In the spring of 2020 we shifted our emphasis to leaf cutter bees because our previous research indicated that Blue Orchard Bees were not well acclimated to the hot Arizona temperatures.
We obtained a "gallon" of leaf cutter bee cocoons from JWM Leafcutters in Nampa, Idaho. In addition, we also bought a 'tapered tunnel' habitat for the bees to nest in.
We put the cocoons out on May 8th, 2020 and on May 30th we had a cloud of bees. We wanted to learn more about leaf cutter bees and tapered tunnel habitats so we talked to Wayne Mennie, Founder of JWM Leafcutters.
On the 7th of August we were fortunate to have a discussion with Wayne Mennie of JWMleafcutters. Wayne was generous with his time and gracious in answering all of our questions. We spoke for about an hour and a half. Note that JWMleafcutters sells leaf cutter bee cocoons and related products to farmers in Canada and the United State. One customer might buy 1 to 5 THOUSAND gallons. We bought one gallon. Thank you, Wayne.Wayne put us in touch with his Director of Operations, Scott Earnest at their USA facility in Nampa, Idaho. Wayne was unable to come to Idaho from Canada, the base of his Canadian operation and his extensive farm, due to COVID restrictions. So we arranged the trip with Scott.
Our objective was to learn more about leaf cutter bees and how they process them for their extensive agricultural applications. Wayne and Scott also offered to 'harvest' our habitat at their facility using their standard techniques.
So we packed up our materials for the trip. An additional objective was to show them our activities using Blue Orchard Bees and see if there was any synergy or areas where we could collaborate.
Here is a video of our preparations for the trip. We packed the tapered tunnel habitat and a number of items related to our Blue Orchard Bee studies and prepared to fly to Boise.
Next, we meet Scott at the facility and are impressed by their operation.
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