50 six-inch reeds for Mason Bees

Restock your Mason Bee Cottage or make bee bundles with this pack of 50 six-inch long hollow plant stems.

When most people think about bees, they think about large furry bumble bees or hives of honeybees. However, the most common types of wild bee are solitary bees. They do not live in colonies but rather by themselves in the ground or in wood cavities depending on the species. In fact, over 130 bee species found in the Northeast are cavity-nesters. They nest within the soft pithy centers of old twigs, beetle tunnels in dead trees, or even in the holes in driftwood made by shipworms. Unfortunately, intensively managed landscapes often lack the tree snags, plants and the small cavities these native bees need. NOTE: Carpenter Bees will not live in these hollow plant stems as they prefer to drill their own holes in wood to construct their nests.

Cavity-nesting pollinators, like mason bees, leafcutters and wool carders, tend to stay put when they have a place to live and they mainly forage on flowers less than 300 feet from their homes. Since flowers must be pollinated to produce fruits and vegetables, encouraging solitary bees is a great idea for anyone with fruit trees, berry bushes and gardens.

Make a bee bundle by bunching up 17 reeds together with ribbon. Instructions for placing a bee bundle can be found at: https://www.edibleeastend.com/2016/07/29/air-bee-n-bee/
Solitary cavity nesting bees will use any structure that mimics holes in wood or the center of pithy stems so tie a few bee bundles around your yard. Bee bundles have been used by native bee enthusiasts for years and is perfect for someone who doesn’t have time for the further complexities of intensively rearing native bees (called bee ranching).

Native bees pollinate more efficiently and completely than honeybees and they are fun to watch. As an added bonus, solitary bees are gentle by nature and rarely sting since they do not have a colony to protect.

Shipping rates are straight forward. $6.50 for each box of 50 six-inch reeds and $1 for each additional item in the Blossom Meadow Farm store. Due to high shipping costs, we only ship to the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic States. Each parcel is shipped Regional Rate/Priority within 2-3 business days through the United States Postal Service. As per USPS guidelines, please allow 3-5 business days for postal delivery.