Raise Mason Bees to Increase Pollination & Food Production

Our Bee Buy Back program empowers our community of gardeners and farmers to sell us their extra Mason bee cocoons, helping Crown Bees reach our goal of increasing natural pollination and food production across the country.

We work hard to promote solitary bees in orchards, community farms, and organic fields to increase yields with Mason bees' efficient pollination. Your participation in our Bee Buy Back program, however big or small, helps us continue to provide healthy, region-specific Mason bees to gardeners and farmers across the country.

To participate in the Bee Buy Back, all you have to do is send us your extra Mason bee cocoons in the fall. In return, you'll receive your choice of a Crown Bees gift certificate or a check for the amount earned.

Our Bee Buy Back program opens at the beginning of October of each year and remains open until we meet our quota.

Need help figuring out how many bee cocoons to keep for next year? We recommend keeping one mason bee cocoon for every nesting cavity you plan to put out next spring, plus a couple of extras just to BEE on the safe side! For example, to maintain the population of your 48-cavity nesting tray, keep about 50 cocoons.

Remember: Smaller cocoons are male and larger cocoons are female. You'll want to keep about 8 females to every 12 males. This ratio ensures your mason bees will be able to mate and repopulate next season! 

If you want to keep more bees, purchase extra nesting materials to add to your bee house. First-time mason bee raisers may be surprised at how many Mason bee cocoons they raised when counting their harvested cocoons.

BEE BUY BACK STEPS

Our Bee Buy Back program is simple, making it easy for anyone to participate!

1. We accept submissions on a first-come, first-served basis. We welcome spring mason bees from all US states. We apologize, but we cannot buy Mason bees from Canada at this time.

2. Mason bee cocoon submissions may be redeemed for either a Crown Bees gift certificate or check in the amount earned. At this time, we cannot allow you to split your request between half gift certificate and half check. You must choose one or the other. If you choose to receive a check, please expect processing of your payment to begin towards the end of November.

3. The maximum standard submission per person is 10,000 Mason bee cocoons per household. If you'd like to send more than 10,000 cocoons, please get in touch with us at info@crownbees.com.

4. We reserve the right to reject a submission based on our assessment of the viability of the mason bee cocoons. Please do not send paper tubes with holes through the side or nesting materials from previous seasons.

HOW IT WORKS

1. The Bee Buy Back form will appear below when the program goes live each October. Fill out the form and select your choice for payment. You must print a copy of your Bee Buy Back submission form that is sent to your email inbox - as you will need to mail the form with your submitted cocoons. Join our BeeMail community to be reminded of Bee Buy Back opening dates. 

2. If you harvested your cocoons (reimbursed at a higher rate), please send us both small (male) and large (female) sized cocoons. 8 females to 12 males are the preferred ratio.

3. Mail your box of loose cocoons or unharvested and filled tubes or reeds, padded with a bit of newspaper or paper towels. Don’t forget to include a copy of the Bee Buy Back form that you filled out with your submitted cocoons. Shipping via standard US Postal Service is OK and expedited shipping is not necessary. The cost of shipping your cocoons to us will be at your own expense. 

• If mailing more than 1,500 cocoons: Large numbers of mason bee cocoons create heat which can harm bee cocoons during transit. To prevent heat build-up, place 1 cup of mason bee cocoons into a sandwich bag, leave the air in the bag while sealing it, and fill multiple bags in this manner. Add spacers or empty sandwich bags filled with air to keep the cocoons apart in the shipping box.

• Mail to: Crown Bees, 17721 132nd Ave NE, Woodinville, WA 98072

4. When your box arrives, we will open and harvest the cocoons (if applicable), wash and inspect each cocoon for pests and diseases, and count the number of viable cocoons. We will send you email updates when we receive your cocoons, verify the condition and quantity of viable cocoons (and pests), and confirm your redemption type and final value.

The maximum submission per person is 10,000 Mason bee cocoons per household and the minimum is 100 Mason bee cocoons.

BEE BUY BACK RATES

We know some of you have very productive bee houses with thousands of cocoons each year. Please remember, we have the 10,000 limit/household in place to allow more participants to be able to participate in the program. We will happily accept donations of Mason bee cocoons above the max limit.

We store all mason bee cocoons in our temperature-controlled coolers by geographic region. We separate by region to ensure we reduce the spread of non-natives and disease, as well as to ensure our new customers receive bees acclimated to their region - giving the bees the best chance of success when they emerge.

Your extra bees help pollinate gardens, farms, and orchards in similar regions with similar climates and your gift of pollination will go on to help more people grow more food!