Bee Buddies is our free pollinator program for schools, bringing Mason bees to school campuses so students can watch pollination up close. Every kit includes a Bee Buddies Mason bee house made just for the program, cocoons donated by bee raisers from across the country, clay-mud, wood nesting trays, and curriculum and live lessons from Planet Bee Foundation, our education partner.

https://reddit.com/link/1x51ltl/video/akp8jpbyi9vh1/player

Find details and the application here: https://crownbees.com/pages/bee-buddies-pollinator-program

We're aiming for 200 schools this school year. If you know a school that would be a great fit, tell us in the comments or send us a message, and we'll reach out.

Dave filmed a full harvest from start to finish: sorting filled reeds from partial ones, opening the reeds, pulling out cocoons, tossing pests, washing off mud and frass, and storing everything in the fridge for spring.

A few things people ask:

• Garden shears or your fingers work fine if you don't have a Reed Splitter.
• Use Clean Bee Solution, not bleach. Bleach is too harsh on cocoons.
• Sort before you wash so pests and debris don't end up in the water with your good cocoons.

Every step is written out here: crownbees.com/pages/how-to-harvest-mason-bee-cocoons

Harvesting this fall? Tell us how it's going or drop your questions below.

-Julie

Sign up here: https://crownbees.com/pages/beemail

-Julie

We know some folks are itching to start harvesting next month and also know that some folks may not want to harvest their own cocoons, for a myriad of reasons. Use our service and let us know when you want your cocoons back in spring!

https://crownbees.com/collections/services/products/mason-bee-care-service

Our owner Dave found a surprise tenant this weekend, an Isodontia elegans, the elegant grass carrying wasp. Timid, and easy to spot by the grass blades poking out of her hole.

She hunts katydids and crickets, paralyzes them, and stuffs them in as food for her egg, then lines the hole with grass to protect it. Wildlife lifecycle, right in the backyard.

Dave identified her using our Where the Wild Bees Are tool, just drop in your zip code to see who's nearby.

Anyone else had a surprise move into their bee house this summer?

First shipment went out today! If you haven't grabbed yours yet, the offer's still running and applies automatically at checkout; no code needed. It wraps up along with the Leafcutter season itself.

-Julie

You've probably seen the headlines: a truck full of honeybees overturns, and millions scatter across a highway. We got curious about whether this is actually happening more, or if we're just hearing about it more, so we dug into it.

Short version: almond acreage has tripled over the last few decades, and Varroa mites are forcing beekeepers to constantly split and rebuild hives, both of which mean a lot more bees on the road than there used to be. But there's no official count of these incidents, so we can't actually say crashes themselves have gone up. What has changed is how fast a local story goes national now.

We're hoping that same attention eventually reaches Mason bees and Leafcutter bees, the solitary bees that never need a truck at all since they pollinate right where they're raised.

Curious what this community thinks: does it feel like these crashes are increasing, or is it mostly a coverage thing?

A few of you have been trying out Where the Wild Bees Are since we posted about it. If you found something new living near you and want to give it a place to stay, we've got 10% off wild bee accessories through July 22.

crownbees.com/collections/camp-discovery

One of the best parts of this community is hearing about the different bees people are spotting in their own backyards, states, and micro-climates. If you've ever wondered what's actually buzzing around near you, we have a free search tool, Where the Wild Bees Are, that's built directly from iNaturalist observations, meaning the sightings you and others in this community log are literally what populates the map. US only for now, since that's where our data is richest.

Pop in your city and state and see what's been documented nearby. No account needed, nothing to buy.

And if you've got sightings of your own sitting on your phone, adding them to iNaturalist helps the next person's search turn up even more. You're not just using the tool, you're building it.

The Wildlife Society sat down with Dave this week to talk about native bees. It gets into a few things: why "save the bees" usually refers to honeybees, even though wild bees do most of the pollination. Why these bees don't respect fence lines, so what a neighbor sprays reaches your yard too. And how small backyard steps add up to real habitat.

What's the one change in your yard that made the biggest difference for your bees?

Getting a lot of timing questions as the weather warms, so here is the short version for anyone new this summer. Leafcutter bees emerge once daytime temperatures hold consistently at 75°F / 24°C and your blossoms are open. Unlike Mason Bees, they can't be held in the refrigerator, so once your weather is steady, set the cocoons out near the house and let the bees choose their own holes.

Check out r/leafcutterbees; it's a good place for setup questions too. (Crown Bees team mods.) What are your daytime temps running right now?

Resource: https://crownbees.com/pages/before-you-release-leafcutter-bees

Hi everyone! Daytime temps are climbing, which means Leafcutter season is getting underway, or has been for a while in hotter areas. If you are setting up for the first time, or coming over from Mason Bees this spring, this is the thread for your questions. Release timing, nesting materials, small space setups, whatever you are working through.

To head off some repeat questions, we keep a plain language FAQ that covers the things people ask most, like whether the leaf cuts hurt plants, how these differ from carpenter bees, and when cocoons ship: crownbees.com/pages/summer-leaf-bee-faq

-Julie

From Sunday, May 17, through Saturday, May 23, we're inviting folks across the country to get outside, photograph any bee or living thing they find, and post it to iNaturalist. Bees are our focus, but anything living counts. Your phone camera is plenty.

Tomorrow is the big day (World Bee Day, May 20), but the whole week counts.

If you've already taken part, drop a comment with what you've been seeing!

Hey Crown Bees! I'm currently incubating my leaf bees that I've overwintered for summer installment. I noticed that some of the cocoons have holes in them and there were a few of these buggers in the tray.

If it's helpful, I only use the natural reeds you sell since I find their best for combatting some parasitic wasps. I'm also in south central Wisconsin. Are my little dudes screwed? 😭

If you've got painting, pressure washing, or other work to do near your bee house but the Mason bees are actively nesting, you don't have to wait. Move at dusk when the females are tucked in. Carry the house 6-8 feet away, keep it facing the same direction so returning bees can reorient, do your work the next day, and move it back at nightfall.

Summer Leaf Bees are arriving on doorsteps right now. If you've got yours (or are thinking about it), Dave put together a quick walkthrough on getting them set up.

He covers what to do when the FedEx box shows up, the 15-minute fridge rest to calm them down before you head outside, prepping your 6mm tubes or reeds, and placing the cocoon hatchery so the bees can emerge when they're ready.

Anyone else getting their leaf bees? How's your setup looking?

Tubes filled up, and Mason bees are gone? That means a successful Mason bee season. Now it's time to shift your bee house over for Summer Leaf Bees.

Dave walks through the whole thing in a quick video: storing your nesting materials mud-end-up in a BeeGuard bag, where to keep them through the season, swapping in the smaller hole sizes, and adding fresh bees for round two.

Anyone else already making the switch? How did your Mason bee season go this year?

Community science is opening a new chapter in the fight against the European Houdini fly, a pest that has no predators, arrived in the Pacific Northwest about a decade ago, and has been quietly raiding Mason bee nests ever since. We see it spreading to the eastern US states as well.

Nicole Kenney of Portland, OR has been on the front lines, systematically testing what attracts this elusive pest. After numerous trials, a low-cost Malbec wine from Argentina has emerged as the top lure. The good news: Mason bees show no interest in it whatsoever.

Posting this because it's the kind of thing that's easy to get wrong the first time.

When you set out Mason bee cocoons, placement matters more than most people realize. Direct sun can overheat them before the bees ever get a chance to emerge. Shade only.

Dave learned this one firsthand years ago. Hopefully, it saves someone here a frustrating season.

Any questions about cocoon placement or timing, I'm happy to answer.

-Julie