Category: Fruit trees

Phragmites tubes and Mason Bee Cocoons–2025 season

See all my posts on Mason Bees here https://www.gfletcher.ca/?cat=2

I will not know until the spring of 2025 if I will have mason bee cocoons to sell this year, as results in my boxes here in the southern end of Vancouver Island were very poor this year– most likely a weather-related cause. However, I do have for sale, Phragmites reed grass tubes for culturing mason bees .   I can ship the tubes through the mail.–  For customers who are not local, I package these tubes in lots of 30 for $15.00 plus shipping costs of $7:00. So 15 tubes =$22.00, (Canadian) Included are a variety of lengths and diameters. A few smaller diameters attract other mason bee species and leafcutter bees. Indicate the maximum tube length you prefer when ordering.

See all my posts on Mason Bees here https://www.gfletcher.ca/?cat=2
If I have enough Cocoons this year I will sell 25 Mason Bee Cocoons for $25.00 for pick up at my farm in Metchosin. Please check with me first by email before ordering.
NOTE: I DO NOT SEND COCOONS BY MAIL. you can pick them up at the farm

The native reed Phragmites australis ssp. americanus  is grown on my farm. These are  considered to be the best tubes for encouraging the native mason bee pollinators….Check out the reasons for using Phragmites tubes and comparisons with other types of tubes here: 

Also by putting out the tubes alone without releasing bees, you can in some areas attract the native pollinators to build their nests in the empty tubes anyway.  That’s the way I first obtained mason bee cocoons.

See below for details on ordering if you cannot pick them up at the farm. I can have these available at any time of year, and it is best to get them set out by mid-March. 

For shipping in Canada, the price for 30 tubes=$22.00 Canadian

For shipping in Canada, the price for 60 tubes=$44.00 Canadian

For shipping in Canada, the price for 100 tubes=$70.00 Canadian

For shipping in Canada, the price for 130 tubes=$90.00 Canadian

In a separate email with your address, state your size preference as sizes 4″ (10cm) to 7 “(18 cm)  or mixed are available. This will depend on the depth of the box you have in which to put them, as there should be at least a 2 inch overhang to keep out the rain–
Use the email garryf followed by the@ sign then gmail.com for e-transfers address

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Scroll down through other posts to see my suggestions for building inexpensive Mason bee homes out of recycled and re-purposed material

See all posts on Mason Bees here https://www.gfletcher.ca/?cat=2

Thanks for Joining Us at the Following Seedy Saturday/Sundays

Thanks to all who visited my table at the six seedy Saturdays in the spring of 2024.  I was pleased to see a great level of interest from many people who are enthusiastic about adding to the populations of these efficient pollinators and the control of mason bee predators.  It was also good to see that many people appreciated the effectiveness of the phragmites reed grass tubes and returned to invest in more reeds.


Thanks to those who put their name on the mailing list, and now I will be reminding them throughout the year about the steps they need to take at different times of the year to best care for their bees. A big thanks also to the many volunteers in the communities who  work so hard to make these popular meets so successful. 

I sold Mason bee cocoons and Phragmites reed grass tubes of all sizes at the following Seedy Saturdays /Sundays in February/March 2024.

Come with your questions and your kids..(We will hatch some cocoons for them.) 

 

 

Nanaimo Seedy Sunday: 

Sunday March 3,

10 AM- 3PM

 

 

 

Westshore Seedy Saturday ..their inaugural year!
Saturday, March 9,  11 Am-3 PM

 

 

 

Cobble Hill Seedy Saturday 

Saturday March 16, 10 AM-2 PM

 

 

 

Duncan Seedy Sunday

Sunday March 24, 10 Am- 2 PM

 

 

Sooke Seedy Saturday

Saturday March 30, 10 AM -3 PM

 

 

Cost comparisons of Mason Bee Cocoons and Phragmites tubes


I have had a hunch lately that the cost of mason bee cocoons has followed the pattern we see in the rest of the industries and has risen considerably so I have done some comparisons with my prices with an American and  Canadian companies.
I also saw Brian Guzda at Duncan Seedy Saturday and he has also done some investigating and found the following :
He said “I checked mason bee cocoon prices from 12 different sources mostly on the island and a few from the lower mainland with :
The average price per cocoon working out to $1.68 each.
The high  was 2.25. per cocoon.  Definitely over priced.”

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Buckerfields 10 cocoons– regular $15.99. that’s $1.60 per cocoon !

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BC Bee, Beekeeping Supply: (Canadian)
Mason bee cocoons $22.50 per 10 cocoons = $2.25 per cocoon
Cardboard tubes: $14.00 for 20 = $0.70 per  tube
(unknown if there are shipping costs)
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Crown bees in the US:
Mason Bee Cocoons: 20 for $29.95 US = $40.28 (Can)= $2.01 (Can) per cocoon
Phragmites tubes: 50 = 16.95 US , or $22.79 (Canadian)= $0.4558 per tube (Can)
(unknown if there are shipping costs)
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Metchosin Mason Bees: (in $ Canadian)
Mason bee Cocoons : 30 for 25 cocoons = $0.83   per cocoon

Phragmites native reed grass tubes  33 for $15.00  = $0.4545 per tube
and if they have to be mailed  33 for $20.00  = $0.60 per tube

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Mason Bees for Sale in Metchosin / Victoria / Southern Vancouver Island

See this page for the 2024 Mason Bee Cocoons now in stock. available for pick up now at my farm in Metchosin .

