5 February 2024

Customer Question – Releasing Solitary Bees

Q. “Hello, I would like to boost the number of solitary bees in my garden. I haven’t introduced these bees to my garden before so I am emailing you for advice. Please could you advise me on which products I would need to get started?” Many thanks, Lisa.

A. Thanks for the message and we have Solitary Bees in Cocoons ready for release in your garden, which will immediately boost the number of these bees in your garden. They will hatch between March and April, so you just need to decide how best to release them. It is a great idea to have somewhere for them to nest in your garden as this will build up the bee numbers each year. Solitary bees lay their eggs inside holes in wood and then seal them with mud or chewed up vegetation, so it is easy to tell if it is being used. The following year the adults AND their offspring will use the same nest again building up the numbers of solitary bees visiting your garden each year. We supply the cocoons in either cardboard release boxes which you can just pop outside but you will need to protect them from the weather i.e. make a little box or put under the eves of a shed etc. This is ideal if you already have bee houses in position. We also supply the cocoons in a Wooden Release Tray which fits into our bee houses – that way you can release the bees and then they come back and nest in the same place i.e. in the nesting grooves in the house. You can buy the Wooden Release Tray on its own if you already have a house or you can buy a Solitary Bee House (the tray fits BOTH our  Solitary Bee House and our Solitary Bee Hotels. 

Available to buy now