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Create a Nesting Habitat for Mining Bees

Around 80% of Ireland’s 80 solitary bees are miners which make their nests by burrowing in bare earth. You can create much needed nesting habitats for these mining bees by building, or managing existing, bee banks.

Where: 

  • Sheltered, south to west facing, well drained area that will be in full sun for part of the day.
  • You can work with an existing earth bank /mound of soil or make a new one. A well-drained earth bank where the vegetation growth is not too strong will make an ideal nesting site.
  • As mining bees don’t travel far to feed, choose somewhere with plenty of flowers within 200 – 300 metres.

When: Anytime but they are more likely to be used if ready by early spring.

How:

To work with an existing earth bank:

  1. Carefully clear any vegetation from the bank to expose the soil so it doesn’t become too shaded for the bees.
  2. An area of at least 1m2 is ideal if you have the space, but smaller is fine. Larger areas are easier to maintain.
  3. Every year, in late autumn, gently clear any vegetation that has grown by hand.

To create a new earth mound:

  1. Build a mound of at least 60cm long by 40cm wide and 40 – 50cm high from soil.
  2. Making the mound on a flag stone or layer of gravel may help stop existing grasses from growing up through the mound.
  3. Add a ring of bricks or small rocks around the base to keep the soil in place, and firm the soil so the surface is hard and tightly packed.
  4. Gently weed each year in late autumn.
  5. If the mound becomes increasingly vegetated over time, make a new one and remove the original after a year or two if it is no longer used by nesting bees.

To create a nesting habitat in a container:

  1. Fill an appropriate container e.g. a large plant pot or wooden frame, with a mix of suitable compacted earth and put it in a sunny, sheltered location at ground level.
  2. Gently remove any seedling as they germinate to keep bare earth that the bees can dig their nests into.

 

Benefits:

Solitary bees are excellent pollinators especially of fruits trees and soft fruits. Ireland has around 100 native bee species, 80% of which are solitary bees. The majority of the solitary bees are mining bees that make their nests in the ground. Others are cavity nesting bees that build their nests in cavities in the likes of stones, bricks and wood. To help cavity nesting bees, see our tips on ‘How to create nesting habitat for cavity nesting bees’.