Also phragmites reed grass tubes which may be ordered on line are noted

If you are concerned about storage over winter you can also pre-order and pay now… for pickup in February 2024;

 

Mason Bees (Blue Orchard Bees) and Tubes for Sale now.

ARCHIVAL: This post has been re-dated from 2015 in order to position it closer in the blog to Mason Bee Information

RESERVE YOUR MASON BEES NOW

Now sold out for the 2016 season- there’s always next year!

Mason Bee
Mason Bee

Many garden and on-line supply outlets sell cocoons of the most efficient pollinator, the mason bee, for a much higher price. I can provide them now locally until the end of March (2016 )for $6.00 per dozen as supplies last.

See other posts on the Mason Bees cocoons produced here in Metchosin at  https://www.gfletcher.ca/?cat=2

hatchedmason
Blue orchard (mason) bee just emerged from a cocoon

 

Mason Bees (also known as blue orchard bees) can be picked up at our farm if only a few dozen are needed or for significantly large orders we may be able to arrange for refrigerated delivery  within the BC lower mainland/Vancouver Island area any time this spring. They can either be released in late February or March for early flowering peaches etc. or they can be held refrigerated until as late as June for release coinciding with the blooming times of other plants: blueberries, strawberries, apples, pears, cherries etc.

 

phragmites tubes
The local reed grass, Phragmites tubes for mason bee culture.

I will also be selling a limited number of packets of the local Phragmites reed tubes for $10.00 for two dozen this year. They can be inserted in a simply made house –- see other posts on this website for suggestions.

You can place orders now and arrange for pickup now or later by e-mailing.

 

NOTE OF CONCERN: As a former Biology teacher, I am concerned that websites advertising mason bees to send anywhere on the continent are making a big mistake in promoting population genetic contamination. As well as competing with local strains, introduced genetic lines could easily turn out to promote problems such as new parasite introduction and elimination of naturally evolved species .  So be sure to ask your supplier where they have originated, in order to be sure you are getting bees have been cultured  from natural varieties from your own area.  That’s why I would sell only to Vancouver Island or the lower mainland of British Columbia.  I have never bought mason bees. Fortunately I live in an agricultural are which avoids the use of pesticides, so native bees still thrive. My native mason bees from our farm found the first nest boxes I put up on their own, and it is from them that I continue to produce new cocoons each year.

Garry Fletcher: email to  garryf use the at sign gmail.com   (Jan. 2016)

Mason Bees for sale for the 2016 Spring Season

ARCHIVAL: This post has been re-dated from 2015 in order to position it closer in the blog to Mason Bee Information
masonlongLast year with the long warm season, our mason bees on the farm were successful in filling  a large number of reed tubes with cocoons.  Now I am removing them from the tubes, cleaning them  and storing in the refrigerator until release time from the end of February until the end of June. I will be selling them locally again for a price much below that of  commercial outlets and they are available immediately at the price of $6.00 per dozen cocoons.

Also, one of my last year’s clients showed me the mason bee house he had made with cutting channels in wood. He also included a section with reed grass tubes which I had given to him to try out. The comparison was quite astounding, as can be seen in this photograph  with a definite preference for the Phragmites reed grass tubes being demonstrated.
2015-12-01 13.44.06

I will be selling a limited number of these reed tubes for $5.00 a dozen this year.

Contact me at this e-mail: garryf (use the @sign) then add gmail dot com.

A late Season here for Mason Bees

It has been so cool in the last month here in Metchosin that my mason bees have almost missed the peach and nectarine blooming time.

A peach tree on the left with blossoms deteriorating, and a nectarine on the right at the south side of my barn. Three Mason bee houses are in the centre.

Update–April 15: Today they were the most active i have seen them . I started putting a few cocoons out a week ago, and have warmed up some indoors by just removing their containers  from the fridge and then setting the jar out in the daytime when the sun is on them.  Anyway a very unusual cold start for the spring.

I have several kinds of houses placed on the southeast corner of our house.

Note, I have re-dated this 2017 post to make it appear with the other mason bee posts.

Mason Bees (Blue Orchard Bees) in action

NOTE: I have updated this 2016 post in order to make it appear closer to the other mason bee information

Some images from this month’s activity of mason bees:

masonbeeonflower4
Today I was glad to see them active on my red pear which hasn’t produced well in past years.

 

Put Out Your Mason Bees when Pollinators are Needed

NOTE: I have updated this 2016 post in order to make it appear closer to the other mason bee information

The time to put out your mason bees which have been overwintered in your refrigerator is when you need them to do their work. I release mine in batches.  The first batch was several weeks ago when the peaches and nectarines were in bloom. This week, the pears, plums and cherries are in bloom so I just put out  another batch of cocoons near my bee homes. I will save the last batch for my apple trees which bloom later.

2016-03-31 peachI had to transplant this peach tree this year to the corner of the vegetable preparation building so I found another good spot to place a bee home.