Leafcutter bees (megachile rotundata) are a solitary bee species, meaning they do not build colonies or store honey. Rather they are very efficient pollinators of Alfalfa, Blueberries, Hybrid Canola, and various other crops. Because of this farmers often use Leafcutter bees as a pollination aid by distributing the prepupae around their crops.
We place our bees in shelters positioned in Alfalfa fields when there is sufficient flower production and the weather is warm enough for the cells to finish hatching out. In late summer to early fall we collect the nesting material from the shelters and place them in a climate controlled environment.
We then disassemble the nesting block from the protective surround material. They are then dry piled with adequate space to avoid mold from developing on the cells, this helps us to produce High quality Canadian leafcutter bees. Once the cells have adequately dried, we extract them from the nesting block. We then weight and place the cells in hatching trays. The cells are then incubated for 21-24 days. The male bees emerge a few days before the females
The females construct their nests in styrofoam or wood nesting boards. these nests are lined with cut leaves and are provisioned with pollen & nectar extracted from the flowers of the host crop.
We place our bees in shelters positioned in Alfalfa fields when there is sufficient flower production and the weather is warm enough for the cells to finish hatching out. In late summer to early fall we collect the nesting material from the shelters and place them in a climate controlled environment.
We then disassemble the nesting block from the protective surround material. They are then dry piled with adequate space to avoid mold from developing on the cells, this helps us to produce High quality Canadian leafcutter bees. Once the cells have adequately dried, we extract them from the nesting block. We then weight and place the cells in hatching trays. The cells are then incubated for 21-24 days. The male bees emerge a few days before the females
The females construct their nests in styrofoam or wood nesting boards. these nests are lined with cut leaves and are provisioned with pollen & nectar extracted from the flowers of the host crop.
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