Mining Bees at Work Nothing to Fear

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, signs in the county park this morning offer nothing to fear no ,they are  not “murder hornets”.  While much light has been shed on the plight of honeybees because they are highly valued as the pollinators of 70% of North American food crops, very little is said about the struggle of our native pollinating bees.”

“Before being replaced by the honeybee, native mining bees were the primary pollinators of blueberries, apples and other early blooming food crops. While honeybees have been domesticated and valued by humans, mining bees have faced the struggle for food and nesting ground on their own. Mining bees are a group of about 450 native bee species of North America in the Adrenid genus. They are extremely docile, solitary bees which are only active in the spring. As their name indicates, mining bees dig tunnels in which they lay their eggs and raise their young. They seek out areas with exposed soil, excellent drainage and light shade or dappled sunlight from taller plants. Though mining bees may form tunnels rather close to each other, they are not colony forming bees and live solitary lives. From the outside, the tunnels look like ¼ inch holes with a ring of loose soil around them, and are easily mistaken for small ant hills or earthworm mounds. Mining bees are sometimes blamed for bare patches in lawns because several mining bee tunnels may be spotted in a small bare patch. In truth, however, these mining bees selected the site because it was already sparse, as they have little time to waste clearing bare ground”

Read more at Gardening Know How: Mining Bee Info: Are Mining Bees Good To Have Around https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/beneficial/what-are-mining-bees.htm