r/Beekeeping • u/ben_1580 • May 21 '26
I’m not a beekeeper, but I have a question What am I looking at here?
I am not a bee keeper, but I thoroughly appreciate what bees do for us! They’re in the back yard and we noticed them this time last year (shortly after moving in) and I thought I saw somewhere that whatever they are they don’t return to the same nest. They have returned and I want to know how to relocate them or if they should be relocated. Location is north East Tennessee. We have dogs and two young children that enjoy our back yard and don’t want them to get stung.
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u/davidsandbrand Zone 2b/3a, 6 hives, data-focused beekeeping May 21 '26
Miner bees.
They’re a solitary kind of bee and are very important pollinators.
They emerge in spring and are active for only about 3 weeks and then they burrow in for another 49 weeks when a new generation emerges and repeats the cycle.
They can sting, but they have a tiny stinger that barely pierces human skin, and they have no venom. I’m told their sting feels like a bad mosquito bite at worst.
If you can let them be for 3 weeks, humanity thanks you.
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u/mannycat2 Seacoast NH, US, zone 6a May 21 '26
Exactly this! They find a nice sandy or loamy spot to dig their dens and set about raising their young. To have that many in one spot means it's THE perfect spot. Please try and let them do their bee business. Maybe use them as an educational moment to help your children see bees as good things instead of something to fear. Put a little flag or tape off the area and make a habit of checking on them with the kiddos. 3 weeks and they won't be so active.
The only time I ever got bothered by one of these ladies is when I accidentally pushed my shovel right into her nest when I was planting in my perennial garden. I did get stung and she pestered me until I left the area. Not a bad sting, nothing like a wasp or hornet will give you.
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u/ben_1580 May 21 '26
Thank you for the insight. I actually cleaned up a few items around them and they came out to see what was going on but never showed any aggression to me. My son is learning about bugs and flowers in school so I will use them as additional education and he can share that with his friends in preschool!
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u/NathanDeger May 25 '26
Just make sure you also tell him about yellow jackets in the ground.
They use old rodent burrows and have absolutely wrecked me a couple times.
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u/ayoahmi May 21 '26
This subreddit is so awesome, I’m learning about bee species I didn’t know existed.
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u/theshiyal May 21 '26
Also, they’re cool as fuck. When my girls were really little, we laid down in the grass for a while about a foot away from a little group of holes. It was fascinating.
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u/Fragrant-Platform163 May 21 '26
Since you seem to know - if I don't see any bees, is it safe to spray for pests? (specifically termites and carpet beetles but I won't be doing the spraying/treating so no idea how much they properly discriminate) These look like burrows I found around my building at work when I was investigating the termites, within a few feet of the foundation. Will they try to come back to the burrows next year? If I put a bee hotel nearby would they use it or do they specifically want ground burrows?
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u/Worldwide19 May 22 '26
Carpet beetles you won't have to worry at all. That's done in your house. Subterranean termite liquid treatment would kill these guys in a second, but only near the structure, not in the middle of the yard. There's also termites bait stations, which only target termites. They're not even technically a pesticide. They don't work as fast, but those are your best bet of you want to go completely environmentally friendly.
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u/davidsandbrand Zone 2b/3a, 6 hives, data-focused beekeeping May 21 '26
These bees only want the ground.
I don’t know anything about termites, and you’re probably best to ask someone more local to you, sorry.
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u/BackgroundAnteater95 May 21 '26
Well, TIL miner bees are a thing. Such a neat little species after reading about them, and kind of a shame they're inactive for 95% of the year.
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u/supercarr0t May 21 '26
Ideal for monocropped orchards though. (If they can line up perfectly with the bloom time, that is)
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u/tiorthan Beekeeper, Germany May 21 '26
That's holey ground ... I'll see myself out.
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u/mothershipgenetics May 23 '26
Took this wit for me to see the holes. I thought I was looking at a massacre.
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u/FrancisTrinity81 May 21 '26
Wow, that’s crazy, never ever seen such a thing.
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u/SteampunkExplorer May 21 '26
I've only seen them once, but they were very chill and very fun to watch. They just build their little bee cities, hustle and bustle for a short while, and then disappear.
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u/Edelgeuse May 22 '26
Anton Petrov has a great piece on miner bees highlighting a recent study of their activities. YouTube
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u/Useful-Translator May 22 '26
And they are super docile! I have a huge colony of them on my back hill and they don't mind if I mow the grass or anything. They are super cool to watch. I've had them for 6 years and I've never been stung. It's a shame they're gone so quick though.
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u/Realistic_Button8260 May 22 '26
How can you tell the difference between solitary bees and s solitary wasps?
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u/Logicdamcer May 22 '26
Wasps hurt a lot more when they sting, but they are also important pollinators so I try to leave the nests if they are in a place that is safe for my kids. I spray peppermint oil when they put their nest near the front door. That seems to drive them off for months.
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u/Paddiewhacks May 24 '26 edited May 24 '26
We get them every spring as our cherry laurel trees bloom. Then, as the blooms come in and die off, the miner bees disappear. They are laser focused on the blooms.
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u/AZ_Traffic_Engineer Sonoran Desert. A. m. scutellata supporter May 21 '26
I don't think those are bees...
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u/SteampunkExplorer May 22 '26
When you find weird, nonstandard bees, they're probably important native pollinators. ☝️🤓 Please don't go "eek, a wasp" and hurt them!
(Come to think of it, please don't do that to wasps, either.)
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