let it bee

so this past week along with the nice weather, i noticed bees humming around a small patch of dirt and wood chips in front of our house near the front door. the first day i noticed this was the first day that it was actually "warm" so i somehow pieced it together that they were just happily flying around by the ground because it was finally warm out.

as days and days went by i also began to notice that they weren't leaving. these bees look pretty identical to honey bees except their butts are all black instead of yellow and black. i really had no idea what to make of this. and on friday i decided to get a close look to see just what they were up to. that's when i noticed they were digging. they were digging little holes in the ground and coming in and out of them. this kinda worried me. ok, it worried me alot. my first thought was that they were making a nest.


that night i had a bunch of girls over and told them about the bees to see what they knew about it. well, they totally freaked me out and told me they were making nests down there and that they would attack and sting daphne and they needed to be exterminated right away. i freaked out and called the after hours number for my landlord. i never got a call back. so today i decided to see what the internet would pull up on my little situation. here's what i found:



"Mining bees, or digger bees, (familys Andrenidae & Anthophoridae) nest in burrows in the ground. Unlike the honey bee, mining bees are "solitary" bees. They do not form long-lived colonies, nor do they live inside a single, well-defended nest controlled by one queen bee. Instead, each mining bee female usually digs her own individual burrow to rear her own young. Large numbers of these bees may nest near one another if soil conditions are suitable.



Mining bees are not aggressive and seldom, if ever, sting. The presence of numerous bees flying close to the ground, however, may constitute a nuisance for some people. Sometimes large numbers of males will fly about the same spot for several days in a mating display. Mining bees range in size from about the size of honey bees to much smaller. Mining bee burrows may be located wherever there is exposed soil and good drainage.



The female mining bee stocks each cell (tunnel) with pollen and nectar she collects from flowers and then deposits an egg on the food mass. The larva hatches and consumes 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. Mining bee populations can fluctuate dramatically from one season to the next.



It must be stressed that mining bees are extremely beneficial insects, of considerable importance in the pollination of many different types of plants. Their burrowing does not harm vegetation and may actually be of service in aerating the soil. Furthermore, the activity of these species is extremely brief, with adult bees flying for only two to four weeks. In some instances, the bees observed are males flying about their territory; males cannot sting, nor do they make burrows. We do not recommend using insecticides to control mining bees and ground nesting wasps; it is virtually impossible to eliminate the population in a single season. "


i'm very glad i found out this information before i had these poor little bees killed. i'm sure many of you have seen "Bee Movie" and are aware that bees are a necessity to our way of life. so, as long as they are gone soon and don't sting anyone i'm fine with them doing their thing in my lawn. i just want to reassure everyone (especially jennalee who comes over a lot to babysit daphne) that the bees in our front yard are ok, just don't get too close and you'll be fine. they'll be gone soon. so... i'm just gonna say "let it bee".