Provide Habitat for Ground Nesting Bees

– If you spot a ground nesting bee, it is almost certainly a native species. The main non-native ground nesting bee in the U.S. feeds on ivy (as if we needed one more reason to ban ivy). Of all the pollinator bees native to the U.S., most are ground nesters. 

Ground nesting bees live for one year, spending 11 months underground –  from egg to pupae to larvae, and finally, dormant adult, until the signal comes to hatch. Once hatched, adult bees are only active above ground for a few weeks, while they are busy eating and stocking their hives with nourishment for their future larvae: nectar, for energy (think “larvae carbs”) and pollen, for protein (the “protein powder”). You will most likely spot ground nesting bees in early Spring, before the trees fully leaf out.

Ground nesting bees are typically solitary with each female digging her own fresh tunnels and nest in which to lay her eggs. Often a large number of nests are packed into a relative small area, which may give the appearance that the bees are more social than they really are. However, the closely packed tunnels are more similar to the living arrangements of people in apartment buildings or houses in a subdivision, than to those of honey bees in a hive.

Providing habitat for ground nesting bees is relatively easy. Allow small patches of sunny, bare or sparsely vegetated ground to exist in your yard. If the areas are relatively sandy, even better. Don’t mulch or dig in these areas so you won’t disturb the tunnels. The tunnels of ground nesting bees range between a few inches to three feet deep depending on the species. If you already have ground nesting bees on your property, count yourself lucky and protect these areas. Ground nesting bees are important pollinators of many early blooming plants.