Talk on mason bees has Sooke Garden Club buzzing with activity

Published 2:00 pm Saturday, March 21, 2026

Bzzzz, you often hear them before noticing them. Mason bees buzzing around your flowers, trees, dandelions, anything flowering.

The mason bee, with a lifespan of only 6-8 weeks, is a very important bee. Native to the area, they are heavy lifters for the pollinating world. You can find mason bee houses, tubes in most garden centres, or better yet, handmade by someone local in your community.

The houses are integral for the bees to nest in, although I have seen them burrow into any small hole.

They are early risers, coming out in the first part of spring. Just in time for the early fruit trees, berries and spring flowers. It is said that two mature females can pollinate an entire maple tree. That’s a lot of work for two bees. “Busy as a bee” is no joke.

When Garry Fletcher retired in 2004 from teaching biology and marine environmental systems at Lester Pearson College, he started to culture mason bees. Living on his farm, he created homes by putting out some tubes of the reed grass, phragmites. It led to an increase in the production of fruit and vegetables on his farm and his son’s organic vegetable operation called Wind Whipped Farm.

He has discovered how to cultivate the cocoons to get the best production of the cocoons and parasite control. You may have seen him at Seedy Saturday events with his cocoons for sale, as well as directly from his farm in Metchosin.

Members as well as drop-in guests can join the Sooke Garden Club on Wednesday, March 25, at 7 p.m., in the St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church. If you would like to become a member, check out SGC Facebook page, website sookegardenclub.ca or email at Sookegc@gmail.com.