The Digging Bees

It was gorgeous out today and I *almost* got over the fact that we couldn’t get our bees this weekend. It was nasty windy yesterday, so it was probably for the best. As it was I got all depressed this morning reading about genetically modified plants and then watched the episode of The Tudors where Anne Boleyn gets her head chopped off. Don’t get me wrong - I am not a big Boleyn fan. My sentiments have always run towards the Seymours but I was feeling particularly weepy this weekend and this hit me.
Fast forward to needing a walk out in the sun. I had been out in the yard earlier and noticed these big dirt piles that looked like ant hills. We had a nest of ferocious black and red ants under a rock and I hoped they weren’t spreading. They bite and it hurts…
When I got outside, I noticed all these bees flying close to the ground. And then one of them poked its head out of a hole I had presumed to be an ant hill. I found out that these are digging, or ground, bees. They’re found in dry clay or sandy soils. They aren’t aggressive and they help aerate the soil. Apparently they’ll be around for six weeks or so then go off to wherever it is that’s next on their itinerary.

In the picture there is a bee in the hole and another crawling around the outside. They are solitary - no big hives for these guys.

They are cute little buggers. Seems I have bees after all.