycles of leafcutter bees if the temperatures stay consistently hot for the new babies to grow.
So, when the weather warms up, keep an eye open for little bees flying around with tiny pieces of leaves and marvel at their hard work and mastery of making their nests.
LEARN MORE ABOUT LEAFCUTTER BEES:
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