01/05/2026
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1CHMzLdQqF/
THE INVISIBLE DORMITORY
" WAITING UNTIL SPRING TO CUT STALKS SAVES 100% OF STEM-NESTING BEES. CUTTING IN FALL SENDS THEM TO THE COMPOST. CUTTING IN SPRING LETS THEM EMERGE. SAME WORK, DIFFERENT TIMING, TOTALLY DIFFERENT RESULT."
This concept utilizes Entomology and Lifecycle Management. While everyone focuses on saving the Honeybee (which lives in a hive), we ignore the 30% of native bees that are solitary and live inside hollow plant stems.
1. The Biology: The Pith Excavators
You see a dried-up Raspberry cane or a Goldenrod stalk. The bee sees a high-rise apartment.
The Residents: Small Carpenter Bees (Ceratina), Mason Bees (Osmia), and Leafcutter Bees (Megachile) do not build hives. They are single mothers.
The Architecture: In late summer, the female finds a dried flower stalk. She chews into the soft "pith" (the spongy center) or finds a hollow reed. She lays an egg, leaves a ball of pollen, builds a wall, lays another egg, and repeats.
The Winter State: By October, the mother is gone. But inside that "dead" stick, there are 5 to 10 larvae sleeping in a row, protected from the snow by the plant's fibrous walls. They are in Diapause (suspended animation).
2. The Crime: The Fall Cleanup
"Cutting in fall sends them to the compost."
This is where the tragedy happens.
The Human Impulse: We are trained to "put the garden to bed." We cut everything to the ground to make it look tidy.
The Consequence: When you cut those stalks in November and bag them for the city dump or toss them in a hot compost pile, you are destroying the entire next generation of pollinators.
The Science: The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation—the gold standard in insect research—confirms that aggressive fall cleanup is a primary driver of native bee decline. You aren't just removing debris; you are removing the population.
3. The Protocol: The 50-Degree Rule
"Cutting in spring lets them emerge."
The fix costs nothing. It actually saves you labor.
The Timing: You must wait until temperatures consistently hit 50°F (10°C). This is the biological trigger for the bees to wake up, chew their way out of the stem, and begin pollination.
The Technique (The Chelsea Chop): Even in spring, don't cut to the ground. Cut high. Leave 15 to 24 inches of stubble.
The Cycle: Why leave the stubble? Because new bees will use those cut stems for this year's nests. It is a self-sustaining cycle of housing.
