Bees in Soil

I recently came across one of the largest colonies of soil mining bees I’ve ever seen in Ohio. The image below shows the extent of the collection of these important plant pollinators found in Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum (SGCA).

The majority of bee species nest below ground with around 70% excavating their own nests. Indeed, nesting in the ground is considered the ancestral nesting behavior of all bees. Although there may be some “ground rules” regarding how we refer to these solitary bees, I’m never certain if we should call them, “ground-nesting,” “soil mining,” or something else.