Anytime from October to January is a great time to harvest
your mason bees and get them ready for spring. We will walk you through the
process of “cleaning” your bees. If you want to make sure your colony has a
viable chance, then you should take time for this simple process.
- First,
carefully separate the white nesting tubes from the brown guard tubes and
make a pile of each. You will reuse the guard tubes each year, but dispose
of the white nesting tubes after you unwrap them.
- You have two choices: 1) Carefully,
unwrap each white nesting tube. You will want to do this over a table
cloth or newspaper. 2) Soak the white liner tubes in cool water for about 25-30 minutes. The liners will unravel and the debris will sink while the cocoons will float.
- If you unwrapped the tubes using the dry method, then place them in a bowl and fill
with cool water. Gently
swish them around to remove debris and any possible mites (fluffy yellow
looking debris). Mud and other contaminants will sink in the bowl and the
cocoons will float.
- Finally, in
a small colander, gently rinse the cocoons and spread them out on
newspaper to dry. After an hour or so, move them to a cool location to
continue to dry. A shed, garage, or basement is ideal.
- Remember, don’t
keep them inside a warm house too long (up to 5-6 hours)—they may begin to emerge depending on the timing.
- After
the cocoons have dried you can now place them into a paper bag and store
them until February or March in a cool shed, garage, or basement that is
unheated.
By following this process, you should be able
to significantly increase your mason bee population.
