When we talk about bees, most of us tend to think of honey bees that live in hives. But there are the majority of them live underground and lay eggs there.
One of those bees is the ground bee which is a solitary and harmless bee. Although many have an instinct of fear towards them, these bees do not have stingers and do not pose any harm to humans. Here, we will be talking about the measures that can be undertaken to manage or repel ground bees without hurting them.
We might have seen small holes made by ground bees in our garden or lawn. These bees prefer bare and loose ground to dig up and build their nests because they can dig up the tunnel so easily.
One of the effective techniques to deter ground bees away is by planting grasses on your lawn or backyard. If there is the presence of a thick layer of grasses, this makes the ground harder to excavate. Additionally, the environment with grasses becomes unpleasant for their habitat.
Ground bees prefer dry soil as it is easier to dig through. So, if you want to make your lawn unattractive to ground bees, you need to water your lawn or yard frequently as watering regularly will make the soil heavy and can stick to the legs of ground bees, which makes the soil undesirable to ground bees.
Due to this they generally try to avoid such areas and move away from around your house. Having sprinkler systems or watering regularly might be useful to keep the soil moist most of the time which might keep ground bees away.
3. Non-Lethal Traps
Like all bees, ground bees are also attracted to nectar and sweets. Thus, you can use non-lethal traps like placing sugar water in a bowl inside a mesh cage to attract them. When the bees find the sweet and enter the cage, they get trapped.
Once they are trapped in the cage, you can safely release them in nearby parks or the wild. Non-lethal traps do not kill ground bees and are one of the wisest approaches to capture and relocate them into the wild. This also reduces their interaction with our surroundings.
The use of cinnamon can be another alternative for repelling ground bees from your yard or lawn. If you do not want to hurt ground bees but want them to relocate, using cinnamon is one of the best natural ways of getting rid of them as ground bees dislike the smell of spices like cinnamon.
So, if you sprinkle some powder of cinnamon on the ground, ground bees tend to avoid making their burrow there and if you trickle cinnamon near the holes of ground bees, they will move away from their nests to another location as they cannot stand with cinnamon smell.
Some essential oils made from eucalyptus and cedarwood act as a repellent against bees including ground bees. Although these essential oils are harmless, bees have an instinct to avoid such scents. Essential oils are non-toxic and do not harm bees.
You can make a spray by mixing one of these essential oil with water and spraying the plants and ground where you do not want ground bees to settle. They find the smell of these essential oils unpleasant and avoid coming into such areas.
6. Cucumber Peel
Another eco-friendly and harmless way of repelling bees is by using cucumber peels. Cucumber peels have a very bitter smell and almost all species of bees do not like such a scent.
You need to peel the cucumber and keep the cucumber peel on an aluminum pie plate. This releases a certain smell called cucurbitacins that have a very bitter taste and smell and thus repel ground bees away. Placing cucumber peels on the ground discourages bees from burrowing and making their nests.
7. Vinegar
Vinegar has a very strong odor that all bees do not like. So, it can be one of the natural ways of getting rid of ground bees around your house as this is environmentally friendly and easy to make.
You can mix household vinegar and dilute it with water. Then, pour it into a spray bottle and apply it near the holes and the grasses around you. This will deter the ground bees from your lawn and garden and they will go somewhere else.
8 . Clove Oil
Just like cinnamon, clove can also repel ground bees. This has a strong and spicy flavored fragrance that can mask the natural scent of flowers. Clove has eugenol that can irritate and discourage ground bees from coming to those areas with clove fragrance.
You can mix clove oil with water in a spray bottle and apply it on the grass, flowers, and the ground. In addition, dipping cotton balls into clove oil and placing them near the entry point of the ground bees' nest encourage them to move away.
9. Covering the Entrance Hole
One of the easiest and most convenient ways to manage the population of ground bees is by denying them entry into their burrow. You need to identify their nesting areas and then place bricks, stone, or other heavy objects directly over the hole.
This will deny them entry into their tunnel and cannot lay eggs there. When they cannot get into their holes, they will search for other alternative areas to make their burrows. You need to block their entry points in the afternoon when they are away.
