Hello Everyone, I have been raising mason bees for a few years and love them and I am just now learning about leafcutter bees and that they are great for summer pollination (mason bees are mostly spring pollinators). I am trying to find where I can get some that are sourced locally for the next growing season. I have found a few online sources, the closest being from a farm in Saskatchewan but I really want as local as possible. Thank you!
Hutchings Bee Service is well-regarded here on Vancouver Island and may be able to help you with your enquiries. Hutchings Bee Service
—— Margot - i recall posts about the sudden spring (for us up here) cancellation of so many flights in March 2020 and imported (legal) bees essential to our agricultural industries I wonder if Hutchings on VI was effected I can’t find the original post on UBC forum So Here is a similar article fr a prairie farm town newspaper - LINK below Canadian farmers rely on 250,000 imported bees
Pollinators key to sustainability, says Claire Kremen, 2020 Volvo Environment Prize winner Further to earlier post - here is someone from UBC faculty reminding us that pollinators matter and esp those that can live naturally year round in the Pac NW climate
Hi, Neill. Did you ever find a source of leafcutter bees? I think most of the local nurseries carry them in the Spring and Summer. The three local nurseries I often visit near Coquitlam (e.g., Triple Tree in Maple Ridge, GardenWorks in Burnaby, etc ) have usually had them; I assume other nurseries in the Lower Mainland do too. Chatting with the staff, their supplier is on Vancouver Island, so the bees are pretty local. I have a duo house (for mason bees and leafcutter bees) and got everything at Triple Tree. Walking through a nursery is always a pleasant relaxing experience--even now in the middle of winter. Perhaps take a stroll through some of your local nurseries and chat with the staff. Even if you don't buy anything right now, it is good to gather information and get all your ducks lined up for Spring.
