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Harlequins Gardens

Harlequins Gardens

Boulder's specialist in well-adapted plants

We are closed for the season, and will reopen in March 2023!

Gift Memberships & Gift Certificates  – available online!
See our seasonal hours and address, below.

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Home | Blog | Mason bees are flying!

Mason bees are flying!

It’s official – Mason bees are flying!  Make sure you have new, clean nesting materials for them and for the other bee species that follow throughout the summer. If you have overwintered cocoons, get them out now. You can use one of our release tubes (pictured left) that allow the bees to emerge but not to renest in the same old dirty straws.

Mason bees only fly from about mid-March to early June. If you don’t have plants blooming then, such as fruit trees or Mahonia, you won’t be able to support mason bees.  Don’t worry though because there are many other cavity nesting species that are happy for a clean safe place to nest.

Houdini Fly Maggots. Photo Credit: Crown Bees

We have always stressed the importance of local mason bees but it is now of dire importance not to purchase bees over the internet!  There is a new, imported parasite, the Houdini fly, that’s infesting mason bee larvae in their nesting tubes in the Pacific Northwest and New York state.  Buying uninspected cocoons from out of state (Colorado is currently free of this parasite) will only foster the spread of this deadly parasite. For more info watch a video from Crown Bees, our supplier of bee nesting materials.  Pictured right are the maggots that you’d find instead of a mason bee cocoon.

If honeybees are your thing, help them through the early spring with pollen sub patties and plenty of heavy syrup as long as they’ll take it.  We stock MegaBee patties and ProSweet liquid feed.  Then get ready for swarm season!  We have everything for making splits or just adding more space.

If your bees didn’t make it or if you’re just starting out, get your bees ordered now.  Suppliers are listed on the Colorado State Beekeepers Association’s website.  If you’re nervous about driving home with your bees, we have special mesh bags that go over a nuc or a package. Hanging the queen cage without drawn comb can be tricky, so we’re trying the queen cage hangers this year.  They hold any type of cage securely.  New bees will need lots of syrup!  Try a one or two gallon in-hive feed bucket.

Live Bee Ventilated Bag

Queen Cage Hanger

In-hive feed bucket

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Sign-up for our weekly e-newsletters to receive empowering gardening tips, ecological insights, and to keep up on happenings at Harlequin’s Gardens — such as flash sales and “just in” plants. We never share customer’s addresses!

We do not ship plants!

Our plants are for sale ONLY at our Boulder location. We DO NOT ship plants. Come visit us!

Hours by Season

MARCH HOURS
Thursday-Sunday, 9AM-5PM

APRIL-OCTOBER HOURS
Tuesday-Sunday, 9AM-5PM

Mondays, CLOSED

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Contact Us

303-939-9403 (Retail)
staff@nullharlequinsgardens.com

4795 North 26th St
Boulder, CO 80301

Sign-up for E-Newsletters!

Sign-up for our weekly e-newsletters to receive empowering gardening tips, ecological insights, and to keep up on happenings at Harlequin’s Gardens — such as flash sales and “just in” plants. We never share customer’s addresses!

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Our Hours

Seasonally, MARCH to OCTOBER.
MARCH HOURS:
Thursday-Sunday, 9AM-5PM

APRIL-OCTOBER HOURS:
Tuesday-Sunday, 9AM-5PM

Mondays, CLOSED

The plants we grow are organically grown. All the plants we sell are free of bee-killing neonicotinoid pesticides.