OUR FEATURE CREATURE… in Brentwood Bay, British Columbia for sale

... is the gentle leafcutter bee and she shows us how good a bee can be! A genial, efficient, tireless pollinator, the alfalfa leafcutter bee became a hero in the first half of the 20th century when they saved the declining alfalfa seed industry.
She is also a productive pollinator for summer gardens and flowers. The female carries pollen on the underside of her hairy abdomen, and then scrapes the pollen off within her nesting hole. Because the pollen is carried dry on her hair, it falls off easily as she moves among blossoms. This results in significantly more pollinated flowers than her cousin, the honey bee.
All leafcutter bees are solitary, meaning each female is a queen who does all of the chores. She can't gather pollen/nectar, lay eggs, cut holes in leaves for her nest, AND defend her hole... so she doesn't. The leafcutter bee is extremely gentle and allows you to confidently get inches from her nesting hole without fear of being stung.
The damage leaf cutter bees cause to plants is strictly aesthetic. The plant does not really suffer from the attack, largely because it already produces more leaves that it really needs to thrive. Moreover, when the bees cut out sections of a few leaves, this stimulates the plant to produce more. In fact, the holes in the leaves can be viewed as rather artistic!
Our epimedium plant is one such specimen with these unique 'bee designs' and we're glad to provide some of the nesting material for this prodigious pollinator. Our garden center is frequently visited by frogs, hummingbirds, salamanders, dragonflies, nesting blackbirds and so we welcome these humble bumblers too ☺
Michell Valley Plants
(corner of the Pat Bay Hwy and Island View Road -
right behind Michell's Farm Market)
We are open 7 days a week - 9:30 to 5pm.
Check out our Seller's List or stay tuned by visiting MVP's Facebook page by clicking the link below.