u/crownbees

Dave filmed a full harvest from start to finish: sorting filled reeds from partial ones, opening the reeds, pulling out cocoons, tossing pests, washing off mud and frass, and storing everything in the fridge for spring.

A few things people ask:

• Garden shears or your fingers work fine if you don't have a Reed Splitter.
• Use Clean Bee Solution, not bleach. Bleach is too harsh on cocoons.
• Sort before you wash so pests and debris don't end up in the water with your good cocoons.

Every step is written out here: crownbees.com/pages/how-to-harvest-mason-bee-cocoons

Harvesting this fall? Tell us how it's going or drop your questions below.

-Julie

We know some folks are itching to start harvesting next month and also know that some folks may not want to harvest their own cocoons, for a myriad of reasons. Use our service and let us know when you want your cocoons back in spring!

https://crownbees.com/collections/services/products/mason-bee-care-service

🌿 From Lawn to Meadow, one growing season at a time.

Sara Weaner Cooper and her family have spent the past several years transforming their conventional suburban lawn into a thriving native meadow—learning, experimenting, and adapting as the landscape changes.

On September 16, join Sara, owner and principal of New Directions in the American Landscape (NDAL), for a free Wild Ones webinar exploring the real-world process behind the transformation—from site preparation and planting to weeds, maintenance, and the surprises along the way.

👉 Learn more and register: https://wildones.org/from-lawn-to-meadow/

#Pennsylvania #NativePlants #NativeMeadow #LawnToMeadow #WildOnes

Our owner Dave found a surprise tenant this weekend, an Isodontia elegans, the elegant grass carrying wasp. Timid, and easy to spot by the grass blades poking out of her hole.

She hunts katydids and crickets, paralyzes them, and stuffs them in as food for her egg, then lines the hole with grass to protect it. Wildlife lifecycle, right in the backyard.

Dave identified her using our Where the Wild Bees Are tool, just drop in your zip code to see who's nearby.

Anyone else had a surprise move into their bee house this summer?

Create habitat that works—for wildlife. 🌿

Native plants are the foundation of a healthy landscape, but they're only part of the story.

Join us on Wednesday, August 19, for a free Wild Ones webinar with landscape ecologist, Certified Wildlife Biologist, and author Shaun McCoshum, PhD, as he explores how healthy ecosystems function—and how you can apply those same ecological principles at home.

Learn practical, science-based ways to support pollinators, birds, amphibians, and other wildlife with habitat features like nesting sites, shelter, water, healthy soils, and more.

👉 Register today: https://wildones.org/the-ecology-of-home-creating.../

You've probably seen the headlines: a truck full of honeybees overturns, and millions scatter across a highway. We got curious about whether this is actually happening more, or if we're just hearing about it more, so we dug into it.

Short version: almond acreage has tripled over the last few decades, and Varroa mites are forcing beekeepers to constantly split and rebuild hives, both of which mean a lot more bees on the road than there used to be. But there's no official count of these incidents, so we can't actually say crashes themselves have gone up. What has changed is how fast a local story goes national now.

We're hoping that same attention eventually reaches Mason bees and Leafcutter bees, the solitary bees that never need a truck at all since they pollinate right where they're raised.

Curious what this community thinks: does it feel like these crashes are increasing, or is it mostly a coverage thing?

Partway through Leafcutter bee season, you might notice a second batch of adults emerging. It looks like a bonus generation, but it's actually a warning sign.

A female lays several eggs down a reed. They hatch, eat their pollen provision, and then enter diapause until next summer. But when temps hit 85°F or higher, one or two larvae can skip diapause and rush into development early. Once that bee becomes an adult, it chews its way out, destroying the rest of its siblings still in diapause along the way.

To prevent this, pull filled reeds with pliers, tweezers, or your fingers, and store them somewhere cooler, like inside your house. For wood trays, it's usually better to let nature take its course.

If you know you'll have another batch of bees later in the season, it may be worth having alternate nesting materials ready by then.

Curious if others have seen this, and at what temperatures.

-Julie

Strong organizations are built by people with different experiences, perspectives, and ideas.

Wild Ones is seeking candidates for our National Board of Directors who are passionate about our mission and ready to help guide the future of the organization.

You do not need a specific professional background to make a meaningful contribution. We welcome applicants from all walks of life who are eager to learn, ask thoughtful questions, and help advance native landscapes through education, advocacy, and collaborative action.

📅 Applications due July 13, 2026

👉 Learn more about the role, review the prospectus, and apply today: https://wildones.org/board-nominations/

Today's the heart of our bioblitz, which runs through Saturday, May 23. If you've spotted any bees this week (or are about to today), we'd love to see them. Drop a photo in the comments, share what you've found on iNaturalist, or just tell us what's flying in your part of the country.

If you haven't taken part yet and want to, get outside, photograph any bee or living thing you see, and post it to iNaturalist. Anything in the US between May 17 and Saturday counts.

https://crownbees.com/pages/world-bee-day-bioblitz

If you've got painting, pressure washing, or other work to do near your bee house but the Mason bees are actively nesting, you don't have to wait. Move at dusk when the females are tucked in. Carry the house 6-8 feet away, keep it facing the same direction so returning bees can reorient, do your work the next day, and move it back at nightfall.

In the grass seed section in the small hardware store I work at in Charleston, South Carolina, we have a display of clover seeds and a little sign promoting clover lawns.

We also sell it by the pound, and my boss orders the seed from a distributor that’s about an hour and a half away.

Downtown Charleston is a pretty formal-garden and turf-heavy area, so it was a nice surprise to see this!

Edited to add: so much helpful info here! The packing slip and receipt from the seed company differ. One says ‘crimson’ and the other says ‘red’ so we’re checking with them to see which it is.

Once we know, we’ll update the sign and bags with the correct info, and also add that red/crimson are not as lawn-y as white.

We do have a garden center with many native plants that does well (we do have petunias and roses and other popular plants to stay financially viable), and a staff member who has been taking university classes on local plants, so we’ll try pushing more people towards a combo if they still want a lawn.

If anyone knows of a local plant seed blend we could offer in our grass seed section, please let me know!