10. Compacting the Soil
Ground bees prefer to dig up dry and loose soil as it is easier to dig up. However, compacting the soil makes it denser and more compact. This makes it harder for ground bees to excavate the soil takes much more of their labor and discourages bees from making tunnels there.
This approach of compacting the soil around your house might provide an effective measure to prevent them from tunneling and keeping them away. You can compact the soil simply by walking or rolling.
Ground bees are attracted to bare or patchy ground as they are easier to burrow. So, another effective approach to deterring them is mulching because mulching prevents the soil from getting exposed by covering the soil.
Mulching provides a cover for the soil by retaining moisture and other useful nutrients. This makes the soil undesirable for the nesting of ground bees as they prefer dry soil. This also denies ground bees access to the ground and prevents them from burrowing it.
12. Fencing
Although fencing will not prevent ground bees from coming to your land, it can somewhat reduce their presence. You can build a fence around your garden with a fine wire mesh to deter ground bees, but you have to remember that ground bees can fly a great height in the atmosphere and overpass such barriers.
Paving the ground can be an effective approach to keeping ground-nesting bees away. You can pave your ground surface to prevent ground bees from making burrows and nestling. You can use stones, bricks, tiles, or other concrete materials for paving the ground, which makes it impossible for ground bees to make tunnels and burrows.
Covering the ground can reduce the groundwater table, so, eco-friendly pavers which can absorb and pass rainwater into the ground for infiltration are suggested. This can deter the ground bees and at the same time maintain the ground water table.
14. Have Patience
Another great option might be just waiting for ground bees to leave as they usually live in one particular area for about 2 to 4 weeks. So, you just need to have patience and can wait for them to move away. This way you do not have to use any costly equipment and do not need to hurt ground bees.
Additionally, you can use a combination of approaches with patience like planting grasses and flowers that repel ground bees.
15. Calling an Expert Beekeeper
If there is a large number of ground bee holes in your garden or lawn, it is advisable to call an expert beekeeper. They understand bees' behavior and have adequate knowledge and skills in handling them.
As beekeepers are advocators for bees, they handle rescuing and relocating bees instead of exterminating them. Relocating them to a healthy habitat will ensure their conservation and help in maintaining a well-functioning ecosystem. This way they can keep both the bees and humans safe.
What are Ground Bees?
Unlike honey bees, ground bees do not live in a hive or a colony and do not have a queen. Ground bees burrow a tunnel in the ground and leave a mound of soil near the entrance.
Only female has a tunnel, often in a close periphery to the nests of other ground bees where they lay eggs and males roam around the tunnels looking for a partner.
Male ground bees are not aggressive and do not have stingers. Sometimes they might show aggressive behavior and come at you, but they cannot sting and will just bounce off your body. However, female ground bees show quite aggressive behavior as they take care of the larvae.
Common Types of Ground Bees
There are more than four thousand species of ground bees. Most of these bees are solitary ground dwellers which are essential for pollinating fruit and flowers. Here, some common species of ground bees with their features are explained.
Long-Horned Bees
Long-horned bees have a pair of long antennas which are sometimes longer than their entire body. This might be the reason for how it got its name. They make tunnels with multiple cells, where one specific cell is used for laying eggs and the female fills with pollens and nectar for the larvae.
Long-horned bees are found in meadows, cliffs with soft rocks, quarries, coastal regions, etc., and often roam around meadows with flowery legumes like Kidney vetch, clovers, etc., where they play a vital role in pollinating these plants.
Digger Bees
Digger bees are strong and hard-working ground bees that can dig a tunnel up to 7 inches in depth. They get their name from their formidable talent for digging.
Digger bees are very hairy, especially the females, and this makes them excellent pollinators. They are robust and comparatively shorter than other bees. Digger bees are found in areas with little or no vegetation, flat ground, or areas that previously faced drought.
Mining Bees
Mining bees are smaller than honey bees and are fuzzy in appearance. They might look almost like bumble bees, however, mining bees are smaller and less hairy than bumble bees.
The females make the tunnel which extends like the stack of the chimney, and because of this reason, they are called chimney bees. These bees nestle in clayey soil, hills, and near the bank.
