Mason Bees For BEGINNERS Part 2 - Introducing Leafcutter Bees🐝

#OurWeekendHomestead #MasonBee #LeafcutterBee
The first part of this video series was all about the Mason Bees for beginners. Check it up at • Mason Bees For BEGINNE... In Part 2, I will introduce Leafcutter Bees and teach you how to introduce them in your own bee house! There are so many ways to help our pollinators in need, and these bees are one way that is SUPER easy!
We buy our Mason & Leaf Cutter bee supplies from Crown Bees: tinyurl.com/yw...
We hoped you enjoyed Mason Bees For Beginners Part 2 - Introducing Leafcutter Bees. Thanks for watching our video, subscribe if you want to see what else we do in the future videos. Here are all of the parts that were used: Notice a list compiled with links If there is something you would like us to make or cover next time, leave a comment below so I can read it later 🙂
David & Lisa
Instagram - @OurWeekendHomestead
Affiliate Links - We earn a small commission when you shop using our links. This small commission allows us to continue to provide quality content. Thank you for your support. We genuinely appreciate you.
Items used for this project:
Bee Chalet -tinyurl.com/5b...
Chalet Bee house kit with bees -tinyurl.com/4h...
Leafcutter Invitabee -tinyurl.com/bs...
Leafcutter Nesting Block (Great Upgrade) - tinyurl.com/4f...
Crown Bees / Cocoon Hatchery - tinyurl.com/37...
Crown Bees / Bird Guard - tinyurl.com/ju...
Our Partners
Crown Bees: tinyurl.com/yw...
Tractor Supply - tinyurl.com/37...
Plant Therapy - tinyurl.com/2x...
True Leaf Market - tinyurl.com/z3...
ORGANIC Rev - tinyurl.com/us...
Chapters
0:00 Video Introduction
3:17 Bee House Renovation
3:42 Renovation Recap
4:32 Checking The Reeds
5:47 Installing Leafcutters Bees
8:04 Leafcutter Bee Follow-up
9:46 Project Wrap-up
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[@damiansanchez1384]

Awesome video

[@OurWeekendHomestead]

Glad you enjoyed the video. Thanks for the comment. We really appreciate it!!

[@michellepangle7259]

I kept seeing this “beneficial bug” bug house at Walmart, it looked awesome, so I got one. Before I put it outside, I was piddling around by my gaura plant, and noticed some little bees. I started videoing them then noticed they’re leaf cutter bees! My little bug house has a spot for them, so I quickly hung my bug house. I have 5 spots they’ve already taken to!!! So exciting!!! I was looking at it this evening and I bee-lieve (😄) I saw a bee just sitting in there. Now I’m obsessed with them and the house!

[@OurWeekendHomestead]

That’s so awesome!! We see ours sitting in the bee house like that too. They have been a great addition to our garden. We have really enjoyed watching them and our garden is flourishing this year. Thanks so much for watching and commenting.

[@greghoward9894]

Wonderful video! Please keep producing more Mason bee videos. I'm just starting to get into it. My wife and I just planted three apple trees and a big garden. 4A climate zone

[@OurWeekendHomestead]

Thank you so much!! We are so glad you enjoyed the video. We plan to keep documenting & sharing our solitary bee journey. We hope you will subscribe & follow along!! Good luck with your orchard & gardens.

[@eastcoast4233]

I really love your bee videos. Thank you for sharing 😊

[@OurWeekendHomestead]

Thank you so much!! Your comment made our day. 🐝

[@kb1sxv]

Loved it. Thank you!

[@OurWeekendHomestead]

Great to hear! Thanks for watching & commenting.

[@plucknpick6414]

Fun! I have been Beekeeping for years and decided to try Mason Bees since reading American Bee Journal (Feb 2024) and the revolution in Beekeeping in Orchards....where Mason Bees are being considered! I have brought Mason Bees to my home recently, and put a Leaf Cutter Bee house at my daughters home (20 miles away at a lower altitude) where I saw them on shrubs recently. The area where I moved to last year won't really support Honey Bees because of the dearth of nectar in the Summer months. The Mason and Leaf Cutter Bees are ideal....

[@OurWeekendHomestead]

That is so great. They are amazing little pollinators. Best of luck to you with your bees!! Thanks for watching & for the comment.

