Lawn bees - anyone with experience please?

[7catsisnotenough]

Hi looking for advice from people with experience please - yes, I can google but I really want first hand experience please.

NDN have had a fence built a couple of weeks ago that involved removing some really old plants as well as a lot (lots and lots!) of brambles. Their garden is about 30cms higher than ours and there's a Crete/ breeze block retaining wall ( that's giving it ideas above it's station tbh!)

We've gained a strip of garden above the retaining wall (about 6" max) and I've been trying to remove bramble roots etc. Sitting in the garden this afternoon between digging sessions (turning over the border to replant) I've seen a lot of what I think are lawn bees trying to access the base of the wall. I had lawn bees at a previous house and they're no trouble, I'm just upset that the work seems to have disturbed them.

Can anyone suggest anything to help them settle, bar not digging around the area I now know they're obviously nesting in?

No obvious signs of disturbance when I was turning the border over or I would have stopped 😞Feeling terrible and want to help them resettle if I can 😞

Thanks for any advice 😊

Aargh! Tried to edit but blooming app is playing up - it's not a Crete wall (?!) it's concrete!!

What the hell is a 'lawn bee'? Do you mean bumble bees?

Have a watch of My garden of a thousand bees. I player

Also known as mining bees. https://www.gardenersworld.com/wildlife/mining-bees/?srsltid=AfmBOoolQEObYYf0La4qFEis3Dpu8t1jskOvqWymMxO3vxT-bATDnNvi

How lovely that you want to take such good care of them OP.

These are on the playing field at DC's school, I think they're also known as burrowing bees & can't sting.

I don't know, but thank you for caring about them! I hope someone with knowledge of these bees sees this

How lovely for you to have them op. I’ve only ever had them at one house.
Just give them a wide berth, they apparently repair burrows and, although solitary nesters, do stick near others, so hopefully they will resettle. They are around for such a short time, enjoy their little comings & goings.

@VillageMiltonnope, I mean lawn bees - they nest underground, usually in lawns 😊

I think they like quite loose sandy soil. They love my herb bed, which was once a child's sandpit to which I have added some used compost. I never really notice their little burrows until much later, in the Summer, so they may just be prospecting for suitable nesting sites at the moment.

Thanks @VividDeer, I'll try to watch that 😊

Thank you to everyone, they're not an aggressive species (tbh I don't think any bees are?) I just want to help them settle back down 😊

It seems that avoiding where they are going is the best approach, hopefully they will find their way home if I don't dig the border near where I have seen them 😊

@TonTonMacoutethe soil is wonderful, really rich and loose iykwim? I'm currently sieving it to remove bramble/ bindweed roots which makes it even nicer! It's not sandy but easy to burrow through 😊

I presently have tawny and ashy mining bees in the garden, no sand because I’m on a chalk hillside but I see them every year. Well worth leaving them to it for a few weeks. I use canes and twine to make sure nobody stands on them.

No experience other than my golden retriever who likes to roll around with them in them in my mums garden

Just leave them bee (sorry).
I used to work at a nature reserve where we'd occasionally accidentally disturb them. Mark off the area (canes/tape if needed) if the area is likely to be disturbed or you need a reminder. They'll figure it out, they might need a few hours to fix things, but they're usually back to business as usual next day.

Doesn't he get stung? We've got an area that is mid renovation so just bare soil banks which I have noticed we have loads of solitary bees flying around. My puppy keeps trying to eat them and I'm worried she will get stung. I might be able to fence off the bank so the bees can do their thing and she is safer, but it is unnerving having so many so close to the house. I don't want to kill them, I know they have a short busy few weeks of their lives, but I have sprinkled some cinnamon around the area to see if they will be deterred from nesting there, but they don't seem phased by it. I even used a watering can to wet the soil as apparently they don't like it, but these bees keep on coming.

Thanks everyone 😊 I'll leave them and hopefully they will be able to rebuild their home 😊

@longtompot they're not aggressive. Usually the sting can't penetrate human skin, and if it does it's nowhere near as painful as a honeybee or wasp sting. It would be a very mild way for your puppy to find out it's not a good idea to eat flying things.

Mining bees only nest for 3 weeks at a time so won't be long before they move on.

I have stood on one, by accident and it did hurt, but that might be because it was behind my little toe, where it joins my foot. I'll leave them to it, but we are in the middle of garden works so they will be disturbed at some point

@Thingythingthings thanks for the information, I didn't know that 😊They seem to be happily doing their thing again now, leaving and arriving 1 or 2 at a time rather than the 10 or so when they were disturbed 😊
Tbh they're fascinating to watch 😊We also had "bee flies" last year, they're not not hover flies - look very much like honey bee type bees but fly differently 🤣

Currently in the garden with 🥂doing a "wildlife study" 😉until it's cool enough for planting some new bits and pieces...🥂everyone, enjoy the weekend 😊

It's great that leaving them well alone seems to be doing the trick. Nature will find a way.

DD and I were out for a walk this morning, and came to a small stream. We were standing on the bridge over it, and looking down there were some rocks in the river bank and we watched quite a few bees going in and out of a hole between the rocks. They looked like honey bees, but I'm not sure.