Bees nesting in lawn

Would someone here help identify a social bee that nests in lawns? The bees look very like honeybees (from a few feet away) in size and coloration (they are almost certainly not wasps). They aren't particularly aggressive but alas, yesterday one did sting a toddler who grabbed at it while playing on the grass. The nest is in a very central and unavoidable place on a neighbor's property. I'm trying to get information to learn (a) what species these are, and (b) if there's a way to avoid destroying them. (As much as I hate the thought of killing bees, these may in fact be best removed from the gene pool for nesting is such a silly spot as the edge of a front walk.)

Many thanks for any information. Carol

Reply to
CbarRose
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Reply to
animaux

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Reply to
dr-solo

They aren't yellow jackets, nor any sort of wasp I've ever seen. I've gardened for years and have seen enough yellow jackets to make that distinction. I wish they were, because then I'd be able to advise my neighbors to get them zapped. Right now, I'm trying to figure out a more conservative approach, because, fortunately, no one has become hysterical......yet!

Thanks for a very logical suggestion....I wish it were so.

Carol

Reply to
CbarRose

Thank you for a reasonable suggestion, but these bees are swarming around the nest area and it wouldn't be possible to capture one. I realize the identification I gave is vague; I guess I'm just looking to narrow down the possibilities so I can do some more online research. I've tried searching for "ground-nesting social bees" and the like, and have had lots of hits but no real means of identification. (And it may not matter.....!)

By the way, I'm in the northeastern USA, if that helps with anything.

Thanks again, Carol

Reply to
CbarRose

How social? According to a number of sites, there are a number of ground-nesting bees, and while most are *relatively* solitary, they can nest in groups.

See:

ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2143.html

Another site claims that Africanized honeybees will nest in the ground:

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billo

Reply to
Bill Oliver

The first site you indicated above was one I'd visited earlier but I just went back and reread the following which appears under the Bumble Bee section:

This is the scenario we're witnessing now, with many males flying around the entrance. My neighbors have summoned, through the advice of the township, a local beekeeper, who confirms the identification. We are seeing, for the most part, a hundred or more very nonaggressive males, but the child was stung yesterday by a stinging worker, and there's no way to avoid that happening again. If the nest were in a place that could be cordoned off and avoided, it would pose no hazard. However, it borders a heavily-trafficked sidewalk where kids ride bikes and play.

Anyway, thanks to all for your timely and helpful responses. For now, I'm leaving it to my neighbors, who are leaning towards having the colony destroyed. (If it were on my lawn, I'd find another way.)

Thanks all, Carol

Reply to
CbarRose

Can you describe it in more detail. coloration,flight,size,etc?

Reply to
Beecrofter

The bees are 1/2 - 3/4 inches in length (they aren't uniform in size), and more round than slender. The abdomen is dark, the thorax is yellow with some black. (I know, pretty lousy description!) Several I saw today going into the nest hole had pollen baskets. The local beekeeper who was called to the location could only ascertain that they were NOT honeybees (which we knew, of course) and were bees rather than wasps (which we also knew). Their behavior seems exactly that of the ground-nesting bumble bees whose description I quoted in a previous post today, but to me they don't look like bumble bees (not fuzzy overall, just the thorax).

I'll have to wait until morning to get a better look, now that you've asked the questions, unless you can make a determination now. (I'm not even sure they'll still be there, unfortunately.)

Many thanks! Carol

Reply to
CbarRose

Could be "digger" bees, (anthropodidae):

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Reply to
Sed5555

snipped-for-privacy@aol.comspamnot (CbarRose) wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@mb-m21.aol.com:

I thought you said that your neighbors said that the local beekeeper said that they were bumblebees:

snipped-for-privacy@aol.comspamnot (CbarRose) wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@mb-m02.aol.com:

snipped-for-privacy@aol.comspamnot (CbarRose) wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@mb-m21.aol.com:

I doesn's seem to match the digger bee picture in the link provided by sed5555 ... shiny green non-spotted thorax, head hard to tell but looks greenish, does have yellow segment.

Is it a carpenter bee?

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have a dark spot on the thorax and looks like it might have a yellow thin segment.

Wow, searching for pictures ... there are an awful lot of kids, pets and Autobots masquerading as bumblebees.

-- Salty

Reply to
Salty Thumb

Can't you describe what it looks like? You say you don't recognize it as anything familiar, but what then does it look like. Size, color, big, small, rings around abdomen, anything you can see?

BTW, I don't know what you mean by swarming. Describe that, as well.

Reply to
animaux

Not all bumble bees look the same. My guess is they are bumble bees and are beneficial insects.

Reply to
animaux

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