[@gcase08]

Thanks to your solitary bee videos it opened up a new world for me. Over the last several years I have noticed some where there was an abundance of bees and others with very few. This year is one where the bees seem to have disappeared. After watching your video O did hours of research, ordered some leaf cutter bees as it was too late for Masons, built several bee houses and nesting blocks of various types and sizes. I received my first leaf cutter bees 9 days ago and haven't seen them "hatch" yet. The instructions said it takes 14 to 21 days. They arrived in a heat wave. I keep the houses out of the direct sun otherwise they would cook in the 110 degree days. It may be hot for them to survive this year but in the spring I am prepared for the Masons and will get the leaf cutters much early before the desert heat sets in. Thanks again, sincerely, for opening up this world for me. Many gardeners in this area have the same issues with lack of bees so I will be spreading the word and know how locally,

[@OurWeekendHomestead]

Wow! This is so great to read. Thank you for sharing all this. We are so happy the videos have helped you. We wish you great success with your solitary bees and your gardens! Thanks so much for watching 🐝

[@VictorFursov]

Thank you for video. Best greetings from beekeepers in Ukraine!😊😊😮😮😊😊

[@OurWeekendHomestead]

Glad you liked it!! Thanks for watching & best of luck with your bees 🐝

[@CindyOrangeNeely]

Oh my goodness, they are precious!

[@OurWeekendHomestead]

Definitely a fun addition to our garden! 🐝💛 Thanks for watching!!

[@maikomaya8912]

You are awesome! Thank you!

[@OurWeekendHomestead]

Thank you so much! Really glad you liked the video.

[@annahudson4693]

Thank you for these videos. This will be my first year trying Mason bees. I might have to try Leaf cutter bees too

[@OurWeekendHomestead]

How exciting!! We have enjoyed them so much & our gardens are flourishing. Good luck with your bees. Let us know how it goes! Thanks for watching!!

[@catchandinstallhoneybees.1901]

great...super

[@OurWeekendHomestead]

Thanks for watching and commenting!!

[@chefevilee9566]

Oh I am going to grow a garden in a screened in area. It’s the new rage! Anyway I was thinking I should put a bee hive in there. I was like no bad idea😂 Then I thought oh mason bees. Sure enough that’s what they using greenhouses. I guess honeybees will refuse to pollinate plants if they’re in a greenhouse lol Thanks for the heads up on the other B I had never even heard of them.

[@OurWeekendHomestead]

You will love the Mason & Leafcutter Bees. They are amazing pollinators. We have reaped bountiful harvests from adding them to our gardens and have enjoyed them so much. Good luck with your garden. Thanks for watching & commenting. Keep us posted on how it goes.

[@fthurman1]

hi I am trying to use Mason Bees, but they only stay a few days then gone, I don't think my garden has enough kind of flowers for them so they seam to leave what type of plants with food for them, When i do leafcutters they stay no problem. thanks Fred T.

[@OurWeekendHomestead]

Hi there! We had the same thoughts our first year of Mason bees. They are quite elusive. However, upon further inspection of our bee house we noticed filled tubes so we know they are still around. We don’t see them buzzing around as much as the leafcutters but when we do find one it’s an exciting sight. Our gardens are primarily vegetables & herbs. We do grow chamomile & calendula in abundance. We practice all organic gardening so no chemicals are used anywhere on the property, to keep the pollinators safe. We hope you see filled tubes this season with many Mason bees. Good luck. Thanks for watching & commenting.

[@mickycervantes2984]

Great video!!!! I was just wondering,Where can i order them leaf cutter bees from???

[@OurWeekendHomestead]

Glad you liked the video. We buy ours from Crown Bees. Here’s a link. tinyurl.com/yw4n4psn Good luck with your bees. Thanks for watching.

[@pagevpetty]

If there was something in those smaller reads wouldn't you have killed it with that pokey stick?

[@OurWeekendHomestead]

Thanks for the question. We gently insert the skewer and stop at the first sign of resistance. So far no cocoons have been damaged. Thanks for watching.

[@37Iulian]

The truth is: not many mason bees will prefer to stay in the offered house! The point is: to harvest/collect by the time ones, which like the house! Many will leave, and few will stay! It takes a while for housing a full house with residents!

[@OurWeekendHomestead]

We have had great success with ours and the garden has absolutely exploded with fruits & vegetables. Such a great addition to our backyard garden! It does take time to fill the house. We find that planting some flowers just for the bees is also helpful in attracting them to our yard. Thanks for watching.

