Ground or Mining Bees
Spring is the time for emerging ground, or mining bees, a native, docile solitary bee. They are beneficial pollinators and considered harmless.
*A link for information on these bees:
http://whatcom.wsu.edu/ag/homehort/pest/mining_bees.htm
*A Democrat and Chronicle article from 2012:
Ground bees abuzz early
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20120405/NEWS01/304050046
March’s record-setting warm temperatures created quite a buzz in Patricia DiPaulo’s backyard on Valley Crest Road in Greece.
Swarms of bees were flying about, causing concern for neighbors with small children. Even her own daughter, Mary, who visited with her three kids, was alarmed enough to call a beekeeper wondering why there were so many.
What’s buzzing about and earlier than normal this spring due to the mild weather are ground bees, also known as solitary or “mining” bees.
“They’re small, cute little things as far as bees go,” DiPaulo said.
Part of the family Andrenidae, these important early pollinators nest in individual family burrows and are recognizable by tiny mounds of soil, often in clusters if the conditions are right. It is the bee species that is the first to emerge from hibernation each spring to begin its life cycle.
Pat Bono, a veteran beekeeper from Brighton who owns Seaway Trail Honey and heads up the Rochester Beekeepers organization, was swarmed with calls about ground bees last month.
“Last year I only got one phone call on ground bees and this year there was a 36-hour period where I received eight phone calls,” Bono said. “I can only speculate that we didn’t have a typical snow melt so the ground is a lot drier and they like well-drained soil. Combine that with the high temperatures when we hit near 80 and they really took off.”
Mining bee populations can fluctuate dramatically season to season but Dr. Robert Minckley, a member of the biology faculty at the University of Rochester who has done research on native pollinators, said there is no reason to think populations are unusually high this year.
“I’m curious why people are noticing them this year because they’re out every year,” he said. “The first day over 60 degrees they pile out of the ground. That’s their life cycle. They are the earliest bee and tend to nest in aggregations.”
Like DiPaulo’s yard, which is covered with tiny dirt piles between the grass blades. The retiree doesn’t use pesticides or chemicals on her lawn, she just mows it.
“Naturally, the birds and the bees come,” she said. “I like them because they pollinate my yard and there is such a shortage of bees now.”
And while legions of ground bees flying about can be worrisome or merely a nuisance, people should know that mining bees are non-aggressive and seldom, if ever, sting. Most ground bees seen in the spring are males that hover about in a mating display — and they don’t even have stingers.
Minckley said there is an aggregation of mining bees in Highland Park he likes to observe.
“This is a short-lived bee that comes out fast and early and they’re done, people won’t notice them again until next spring,” he said. “I walk through those aggregations and never get stung. I’m not convinced they can sting and mostly what you are seeing are males. I’d be overjoyed to have an aggregation in my yard.”
Unlike honeybees, which are naturally aggressive in defending their colony, mining bees are solitary.
After making her burrow, females stock each “cell” with pollen and nectar collected from the earliest blooming flowers and trees, such as maples and willows.
An egg, about six to 10 in all, is laid on each food mass and the female dies. The larva hatches and consumes the stored pollen and nectar, eventually becoming an adult bee that winters over in the ground. The next spring, those adult bees emerge, mate and start the cycle all over.
Similar in size to honeybees, the largest mining bee specimens are furry and darker colored. Some mining bees have stripes, others are metallic green.
After hunkering down with last weekend’s cold snap, ground bees will be active again with the next warm spell, Minckley said, but their activity won’t last long. Homeowners whose yards slope westward and get extra sunlight could see more activity.
Beekeeper Bono said people who really don’t want the presence of ground bees even for a short while can try to maintain a well-watered lawn. Otherwise, enjoy the show. “People get alarmed, especially with kids, but these bees are very docile,” she said. “I’m always preaching, ‘Save the bees.’ They’re native and great pollinators so just leave them alone. They’ll be active for a month and you won’t see them again. Just let them do their thing.”
That’s what DiPaulo does. Her naturally kept yard attracts all sorts of critters including squirrels, deer, ducks, possums and many species of birds, thanks to her feeders and bird baths.
