Ground dwelling bees

[Mattinho]

This weekend we set about removing the overgrown rockery in our garden to dig over and turf to create a lawn. The rockery had quite a few largish plants that needed digging out at the root. On taking out the first plant I noticed around 10-15 bees circling round (the bees were hairy like a bumble bee but quite small. The smaller ones were maybe half the size and without the characteristic thick legs).

The bees weren't interested in me at all and not agressive so I carried on digging out the plants. With the plants gone I could see the bees going in to, and coming back out from, the ground (at two different locations). There was no entrance holes, they just seemed to bury themselves in the loose soil.

Can anyone advise what type of bee this might be? I was under the impression that most bees that nest in the ground were solitary bees but there were no separate holes and many bees entering and leaving the ground at the same places.

Any advice would be appreciated. What would be the consequences of continuing to dig over this land (the bees weren't aggressive at all but I don't want to unearth their more aggressive relatives)? Do I just need to wait for the weather to get colder or is there anything I can do to get rid of the bees? Many thanks.

[eucera]

we will need a pic of some sort if we are to get anywhere near sorting this one out I suspect.

Perhaps it would help if you told us where you are too

Looking forward to hearing more!

[Mattinho]

Below are some images of a dead bee I found in the soil where the bees were burying themselves.
Any advice of would be appreciated.

[Mattinho]

These are some images of a dead bee I found in the soil where the bees were burying themselves. Any advice about how best to proceed would be appreciated.

[Mattinho]

I forgot to add that I am in central Scotland (West Lothian to be precise!)

[eucera]

These are pics of the bumblebee Bombus pascuorum, and the nests are typically just on the surface.

[Harry Eales]

Originally Posted by Mattinho

I forgot to add that I am in central Scotland (West Lothian to be precise!)

Mattinho,

Your Bumblebees appear to be, (and given your location) are almost certainly Bombus pascuorum and are most probably Queens and Males

Given that you saw two different sizes of Bumblebee it is likely it was a nest you disturbed.

Technically the Bumblebees do not hibernate, the name used for this part of their life cycle is is diapause. Some newly emerged and fertilised queen Bumblebee species can enter the overwintering stage as early as June or July.

Once the bee has entered diapause and has unfortunately been unearthed it is not likely to survive, even if an artificial hole is made for them. Sad but true.

Several Bumblebee species nest underground, others in walls or holes in old stone buildings, yet others may occupy an old birdbox.

After last years Monsoon period the Queens produced by all the Bumblebees in my area, were very small in comparrison to their usual size. This has resulted in smaller Workers and Males being produced this year. Overall the numbers of Bumblebees seen this year, are appreciably less than usual. It may just be happening in my part of the world, but I suspect not.

I cannot recollect a year out of the last fifty when Bumblebees have been so small in size or so few in number.

Harry

[Mattinho]

Thanks for the information. Today there is still a lot of bees to-ing and fro-ing into the soil so perhpas the nest is still intact?

How would you recommend I proceed? Am I safe to continue gardening in that area or do I need to wait until autumn? I don't want to disturb them anymore than I have done already but I don't want to corden off that bit of my garden either!

[HelenPritch]

I had never heard of ground dwelling bees until 2 days ago, when I too discovered some in my garden, they have buried themselves in the middle of my lawn! Is this typical of ground dwelling bees?
They do seem a little smaller that normal bees, but I would say sometimes I can see 20-30 bees swarming around the hole that has appeared in my grass.
Is there anything that can be done about this. Can these bees sting? They look very much like the ones seen in the pictures already sent.
I have to say that although it is very funny seeing my partner trying to run down the garden and dodge them, it really is not wonderfully pleasent.