Raising Blue Orchard Mason Bees at Joy Creek Nursery

We are excited to welcome back Michelle Berg of Fat Dog Farms to Joy Creek Nursery to teach us how to raise and care for mason bees, a most valuable native pollinator.

Come and meet local gardener Michelle Berg and learn all about mason bees for your own garden! Blue Orchard Mason Bees are gentle, will not sting, and are easy to raise. They are one of the first emerging bees in spring, just in time to coincide with early blooming fruit and nut trees. These energetic little bees do not produce honey and do not swarm; they buzz from flower to flower, gathering and distributing pollen making them perfect for the backyard garden.

Come and learn more about the super-efficient blue orchard mason bees and how they can benefit your garden. Michelle will have bees and supplies ready to sell at this class which is free and open to the public.

Michelle Berg founded Fat Dog Farms in 2002 when she and her husband moved to Columbia County from Washington State. In 2004, they began raising blue orchard mason bees to provide pollination to the many fruits and berries that they had planted on the farm’s five acres. Fifteen years later, research and experiments has made Fat Dog Farms experienced when it comes to the blue orchard mason bee. Michelle is a native to the Pacific Northwest, a member of the Scappoose and St. Helens Garden Clubs, and is the Columbia County Fairgrounds Floral Building Superintendent. Fat Dog Farms operates a farm stand on Cater Road in Warren, and occupies a spot in 2Cs Vendor Mall. In her spare time, Michelle enjoys camping and fishing with her family throughout the Northwest.

Free and open to the public.