Have you ever seen so many miner bees on a street corner? There are 500-800 different native bee species in the Northwest. If they look different than the European honeybees that kids draw in grade school, they are probably a native bee. Native bees are often solitary, they don’t have a hive but tend to find the good nesting sites together. Two-thirds of native bees nest in the ground like these miner bees. They dig a pencil-sized hole in a small patch of clay-heavy soil and lay their eggs. Then they leave a pollen ball for each baby bee, and fly away. The other third of NW native bees find nesting holes in flower stalks and other tubular structures. Mason bees get creative, and plug up nest holes with mud to keep their eggs safe. You can protect ground nests by leaving the entrance clear of debris and avoiding pesticides. Stand by a native flowering shrub on a sunny, calm day and note how many different kinds of pollinators you see!
