{"id":163,"date":"2020-03-19T14:33:11","date_gmt":"2020-03-19T18:33:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/doughertyhort\/?p=163"},"modified":"2020-03-19T14:33:11","modified_gmt":"2020-03-19T18:33:11","slug":"mining-bees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/doughertyhort\/2020\/03\/mining-bees\/","title":{"rendered":"Mining Bees"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Mining bee damage to lawn
Photo credit: Jim Houldridge
<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Imagine walking outside one morning to get the newspaper and you notice hundreds of small ant mounds in the front yard.\u00a0 What are the neighbors going to think?\u00a0 Upon further inspection you notice perfectly drilled holes in the middle of those mounds thus making you think that they may not be ant mounds.\u00a0 Now you are perplexed.\u00a0 You go inside and try to explain this to your spouse.\u00a0 A little while later I get a text or phone call asking the following questions.\u00a0 What is causing these mounds?\u00a0 Will this kill my grass?\u00a0 What can I spray?\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo Credit: Jim Houldridge<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I immediately think that you are asking about bees or earthworms.\u00a0 So I ask if the holes are about the size of a #2 yellow pencil.\u00a0 Are they clean drilled holes? Well, do not be alarmed. \u00a0They are just mining, ground or digger bees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mining, ground or digger bees nest in burrows in the\nground.  The burrows tend to be located\nwhere there is exposed soil, thin grass, and good drainage.  The hole is about \u00bc inch in diameter and is\nsometimes surrounded by a small mound of soil. \nThese bees tend be solitary bees. \nThe female digs her own burrow to pack it with pollen and nectar.  She then lay her eggs on that food mass.  During the winter, the larva feed on the\nstored food.  As they become adults, the bees\noverwinter in the burrow site.  They will\nemerge in early spring, mate, and then begin burrow excavation.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Large numbers of males may be seen flying about low to the\nground.  They are not aggressive and\nseldom sting.  They are just looking to\nmate.  This will usually last for about 2\nto 4 weeks.  At this point they are just\na nuisance to people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These bees are important pollinators, and they are aerating your\nyard at no charge.   Avoid trying to control them with insecticides.  Heavy watering or the elimination of bare-ground\nareas will discourage these bees and their nesting behavior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sources: University of Maryland Extension, Mining Bees-Lawns<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Imagine walking outside one morning to get the newspaper and you notice hundreds of small ant mounds in the front yard.\u00a0 What are the neighbors going to think?\u00a0 Upon further inspection you notice perfectly drilled holes in the middle of those mounds thus making you think that they may not be ant mounds.\u00a0 Now you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":273,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/doughertyhort\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/doughertyhort\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/doughertyhort\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/doughertyhort\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/273"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/doughertyhort\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/doughertyhort\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":167,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/doughertyhort\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163\/revisions\/167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/doughertyhort\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/doughertyhort\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.extension.uga.edu\/doughertyhort\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}