Leaf Cutter Bees

In May, I replace a row of nesting blocks in the Cherry Creek Pollinator Habitat solitary bee house. I checked the blocks the end of July to look for nesting activity. The leaf cutter bees have been very active! Leafcutter bees will snip discs of leaf material, about a quarter inch, from ash trees or roses. They take the leaf discs and fold them to construct small tube shaped nests inside pieces of wood or holes in trees. Inside of each cell an egg is placed with some pollen.

To make a solitary bee house, read this NebGuide ‘Creating a Solitary Bee House’: https://extensionpublications.unl.edu/assets/pdf/g2256.pdf

To learn more about leaf cutter bees, visit this site: https://byf.unl.edu/topics/leaf-cutter-bees

MJ Frogge

Leafcutter Bees in the Habitat

Happy Pollinator Week! Leafcutter bees are active in the Cherry Creek Pollinator Habitat. Leafcutter bees are important pollinators and are members of the family Megachilidae. I added new blocks and paper straws for leafcutter bees in the solitary bee house. You know you have leafcutter bees in your landscape when you see the discs of leaves that are snipped from nearby plants. The damage is very minimal and will not harm the plants. Leafcutter bees are not aggressive, so you can safely be close and watch them work.

To make a solitary bee house, check out this NebGuide: https://extensionpublications.unl.edu/assets/pdf/g2256.pdf

MJ Frogge

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Pollinator Week 2019!

Happy Pollinator Week! Today in the Cherry Creek Pollinator Habitat the leaf cutter bees are very active.  I can see where they have visited a seedling ash tree.  Each disc of leaf that is clipped will become part of a cell that houses an individual leaf cutter bee egg. One of my favorite things to do is to check the bee house each week to see how may drilled blocks have been filled.

This NebGuide will help you make one for your habitat:

Click to access g2256.pdf

MJ Frogge

Solitary Bee House

Earlier this month Soni replaced blocks on the top shelf of the solitary bee house in the Cherry Creek Pollinator Habitat. We are eagerly awaiting the leafcutter bees who nest in these blocks. Here is a great fact sheet about leafcutter bees put together by Dr. Jonathan Larson at Nebraska Extension at Douglas/Sarpy counties: https://lancaster.unl.edu/pest/resources/Getting%20to%20Know%20Leafcutter%20Bees.pdf

MJ Frogge

June: Leaf Cutter Bees & Flowers

Lots of activity in the Cherry Creek Pollinator Habitat this month. Soni added new blocks to the solitary bee house. It did not take long for solitary leaf cutter bees to start filling them up.

There is also many flowers blooming this month. Common milkweed, butterfly milkweed, purple poppy mallow and yellow sweet clover.

MJ Frogge

Make Your Own Bee House

You still have time this spring to build your own bee house for solitary bees like leaf cutter bees.  It does not need to be as large as the one located in the Cherry Creek Pollinator Habitat.

The NebGuide: Creating a Solitary Bee Hotel will help you make one.  Start today!

Click to access g2256.pdf

MJ Frogge

Four sizes of bee houses. Pick one that works best in your habitat.

Master Gardener Jack’s bee house.

Master Gardener Tom’s bee house.