Ground Bees

Ground bees are robust, hairy, golden brown or grayish-brown bees, usually ½ inch long or less as adults.

There are many types of ground bees that vary in color and range from one-half to three-quarter inch in length. Some types of solitary wasps live like this as well. The digging should not be enough to damage the lawn. The bees are not very aggressive and probably will not sting. You should be able to work and mow grass around them with few problems. People that are allergic to bee stings may want to be cautious when working around the bees.

first sign of ground or digger bees in lawns may be strange little mounds of soil with a hole nearby. The ground bees will be flying over this area. Ground bees are solitary bees that dig and nest in the ground. These bees live one per hole but there may be many holes in an area creating ground bee communities.

The digging should not be enough to damage the lawn. The bees are not very aggressive and probably will not sting. You should be able to work and mow grass around them with few problems. People that are allergic to bee stings may want to be cautious when working around the bees.

Life Cycle: The female mining bee stocks each cell with pollen and nectar she collects from flowers and then deposits an egg on the food mass.

The larva will hatch and consume the stored pollen and nectar When mature it becomes a pupa or resting stage and finally becomes an adult bee. The adult bees overwinter below ground in the burrow site. During the next spring or early summer the adults emerge, mate, and the females begin burrow excavation. Bee populations can fluctuate dramatically from one season to the next.

Damage: Digger bees dig nest holes through turf or in soil near managed turf, leaving holes and small mounds of earth; their behavior can be intimidating and cicada killers, in particular, may sting if annoyed. Tiphiid and scoliid wasps are non-aggressive but their presence on flowers or low altitude patrolling of turf may be intimidating to some people. Females species will dig shallow holes through turf to reach their white grub prey.

controls: Ground bees like dry soils. Water the soil when bees first become active. Apply one inch of water once a week if it does not rain. Ground bees nest in dry areas where the grass is thin. Find and correct the problems making the turf thin. This may involve soil sampling, irrigation, soil aeration or other practices. Find ways to thicken the turf in these areas to reduce ground bee problems. Know the needs of the turf grass and meet them. In areas that will not grow grass, mulch the area.

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