Releasing Summer Leaf bee cocoons means placing cocoons into your bee house so they can emerge and begin summer activities.
Summer Leaf bees are cavity-nesting solitary bees, meaning they build their nests inside available nesting materials. They spend most of their lifetime inside these cavities and emerge from their cocoons as fully mature bees.
Females often return to where they emerged and search for a nearby nesting cavity to lay their eggs. This behavior is why we suggest bee raisers release their Summer Leaf bee cocoons inside or near their bee house: It increases the likelihood the females will choose to nest in the provided house.
Pro Tip: Bees are wild and may choose to nest elsewhere.
Our Summer Leaf bees come in packs of 200 cocoons, which we proudly source from Crown Bees. Crown Bees practices loose cocoon management, which means the cocoons are harvested at the correct time, cleaned and carefully inspected to ensure you receive healthy, pest-free cocoons.
Two hundred is more than you'll need. Summer Leaf bees have a higher dispersal rate than Mason bees, so please don't expect all 200 to stick around (the nature of nature)!
Bee Patient! Summer Leaf bees typically emerge within 1-10 days after you receive them, if daytime temps are at or above 80°F (27°C). However, it can take up to three weeks for Summer Leaf bees to emerge in cooler climates, but they are a lot of fun to watch once they do!
Before you release your Summer Leaf bee cocoons, you'll want to make sure your yard and garden are ready for these super summer pollinators.
What You Will Need
1. Bee House or Hotel
A sturdy bee house or hotel mounted to a solid object (like a post, home, or fence) is the foundation of a safe nesting habitat. Solitary bees and wasps prefer a house that protects from the wind, rain, and, if necessary, birds.
- Orientation: Bees are cold-blooded and need the warmth of the morning sun to get started. Select a site that faces south to southeast.
- Location: Install the bee house on a sturdy wall, fence, or post. Bees do not like swinging in the breeze. Summer Leaf bees only fly about 300ft (100m) searching for nectar and pollen, so place the house near open blooms.
- Height: Place at eye level, about 5 ft (1.5 m) off the ground to protect the bees from small predators, like mice or raccoons. Plus, these bees are fun to watch!
- Bird Protection: If needed, choose bird wire or hardwire cloth with 3/4" openings and loosely create a 2" bubble around the front of the house. Do not install the wire flush against the nesting materials, as this can prevent bees from accessing the nests.
2. Cocoon Protection
The bee house should provide a little spot for the cocoons to emerge and a 2-3" roof overhang to protect the cocoons from the sun, wind, rain, and birds.
Our Crown Bees houses will have either have a cocoon hatchery built into the design or an open area to place an individual cocoon hatchery.
3. Bee-Safe Nesting Materials
Cavity-nesting bees and wasps are of various sizes, and each species has a preferred nesting diameter. Our Summer Leaf bees prefer nesting materials that are approximately 6mm in diameter.
Nesting materials sealed at one end, breathable, thick-walled, and easily opened are the best way to protect bees from pathogens and parasites such as excessive mold, Chalkbrood, parasitic wasps, and pollen mites.
All of our Crown Bees Summer Leaf Bee nesting materials meet these requirements!
Pro Tip: Summer Leaf bees have a higher dispersal rate than Mason bees. To increase the number of nesting females that find your bee house, apply Crown Bees InvitaBee™ Spray for Summer Leaf Bees to the front of your nesting materials before releasing your cocoons. InvitaBee™ is a field-tested synthetic pheromone that attracts Summer Leaf bees to your bee house through sight and smell.
What Your Yard and Garden Will Need
1. Minimum Daytime Temps of 70°F (21°C) or Higher
Once daytime temps are consistently 70°F (21°C) or warmer, you can release your Summer Leaf bee cocoons. Freezing temperatures at night do not affect the bees. They will find a safe place to shelter in the evenings.
2. Soft, Flexible Leaves and Flower Petals
Summer Leaf bees are famously known for cutting the leaves of plants to build protective walls and seal their nests. Summer Leaf bees can use the leaves of almost any broadleaf deciduous plant to construct their nests. However, they prefer soft, flexible leaves and flower petals, such as alfalfa, clover, buckwheat, rose, pea, lamb’s quarters, lilac, redbud trees, or hosta. As long as there is a reliable source within 30 sq ft, the bees will have no trouble finding and cutting what they need.
3. Open Blooms - Native Plants are Best
Bees, like all animals, get their energy from food, and food for Summer Leaf bees is in the form of nectar and pollen. A single female Summer Leaf bee can visit 10,000 - 20,000 flowers in her short lifetime—collecting pollen and nectar to feed her offspring. Research indicates that solitary bees have more offspring when lots of floral resources are available, so make sure you have plenty of open blooms within their foraging range of about 300 sq. ft (100 sq m).
For this reason, make sure your yard or garden has continuous blooms before releasing cocoons and throughout the bees’ active season. If the bees emerge without open flowers, they will either fly elsewhere in search of food or be unable to survive.
4. Chemical-free Yard and Garden
Some bees will be deterred from nesting altogether if pesticides are present. Others may stick around, but their nesting activity and offspring survival rates may be lower.
Certain pesticides kill bees right away, and even at low doses, pesticides can have sublethal effects on bees, such as:
- impaired memory and disorientation causing females to forget their nest location
- reduced foraging efficacy causing females not to be able to provide enough food for their offspring
- higher percentage of male offspring
- increased susceptibility to disease and parasites
Avoid buying plants, bulbs, seeds, or compost that contain pesticides or insecticides. While they are targeted to kill 'pests,' bees are insects, and using insecticides can harm local bee populations.
If you must spray: Use organic or natural pest deterrents such as neem oil, garlic, and chili pepper. Spray at night when bees and other pollinators are not active, and try to spray when there is no wind or rain.
Why Plant Native Plants
Native plants are plants that have evolved over hundreds or thousands of years in particular regions or ecosystems. In the United States, only plants found in this country before European settlement are considered native.
Native Plants Provide Numerous Benefits
- Native plants provide nectar, pollen, and seeds that serve as food for native insects, birds, and other animals.
- Non-natives do not always provide the necessary nutrients for our native animals to thrive.
- Native plants can help you save money and water. Since native plants are adapted to local soils and climates, they don't require as much water and fertilizer as non-natives. Additionally, the deep roots of many Midwestern plants increase the soil's capacity to store water, which is essential for reducing water runoff and preventing erosion.
- Native plants are often more resistant to insects and diseases, so they are less likely to need pesticides. Eliminating pesticides creates a healthy habitat for wild bees and other animals.
Unfortunately, native plant species in North America are disappearing at an alarming rate due to land degradation, agribusiness, and chemical use. To add to this problem, many landscapers, gardeners, and nurseries have replaced native plants with showy non-natives, negatively affecting our native insect and bird populations.
Fortunately, many resources are available to help you create native habitats that attract native wildlife and promote biodiversity.
Second Generation Summer Leaf Bees
Unlike Mason bees, who only produce a single generation of offspring each year, Summer Leaf bees are bivoltine, meaning two generations of bees can emerge in a single year. A second generation is not a guarantee but is likely if warm summer temps continue into early fall, Leave your nesting materials in the bee house over the summer, and second-generation bees may emerge.
Evidence of emergence is a large hole in the capped ends and leafy debris. If second-generation bees emerge, you may need to add new clean nesting materials to entice the new bees to stick around. Remember, the bees will also need pollen, nectar, and soft leaves to build their nests.