Lawn mowing and ground nesting bees

[lungz]

Can I mow the lawn without harming mining / masonary bees?

I appreciate this damages the entrance to nests but can / do the bees repair thier entrances from inside and out?

I can't find any info on the net and always feel guilty after mowing the lawn.

[healfdan]

Hello
I have never seen this as a problem on a lawn unless it's of bowling green quality when the small earth deposits may create rough patches. As for the Minimg bees, although solitary in nature, their holes are often very close together. The hole feeds into a tunnel and there an individual bee will fashion cells, provision each cell with pollen and then lay an egg in each. Rest assurred that the occasional cut will not deter them from their task or damage their nest. If you are over concerned you can always set the blade a notch higher. Often dozens of mining bees and on some Commons the Bee- killer Wasp can be seen visiting entrance holes along well used sandy paths. If they can survive this, the occasional lawn cut will not bother them.

[lungz]

Thank you. That makes me feel a little better.

No matter how hard you try there's always a few entrances that seem to get crushed under foot or under the wheels of the mower.

[eucera]

I agree. Lawn mowing is not a problem. The bees use scent cues (as well as visual ones) to recognise their own nests. the occasional lawn haircut is no problem at all