“I’m allergic to bees,” she said. “But these bees don’t touch me when I’m putting out the brush. I’m not afraid of them at all.”
http://whatcom.wsu.edu/ag/homehort/pest/mining_bees.htm
*A Democrat and Chronicle article from 2012:
Ground bees abuzz early
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20120405/NEWS01/304050046
March’s record-setting warm temperatures created quite a buzz in Patricia DiPaulo’s backyard on Valley Crest Road in Greece.
Swarms of bees were flying about, causing concern for neighbors with small children. Even her own daughter, Mary, who visited with her three kids, was alarmed enough to call a beekeeper wondering why there were so many.
What’s buzzing about and earlier than normal this spring due to the mild weather are ground bees, also known as solitary or “mining” bees.
“They’re small, cute little things as far as bees go,” DiPaulo said.
Part of the family Andrenidae, these important early pollinators nest in individual family burrows and are recognizable by tiny mounds of soil, often in clusters if the conditions are right. It is the bee species that is the first to emerge from hibernation each spring to begin its life cycle.
Pat Bono, a veteran beekeeper from Brighton who owns Seaway Trail Honey and heads up the Rochester Beekeepers organization, was swarmed with calls about ground bees last month.
“Last year I only got one phone call on ground bees and this year there was a 36-hour period where I received eight phone calls,” Bono said. “I can only speculate that we didn’t have a typical snow melt so the ground is a lot drier and they like well-drained soil. Combine that with the high temperatures when we hit near 80 and they really took off.”
Mining bee populations can fluctuate dramatically season to season but Dr. Robert Minckley, a member of the biology faculty at the University of Rochester who has done research on native pollinators, said there is no reason to think populations are unusually high this year.
“I’m curious why people are noticing them this year because they’re out every year,” he said. “The first day over 60 degrees they pile out of the ground. That’s their life cycle. They are the earliest bee and tend to nest in aggregations.”
Like DiPaulo’s yard, which is covered with tiny dirt piles between the grass blades. The retiree doesn’t use pesticides or chemicals on her lawn, she just mows it.
“Naturally, the birds and the bees come,” she said. “I like them because they pollinate my yard and there is such a shortage of bees now.”
And while legions of ground bees flying about can be worrisome or merely a nuisance, people should know that mining bees are non-aggressive and seldom, if ever, sting. Most ground bees seen in the spring are males that hover about in a mating display — and they don’t even have stingers.
Minckley said there is an aggregation of mining bees in Highland Park he likes to observe.
“This is a short-lived bee that comes out fast and early and they’re done, people won’t notice them again until next spring,” he said. “I walk through those aggregations and never get stung. I’m not convinced they can sting and mostly what you are seeing are males. I’d be overjoyed to have an aggregation in my yard.”
Unlike honeybees, which are naturally aggressive in defending their colony, mining bees are solitary.
After making her burrow, females stock each “cell” with pollen and nectar collected from the earliest blooming flowers and trees, such as maples and willows.
An egg, about six to 10 in all, is laid on each food mass and the female dies. The larva hatches and consumes the stored pollen and nectar, eventually becoming an adult bee that winters over in the ground. The next spring, those adult bees emerge, mate and start the cycle all over.
Similar in size to honeybees, the largest mining bee specimens are furry and darker colored. Some mining bees have stripes, others are metallic green.
After hunkering down with last weekend’s cold snap, ground bees will be active again with the next warm spell, Minckley said, but their activity won’t last long. Homeowners whose yards slope westward and get extra sunlight could see more activity.
Beekeeper Bono said people who really don’t want the presence of ground bees even for a short while can try to maintain a well-watered lawn. Otherwise, enjoy the show. “People get alarmed, especially with kids, but these bees are very docile,” she said. “I’m always preaching, ‘Save the bees.’ They’re native and great pollinators so just leave them alone. They’ll be active for a month and you won’t see them again. Just let them do their thing.”
That’s what DiPaulo does. Her naturally kept yard attracts all sorts of critters including squirrels, deer, ducks, possums and many species of birds, thanks to her feeders and bird baths.
“I’m allergic to bees,” she said. “But these bees don’t touch me when I’m putting out the brush. I’m not afraid of them at all.”