Our 4mm BeeTubes are perfect for raising smaller wild, native bees. The paper material allows moisture to be released through the walls—reducing the incidences of moldy cocoons and allowing for healthy cocoons. 

• 4mm for smaller wild, native bees

Instructions

• Place BeeTubes in your bee house with open ends facing out.
• Bees relocate their nesting tubes by sight, using visual cues to help them know which nesting tube is theirs. Since BeeTubes are uniform in shape and small in size, we suggest you create variation by placing the BeeTubes at different depths inside the house or setting them in farm grade 6mm wood trays.  Our Small Bee Discovery combines the two nicely. Alternatively, you could add some sticks or Bee Wayfinders between nesting tubes to act as signposts.
• At the end of the nesting season, remove the BeeTubes and store them in a BeeGuard Bag until it’s time to harvest cocoons.

How to Open BeeTubes

Carefully snip the end of a BeeTube and begin peeling it apart on a diagonal—similar to a tube of ready-to-bake biscuits or cinnamon rolls. Insert an opened paperclip in the back end of the BeeTube to remove any stuck cocoons.

Please note: The video below demonstrates how to remove mason bee cocoons from Cardboard BeeTubes. The process is the same for leafcutter and wild bees, but DO NOT wash leafcutter and wild bee cocoons. The "Next Step" in the video is ONLY for mason bees.