Mason bees?

[kittywitty]

Does anyone know which bees live in small holes in the ground? We've had swarms of bees that are like yellow jackets in size and not yellow striped and not aggressive (my kids walk through swarms of them without a single notice or sting). They just started coming out. We were doing some gardening and noticed what looked like ant hills throughout the yard. I was inspecting them and saw bees crawling in and out of them. I tried to google but failed. Are these Mason bees? Is there anything I can do to encourage them to nest in a different part of my yard to avoid my kids trampling their homes?

[Chamomile Girl]

I always thought Mason Bees were singleton native bees who nested in a hole bored into wood. WHat you are talking about sounds like something different.

ETA: They might be sweat bees.

[kittywitty]

Not sweat bees. We have tons here. THe only bees I can find info on that live in dirt/mud holes are mason bees other than mud wasps which we don't have here and are like 100 times bigger!

[MariesMama]

I have those too! They're called miner bees, and they'll only last a few weeks, apparently.

[Kritto]

Yep, miner bees! They're mostly in the genus Andrena. Very docile, and even if they do sting (which they rarely do), it hurts far less than a honeybee. They'll be around for a few weeks, pollinating plants and stowing away pollen and nectar for their babies. Then the adults will die off for the year, leaving their larvae in nests belowground to mature until this time next year when they'll emerge as adults. Very sweet, cool critters. Enjoy!

[pbjmama]

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