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Buzzy bee or wasp attentive & hostile on earthy flower bed

6 replies

NewspaperTaxis · 18/05/2023 18:50

There aren't any flowers there yet - I have a rhododendron to plant and then marigolds. It had bad soil - it's a round flowerbed that got waterlogged in rainy weather, turns into a pond really so I tried to get the clay out and put down clay buster granules and new soil. However, my efforts are unsettled because on one part where the earth was sandstone coloured, a couple of wasps or young bees got buzzy around it, agitated and concerned - what have I done? I couldn't see any kind of wasps' nest there. Should I uncover the area, which was really a hole? What are they up to? There's nothing nutritional about the earth or soil to area them to it yet, I'd have thought.

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BigglyBee · 18/05/2023 18:55

Some (mostly solitary) bees live in tiny tunnels in the soil, you might have been seeing young ones that had just emerged. I wouldn't worry about it, unless you see anything else to concern you.

NewspaperTaxis · 18/05/2023 19:04

Thanks - but why are they pissed off - might it be the parents concerned for their young 'uni? Sorry to be a soppy nit about it. I feel I ought to uncover it if so.

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SleepingisanArt · 18/05/2023 19:10

Wasps can live in nests in the soil. I know as I managed to step on one last summer (totally invisible from up at eye level). The resulting attack was incredibly painful and I have scars on my legs from some if the stings. Proceed with caution! I have discovered that they don't nest in the same place twice so I'm apparently safe this year - but I do look down a lot more when in the garden!

AntoniaMacaronia · 18/05/2023 19:16

They could be mining bees building their nests. Have a google, see if they look similar.

@SleepingisanArt that sounds very painful, you poor thing.

APurpleSquirrel · 18/05/2023 19:23

Lots of species of bees - solitary, mason, even some bumblebees make nests in holes & underground.
Our mason bees are very busy atm - we have bee houses, & they're in & out all day filling up the tubes.
Maybe leave it alone for a bit? Or the area they are mainly in?

Buzzy bee or wasp attentive & hostile on earthy flower bed
NewspaperTaxis · 19/05/2023 00:01

Thanks everyone, I dug up the earth again and then saw a winged creature make its way into a hole so it seems I've done the right thing.

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