Harvesting Mason Bees - Hands on

Bring your mason bee houses that have been out for the growing season and we will learn how to harvest the cocoons of our native mason bees. We will identify any pests and parasites that we encounter, learn how to clean the cocoons properly leaving the houses ready for the spring. We will also learn how to store the cocoons safely over the winters, any trouble shooting and how to release the bees again in spring.

Emony has worked as an environmental consultant, entrepreneur and biologist for the last 25 years. She owned and operated a native plant nursery in Ontario supplying plants for ecological restoration projects. She fell in love with native pollinators through her graduate research on the relationship between pollinators and plants drives the evolution of plants. She is now on a mission to empower homeowners on how to support our ecosystems by easily providing habitat in their own back yards. She recently left work with the provincial government as a biologist and now lives and works on Salt Spring Island.

This workshop is happening in person only. Please dress appropriately for all types of weather, the workshop may be outside or in our strawbale building.

Only current members in good standing are eligible to use the free ticket option as a part of their member benefits package.

There are a limited number of Pay What You Can tickets available for folks who self-identify as Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC), and people who are facing significant financial barriers to their involvement in our programming. The Compost Education Centre is continually in the process of examining the ways in which our program accessibility can be improved for all members of our community. This ticket gesture is by no means a fulsome examination of the systems of oppression that exist for people inside and outside of our community. We welcome your ideas and feedback.

You must pre-register for this event. You can purchase a ticket through Eventbrite.

Customers can request a refund within 30 days of ticket purchase. After 30 days refunds and workshop exchanges are not permitted due to administrative staffing capacity. Please be in touch if you are no longer able to attend but hold a ticket so we can make your space available to someone else.

You can also register for the event by calling our office at 250 386 9676 or via email by contacting [email protected]

The Compost Education Centre site has flat paths made of woodchips. The strawbale learning classroom is accessed via a wooden ramp and has a wide double door and a ramp leading up to it. Once inside everything is flat.

There is a single-stall gender neutral washroom on site. The washroom is not wheelchair accessible. There is a steep ramp from the wood chip pathway onto the washroom boardwalk, and a 2-inch step up from the washroom boardwalk into the washroom.

The Compost Education Centre is located on unceded and occupied Indigenous territories, the land of the Lekwungen people— specifically the Esquimalt and Songhees Nations. These nations are two of many, made up of individuals who have lived within the porous boundaries of what is considered Coast Salish, Nuu-Chah-Nulth and Kwakwa'wakw Territory (Vancouver Island) since time immemorial. At the CEC we seek to respect, honour and continually grow our own understandings of Indigenous rights and history, and to fulfill our responsibilities as settlers, who live and work directly with the land and its complex, vital ecologies and our diverse, evolving communities.

Compost Education Centre memberships get you free workshops, discounts at garden centres around town and more great perks! Sign up or learn more on our website.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Compost Education Centre, 1216 N Park St, Victoria, Canada