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Sunday, September 14, 2014

Leaf Cutter Bees Destroying Leaves on Roses

Q. We have six rose bushes in our yard in Centennial Hills that have been attacked by cutter bees. The leaves have been decimated on our rose bushes. While they don't seem to destroy the roses on the bushes, they were leaving a path of destruction on almost every single leaf on our rose bushes. We tried everything but to no avail. In fact, several "remedies" we tried, which we found online, seemed to harm the bushes and didn't even phase the bees at all. We've learned these bees are indestructible and NOTHING works to kill OR discourage them to go elsewhere!! They have somewhat subsided for now but their destructive behavior lasted for several months; from spring through early August. Our rose bushes are starting to recover but we know next spring they'll be back!! Any suggestions???

A. I have talked about these guys on my blog so I would like to direct you there.Yes, they can be destructive but there are also extremely good pollinators for our vegetable and fruit crops. Somehow we need to find a balance between their benefits for ourselves and our neighbors while minimizing or distributing some of their damage. The Leafcutter bees are gathering nesting materials for making babies.

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