Common Digger Bee (Anthophora sp)

This is the time of year to keep an eye out for the Common Digger Bees and their nests. We were walking around Hix Small Cemetery and found so many of these solitary bee nests in the sandy areas. We have to be careful not to step on the tiny nests, although many of them will get destroyed as people drive their vehicles onto the cemetery grounds.

I stopped walking when I neared a couple of nests and just stood quietly hoping to see a bee emerge from each of them. The first nest housed a very shy bee. If you look carefully, you can just see the white tips of their antennae in the nest. This bee never emerged while I was there.

The second nest, next door, had a braver bee who moved into the nest opening and seemed to sun itself while I was standing as still as I could, nearby. Sweet! Did you know that solitary bees live alone, although they may have their nests near each other? The majority of the native bees in the United States are solitary species. They are important pollinators. Here is a nice article on Solitary Bees by the National Wildlife Federation.