I know a little from having had them visit us in Texas, but I haven't seen them very much here.

They actually tunnel in pithy wood, so sometimes you can see sawdust on the ground near wherever they are building their nests (often in older rose canes). Those little leaf circles they cut are used inside the tunneled-out area to build the cells of their nest. They are very solitary so you don't see a lot of them at one time. And, as you have noticed, they like certain plants more than others, so they keep coming back to their favorites and ignoring other plants.

They never did enough damage to a plant that it suffered, at least not that I could tell. New foliage always came out to replace the damaged leaves, but if they completely stripped a branch or twig, I always pruned it off (after they were done) to stimulate new growth.

As far as I know, they have very few natural predators, and the ones I know of (parisitic wasps and flies) are predators you don't want to encourage, because they also go after butterfly cats.

If it really, really bothers you and you fear for the life of your plants (smaller plants would find it harder to rebound from the destruction of their foliage), you can keep the bees off by covering them with floating row covers/sheer curtains/something similar.

In general, though, they cut enough leaves to build the cells in their nests, and then they're gone. And, their population is not at all consistent....very heavy some years and almost nonexistent other years, so you may not see them again any time soon.

Dawn

The little dogwood tree (only about 12" tall), and a sucker from my clematitis pipevine is about the same size. I just don't want it to start consuming ALL of my pipevine because it is the pipevine swallowtails food. I like the idea of covering them with something (now why didn't I think of that)?

I don't ever "want" to kill anything - especially the bees. I assume they are also pollinators, and after reading about them on the web, figured they were using the material to make their (its) nest. I am hoping it is just one bee and only one nest! I'd kind of like to see the little bugger at work - nature is fascinating and how they accomplish those perfect circles is beyond me!

Thanks for the info, Dawn, I knew you'd come thru on the info. Problem is there is probably a lot of pithy wood around due to lost trees. There is one elm by my fence that is nothing but open wood because of the way the branches were stripped down to the interior wood. I don't know if they choose trees to tunnel in, but kind of seems logical they would.

Susan

Susan,

I'm happy to share the info. The first time I had leaf cutter bees, I could not EVEN imagine what in the world was cutting the near-perfect circles. (That was way back in the days before the internet, so getting an answer took a lot of time and research. LOL)

They do tunnel in trees, and even in old degraded wood in old outbuildings like sheds or doghouses.

I assume they are pollinators too, but I am not sure. They are very different from most of the bees we see more often.

Usually, if you are outside in the yard (if it ever stops raining) you can watch them cut their leaves and carry them back to their nest site. They aren't the speediest bees on earth, but I guess those leaves are heavy.

Leaf-cutter bees are fascinating creatures. I also like watching cicada killers as they are another unusual insect, and we have always had a lot of them---both here and in Texas.

Dawn

Oh, I had cicada killers and they are HUGE! Then I learned I did not have to be fearful of them. I hate wasps! The bees don't bother me; too intent on getting nectar. But, I did learn not to walk barefoot thru the clover! Heehee!

I even photographed the yellow jackets last year that nectared so intensely on my aster. They didn't give a hoot that I was there.

Now, I am a person who has had a full-fledged fear of even the most innocuous honeybee. I have learned over the course of gardening the last 10 years, not to be scared of the bees. The wasps are a different story. I want to murder that big red wasp that flits around my host plants looking for baby caterpillars to have for lunch, though!

I forgot I have an old doghouse out back, left here by the previous owners. Maybe I should be checking that out, too.

I would think that a lot of damaged trees are going to be subject to lots of disease and boring insects this year.

Susan

After you mentioned earlier that there was plenty of pithy wood around due to lost trees, alarm bells started ringing in my head.

Downed trees, stacks of wood/branches/trees/debris and lots of rain are a recipe for disaster. There are so many insects that live in and thrive on weak wood. I wonder what this means insect-wise for the affected areas this year, especially with regards to termites?

I don't like yellow jacket or red wasp stings, but I can handle it if one of them stings me. Once, though, I was stung on the leg by one of those really big (and I think they are cute) black and yellow bumble bees, and it was a terrible pain, similar to the pain you feel when stung by a scorpion. Who knew a bumble bee's sting could hurt like that? I had to take Benadryl and had extreme pain for about 3 days AND a big ol' knot on my leg for a week.

We have a lot of dirt daubers here and it is a battle to keep them from building nests on anything that sits still. Last year they built a nest on the back of a lawn chair cushion!

Dawn

Oh my, Dawn, my fears are being revived in reading your story. I will do ANYTHING not to get stung by a wasp! I don't know that I am allergic - wasn't when I was a child, but things change when you get older.

Yes, I've been wondering the same thing about all the trees that are damaged from the ice storms around OKC and other counties, too. Lots of open wounds around here, just primed for an attack.

I am in denial that termites exist. Hmmmmmmmm.

Susan