In January and February I harvest the native reed grass tubes from the seasonally flooded estuary on on my property. It is important to do this now before any new shoots start to emerge, as trampling could wipe out the reed bed. Trampling by livestock has probably been the cause of the elimination of the native Phragmites sp. from other estuaries on Vancouver Island.
Diving into the base of the reeds to cut out the one in 100 or so stems which will be large enough to provide mason bee tubes.
Stacking up the cut reeds from the swamp
Carrying the bundle to my house for cutting.
Cutting the Phragmites reeds near the nodes to produce the tubes for the mason bees.
