Mining Bees

Types of Bees Types of Bees Types of Wasps

Mining Bees (family Andrenidae) get their common name based on their practice of building ground nests. While they are classified as solitary bees, often females build nests in proximity to each other, creating large mining bee colonies.

A couple of sentences describing the over one thousand native mining bee species can reasonably be called insufficient. Only the explanation of a trained entomologist, with years of experience could do the family explanatory justice.

Having said that, the bulk of native mining bees slightly resemble a smaller version of a honeybee, albeit one with a darker body.

Since that description might also apply to other bees, identifying any of the over one thousand mining bee species native to the United States can be difficult.

Usually the presence of an extra hairy back leg serves as an additional field identification clue for the family. Females collect pollen on those legs.

Based on the hairy leg clue, the species in the top picture is tentatively identified as a mining bee.

© 2009 Patricia A. Michaels