Polyester or Plasterer Bees
Polyester or plasterer bees (sometimes called Colletid bees) secrete cellulose-like substances from their salivary gland, which they use to coat their nest where they store pollens, making it water-proof. They get their name because of the characteristics of making plaster-like walls.
Polyester bees make several cells on dry and well-drained soil and separate cells to lay eggs where they store pollens for the larvae.
Sweat Bee or Halictid Bees
As their name suggests, sweat bees are attracted to sweat. Salt is a part of their diet, which they obtain from humans. So, they might approach us but are harmless. They are of slender bodies with metallic black, brown, green, or blue color and have bands like honey bees.
Sweat bees often make tunnels in clay soil and the soil near the river banks where they lay eggs. One egg is laid on each pollen ball and this provides the larvae with nourishment.
Bumble Bees
Unlike other ground-dwelling bees, bumble bees are social bees and live in a colony with a queen. Bumble bees are fuzzy in appearance and are key pollinators. Similar to honey bees, the queen and worker bees pose stingers but not the drone bees. Each of these bees has a specific role, from collecting pollens to safeguarding the colony.
Although bumble bees mostly reside underground, they can also dwell in hollow trees, cavities, and abandoned bird nests. The queen lays eggs during the summer when the food is abundant and stops laying eggs in the early fall.
Mason or Osmia Bees
Mason bees can be found in cavities, loose soil, dead logs, etc., and can change their dwelling place according to their needs using mud. Because of these masonry characteristics, they are called mason bees.
They can be found in deserts, grasslands, shrublands, and forests, and can be of metallic blue, green, black, and rust-like color. The nest of mason bees has many cells and the females lay an egg in each cell providing pollens in each cell.
Squash Bees
Squash bees are almost the same size as bumble bees and have a pair of long antennas and forage on pumpkins, gourds, and flower of squash. They have yellow-colored hairs on their body and hind legs, whereas their abdomen has alternate colors of yellow and white.
Squash bees are solitary bees and are ground dwellers that live in vertical tunnels, almost beneath the plants they feed on. Female squash bees make a separate chamber to lay eggs and fill it will pollen for the larvae before closing off the chamber.
Pantaloon Bees
The hairs on the hind legs of the pantaloon bee make it look like a pantaloon or trousers, and this is how this bee got its name. These bees are yellow, black, or metallic hue in color and have a pair of medium-range antennas.
Pantaloon bees are solitary bees and are commonly found near coastal areas as they prefer to build their home by excavating loose sands in Mediterranean and temperate regions. Like other ground bees, pantaloon bees also stack up food in their tunnels for their larvae.
Can Ground Bees Affect Us?
1. Health Impacts
Ground bees are generally harmless and have little or no impact on humans. As we discussed, most male ground bees do not have stingers. Only the females have stingers and they tend to sting if they feel threatened or vulnerable.
Even if the ground bees bite, their venom is non-toxic and gives a mild sensation of pain, or swelling. Some people allergic to bees can develop allergic reactions and should seek medical attention immediately.
Ground bees dig up the soil leaving small mounds of dirt on the ground. Some ground bees can live in the holes in woods, and walls, sometimes. This might temporarily degrade the landscape and reduce the aesthetic beauty of our house and the surroundings.
Benefits of Ground Bees
All bees, including ground bees, have countless advantages to mankind and our environment. They are essential for pollination and the balance of our delicate ecosystem.
Some of the benefits of ground bees are:
1. Pollinations
Ground bees are very important pollinators, pollinating several species of fruits and vegetables both in our fields and in the wild; contributing to the pollination of more than 80% of flowering plants.
The pollination of plants provides several species of animals and humans with food and shelter which are essential for the survivability of the majority of species. This is the basis for the food web of our ecosystem which ensures energy and nutrient cycle.
3. Maintain Soil Health
When ground bees dig up for their tunnels, this creates gaps in the soil which is essential for soil aeration. In addition, this helps in loosening up the soil, which maintains soil health, and promotes root growth.
4. Provides Food
The majority of fruits, vegetables, and other crops will be able to produce seeds and fruits because of the pollination by ground bees. This ensures the availability of food for countless animals and humans.
