Digger bees are common in our landscapes and can be found in gardens, parks, and backyards. They are also known as yellow jackets, bumble bees, and certain kinds of flies. While they can be easily confused with other species, these bees have some common behaviors. They are typically solitary and will fly around the airspace for mating. Here are some common food sources for these bees.
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Yellow jackets
Yellow jackets live in colonies. The female overwinters, or queen, finds a suitable nest site. A suitable nest site can be an abandoned mouse nest, a hollow tree, or even an attic. The queen lays eggs, which hatch into adult workers, which assume the tasks of expanding the nest and feeding the larvae. Digger bees, on the other hand, do not lay eggs.
Yellow jackets are hand-to-mouth feeders, which means they can recognize their food source and feed on it. However, in colder weather, they starve and are therefore aggressive. As a result, yellow jacket colonies grow largest in late summer and early fall, and they are well-fed in the spring. Although the insects are active during colder weather, they do not like warm weather. Digger bees will feed on yellow jacket larvae.
Bumble bees
Unlike other bees, bumblebees feed mainly on pollen. This substance feeds their larvae, which need lots of energy to survive. Bumblebees collect pollen from flowers and store it in their wax pot. They use the nectar for fuel and for egg production. In the spring, the workers will mate and produce new colonies. In the fall, the entire hive dies. Newly mated queens start a new colony.
Adult female digger bees spend the first few months of their life in the spring and summer building nests and provisioning brood cells. However, male diggers do not aid in the creation of new colonies of digger bees. When they first emerge, they tunnel upwards from their brood cells. The adult male digger bees usually fly low over open areas during the day.
Flowering plants
Often mistaken for honeybees, these insects are actually small, metallic bees. They can range in color from metallic to yellow, white, and rust. Female digger bees are fuzzy and carry pollen, but they do not sting unless threatened. Although digger bees aren’t aggressive, you should always use caution when handling them, especially if you’re allergic to bee stings.
During the spring and summer, flowering plants are what digger bees feed on. Digger bee larvae feed on flowering plants, and they live underground. They then emerge as adults the following year. Flowering plants will support bee populations for the rest of the growing season. The plants that flower in your yard should provide nectar and pollen for the bees’ larvae, so that they can feed on nectar and pollen.
The name “digger bee” comes from the Greek word “anthophora,” which means “flower-bearer”. In fact, the digger bee pollinates more than 90 percent of earth’s plants. Among their most common food sources are wild jewelweed, beardtongue, and chrysanthemum. In New York State, there are five species of digger bees.
Pollen
In early spring, we saw a mining bee. This small bee is an important pollinator in the landscape. They have bristly pollen-carrying hairs that help them reach flowers. They feed on pollen to produce bee bread, which is then consumed by their larvae. Eventually, digger bees emerge as adults. However, their work isn’t complete – they also eat nectar.
These metallic, hairy bees are native to the United States. They come from several families. While they are solitary, they work as native pollinators, constructing cylindrical underground tunnels. Then, they forage on flowers nearby and lay their eggs for the next generation. They are absent from the environment during winter, but return to the ground for hibernation in the fall.
The female carpenter bee collects pollen from flowering plants, laying her eggs in this nest. The female carpenter bee carries pollen on her hind legs and pollen-laden body hairs. The pollen dries on her body and sticks to its hair, thus attracting the female. Digger bees feed on pollen and nectar, which is why they prefer flowering plants.