[@ibesheilaful]

What do you do with the filled tubes afterwards?

[@OurWeekendHomestead]

We harvest the cocoons in the spring. We have a video that shows how we do it. Check it out here kzbin.info/www/bejne/g3WxdamilLuXiq8. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@colepolasek2743]

How do you attract the lease Cutter bees to the house if you don’t have invita bee?

[@OurWeekendHomestead]

Good question. The Leafcutter bees are drawn to the round holes in the reeds for making their home. Also with all bees they like to live where bees have lived before. So once you’ve had bees in your bee house, new bees will continue to come year after year. Good luck with your bees & gardens. Thanks for watching & commenting.

[@worstgamer848]

Hello, can you tell me the product name of the Invitabi spray, which is used at 6:15 ... thx

[@OurWeekendHomestead]

Hi there! Here is a link tinyurl.com/yw4n4psn this will take you to Crown Bees and that spray is called InvitaBee. They make if for both Leafcutter and Mason bees. Thanks for watching & good luck with your bees!!

[@GrowCookPreserveWithKellyDawn]

New to your channel. It seems we have similar interests and life goals. Great video--thank you!

[@OurWeekendHomestead]

Welcome! We are so glad you found us. Thanks for watching & commenting.

[@realiteaohansi3341]

Btw, the bag is to protect the larvae from predators, keeping the pests from finding and gaining access to the nests, not for checking to see what pests come out

[@OurWeekendHomestead]

Thanks for watching!

[@tinalehman4591]

So what would u recommend going straight leftcutter? We usually dont have a spring jumps straight into summer just about? Was thinking about honey bees but so expensive to start that and I am 62 years young lol

[@OurWeekendHomestead]

We still do both Mason & Leafcutter. We typically see more action from the Leafcutters but we still have Masons hanging around too. Our gardens have really flourished since adding solitary bees. Best of luck on your bee journey. Thanks for watching & commenting.

[@beverlyrychalski305]

Best place to hang

[@OurWeekendHomestead]

We have ours on an east facing wall in an area that gets some afternoon shade. Thanks for watching & commenting.

[@robinham2796]

Why did you purchase another place for the leaf cutters if you already had reeds for them? Space maybe because 200 coming?

[@OurWeekendHomestead]

Thanks for the question. Yes, we added more bees and we needed more room for them. We have expanded our gardens to grow more of the food we consume & the bees play an important part in our garden success. If you want to see our gardens check out the other videos on our channel. Thanks for watching.

[@robinham2796]

Don’t you have to clean it all Out also?

[@OurWeekendHomestead]

Hi there! We have a video that shows harvesting cocoons & cleaning the bee house. kzbin.info/www/bejne/g3WxdamilLuXiq8 Thanks for the question.

[@davidleetorres]

What about harvesting honey from this hive???

[@OurWeekendHomestead]

No honey from these bees. They are excellent pollinators for our gardens however. We do raise honey bees as well & harvest honey from those. Check out our honeybee videos! Thanks for watching.

[@robinham2796]

So leaf cutter are better than mason?

[@OurWeekendHomestead]

Great question. For us, we just see more leaf cutters than mason bees in our bee houses & around our property. But we do still have quite a few mason bees. It may just be our climate and the plants we have growing in our gardens. You may have different results. Nevertheless, they have been a great addition to our gardens. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@jhutto3814]

do the mason bees dissappear late in the summer?

[@OurWeekendHomestead]

They do. They die off each year. We see fewer and fewer as the summer months go on. It’s July and I just rescued one out of the pool. I hadn’t seen one in awhile. The reeds are filled with mud & cocoons for more Mason bees next spring.

[@jhutto3814]

@@OurWeekendHomestead Thanks

[@robinham2796]

Where is part 1?

[@OurWeekendHomestead]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/mZ2qpXmpd9abmKM

[@smartypantsathome3123]

Where do you buy your bee cocoons?

[@OurWeekendHomestead]

We have been buying our cocoons from Crown Bees. They have great customer service. Thanks for the question & for watching our video!

[@MrKen-longrangegrdhogeliminato]

Is that side of your home shaded all day?

[@OurWeekendHomestead]

Thanks for the question. This is the East side of our home so it gets the morning Sun. Thanks for watching.