Mining bees right outside our front door

[Runner234]

We have noticed lots of holes in the soil outside our front door and I have seen many bees going in and out of these holes. I had no idea that bees went underground.

They pay us no attention and we do the same but I'm wondering if this is a common occurrence, they have literally set up camp right outside the front door on a little patch of dirt. I googled it and it told us that they were mining bees which I had never heard of either.

Will they move on eventually?

Mine have been in my garden since I moved in. Solitary bees are fab, I have planted a range of flowers so they can live happy (fed!) lives. I did get a fly screen for my back door to minimise intruders, but they don't sting... That was to protect them more than me!

Our whole front garden has them. Love watching them going in and out. They seem to disappear later in the summer and return the year after.

They'll die by Autumn, having laid their eggs with a tiny bundle of food.

They're ridiculously cute, as are Masons, Leafcutters and other solitary bees - and if anybody was wondering, no, they don't sting.

You've unintentionally provided them with the perfect soil conditions - many people churn up the ground, mow over them or, worse, shriek about dangerous swarms of evil insects near their PFB and kill them.

We need to provide habitat for all bees, not just domesticated Honeybees, as the solitaries pollinate significantly greater numbers of plant species due to their own variation in size/tongue/etc/

Do we get a photo? I love seeing them, but I've just got 4 different Bumbles, Masons and Leafcutters - the soil here isn't to Mining Bees' liking.

How cool. We've had a few bees in our garden after planting a load of flowering plants to encourage them. Not sure what types we have but nice to see them nonetheless.

I have also just today discovered that I have a nest of bumblebees in my roof, after realising that their buzzing sounded much louder inside than it did in the garden Think I can safely call my garden a bee haven this year!!

They won't hurt you, they're quite peaceful bees. Enjoy watching them. I was watching some leafcutter bees in my garden the other day, it was fascinating. We've also got mason bees in the wall above our back door, and we had a nest of bumblebees in the roof last year. I'm happy we have so many bees in our tiny city centre garden.

We have solitary bees that eat our porch wall, they provide DH and I with hours of amusement. One year we watched one (we named him Mortimer!) for ages, he would bimble on past us as we sat outdoors, not giving a hoot about us at all. I'm always sad when they go, though it would be nice if they used our naice bee house rather than chomping great mouthfuls of our walls

Lovely, we had a bunch of similar mining bees a few years ago, we put a metal mesh over the area to stop us accidentally digging up the area.

Sadly, they didn’t come back. Enjoy them.

I am quite envious.

Ah that's so cool. I had bees in the ground once and had to leave the grass alone as they lose their reference points if you cut it and get lost. It was a long summer

We need to protect our bees, they won't bother you.

My 7 year old is really into digging holes in the garden at the moment and he dug a big hole and made it into a bit of a pond but obviously the water all drained out. Anyway the bees have made that into a beehive with little houses all the way down so he has spent the last few weeks lying on the grass with his head stuck down the hole watching them come in and out. I didn't know they were called miner bees though I will tell them that tomorrow.

Only slightly annoying part is we were going to re turf that area and obviously now will have to wait until the bees have moved on.

We have mason bees in the wall by our kitchen. I love them. They keep themselves to themselves and it's so lovely hearing them buzzing about on a warm day. Only the female bees have a sting (male ones don't have a sting at all) and they'll only use it if they're being crushed or something. They're peaceful things. I believe mining bees are the same accept they like lawns rather than walls!

Just make sure no-one can accidentally stand on their patch and leave them to it.

Menstruator, I feel quite envious. What a great experience for a seven year old.

We had bees like that last year in our old house.
Our new house has 2 massive Christmas trees in the garden and one of them is full of bees, can't see a nest/hive so we think they're after the sap, I've planted loads of lavender and other flowers to encourage them. I love bees.

We had Masonery bees do this above the patio door.

They are great to watch.