{"id":3778,"date":"2015-05-08T15:23:13","date_gmt":"2015-05-08T15:23:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/homegardenjoy.com\/site\/?p=3778"},"modified":"2019-09-04T16:12:12","modified_gmt":"2019-09-04T20:12:12","slug":"solitary-ground-bee-pollinating-insects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/homegardenjoy.com\/site\/2015\/05\/solitary-ground-bee-pollinating-insects.html","title":{"rendered":"Solitary Ground Bee, Pollinating Insects"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"bee<\/a>The other day, my husband call me outside to witness something unusual. He’s been working on a new garden area in the back yard, almost on the edge of the woods, and he had transplanted some perennials and lilac bushes. He went out to water them and found a huge swarm of bees.<\/p>\n

At first, we thought they were honey bees. It was hard to identify them; there were so many it was as if my backyard was buzzing! We watched them alight on the hard-packed clay soil, and they were definitely bees, not wasps, and the right size and shape for a honey bee. I assumed they were honey bees and we returned to the house, delighted to welcome the newcomers to the yard.<\/p>\n

The next day, the swarm continued! Now Hubby noticed a series of hills, like ant hills, but bigger. There seemed to be hundreds of them scattered around on the soil in the backyard:<\/p>\n

\"ground<\/a>

Just three of the hundreds of ground bee nests we found.<\/p><\/div>\n

As we watched, a single bee shot out of a hole and flew away. What in the world was happening?<\/p>\n

\"ground<\/a>

Close up of a ground nesting bee hole. It’s bigger than an ant hill but looks similar.<\/p><\/div>\n

Thankfully, a few weeks ago I attended a lecture called, “Trees, Bees and Clean Waterways” so at least I knew that bees don’t always form hives. Some bees are indeed solitary, and some nest in the ground. A quick internet search revealed our new farm visitors as Solitary Ground Bees.<\/a><\/p>\n

A few facts on solitary ground nesting bees:<\/p>\n