In the past week I received two nearly identical questions about mining bees. Both writers wanted to know why they had mining bees in September while everyone says that mining bees come in the spring. Excellent questions. DJ wrote: All I read about these bees indicates they are usually around in early spring, but mine […] Read more
Every now and again something happens here at Honey Bee Suite that makes all the time and effort worthwhile. I now have a new-found hero in the UK and, with his permission, I’m sharing the sequence of events. It started with an e-mail like a zillion others: Think I’ve just made a big mistake. I’ve […] Read more
The “How do I kill them?” e-mail is pouring in faster than ever, depressing me no end. Most of the writers want to know how to kill the sweet little ground bees that are drilling holes in their pristine suburban lawns. Or sometimes they focus on harmless carpenter bees, assuming their lives would be better […] Read more
Spring is the season for digging: gardeners do it, moles do it, even bees do it. Two weeks ago, Carrie Dunn of Seattle was working her garden when it occurred to her that little larvae she was tossing aside might be bees. She wrote: These were a few inches below the surface of the soil. […] Read more
About a week ago, my friend Glen asked if I wanted to see an underground aggregation of bees. Of course I did! I was elated, so armed with a backpack full of camera equipment, I went to meet him at an Olympia residence. First, he showed me the holes. Entrance holes lined the driveway/lawn interface, […] Read more
Right now, everyone wants to kill mining bees. Well, they don’t say “kill,” they say “get rid of.” It’s all the same. So, what is a mining bee? Basically, it’s a type of bee that builds nests in underground tunnels. Each tunnel is usually separate from other tunnels, although they may live in large communities […] Read more
I wanted to say more about the mining bees I discovered last week. According to my sources at BugGuide.net this bee is in the genus Anthophora, but that is all they could say based on my photo. So I looked up Anthophora in A Field Guide to the Common Bees of California and learned that […] Read more