New to Leafcutter bees? Visit our Leafcutter Bee FAQ to learn everything you need to get started.

Leafcutter Bees

Bees for Summer and Fall Garden Pollination

Your Leafcutter bee cocoons arrive healthy and ready to go straight into your hatchery. Some may take up to 10 days to emerge. To protect them in transit, we only ship cocoons on Mondays (April-August) so they never sit in a warehouse over a weekend. Choose the Monday that best aligns with your garden's summer blooms and consistent daytime temps of 75°F/24°C with FREE FedEx 2Day shipping.

Boost your tomatoes, peppers, squash, and peas with our gentle summer cavity-nesting bees, up to 100× more effective at pollination than Honey bees.

Each order includes 200+ cocoons. We send extras because Leafcutter bees naturally disperse more than Mason bees, so not all will stay in your yard.

Like Mason bees, Leafcutter bees are active for 4-6 weeks. If you live where summers stretch long, consider two shipments spaced 4 weeks apart for 8-12 weeks of pollination.

Learn why so many gardeners trust Crown Bees: Why buy from Crown Bees?

Cocoons ship separately from other products unless noted.

We currently ship cocoons to the United States and Canada only. All leafcutter cocoons ship FREE via FedEx 2Day (U.S.) or Canada Post (Canada). Important for Canada: Cocoons ship unincubated, so order 3 weeks ahead of when you need them.

Once your cocoons arrive, your role begins: provide safe nesting materials, healthy forage, and proper care to support future generations. We make it easy with our twice-monthly BeeMail, filled with seasonal tips and reminders to help you succeed.

If you purchase cocoons, we strongly encourage you to sign up for BeeMail.

We maintain a 99% safe-arrival rate, but extreme temperatures or shipping delays can occasionally affect your cocoons. If your cocoons arrive DOA, submit an online help ticket, and we'll replace them.

Specifications

• Roughly 200 leafcutter bee cocoons
• Release instructions

Product Features

• Leafcutter bees overwinter as larvae and take roughly 4 weeks to develop into adult bees. We've incubated the Leafcutter cocoons for you and ship them for immediate placement outdoors. Some of the bees may take up to 10 days to emerge.
• Perfect for melons, cucumbers, beans, sunflowers, strawberries, and virtually all summer-blooming flowers. Our leafcutter bees can double or triple your fruit and vegetable yields!
• Leafcutter bees fly best when daytime temps are 75°F/24°C and above.
• Gentle solitary bees that rarely sting, making them kid and pet safe!
• Easy to raise: just set up their bee house with 6mm size nesting materials.
• The alfalfa Leafcutter bee was introduced into North America from Eurasia in the late '30s. The ALCB is now naturalized across North America and is the perfect pollinator for summer blooms!
• Leafcutter bees use non-fibrous leaves like rose, lilac, or hosta to protect her eggs. Plant peas, beans, or strawberries for flower and leaf sources.