What kind of ground bees?

Royse

Well-known Member
There are a couple in the picture, but they're hard to see.
The hole in the ground is about 2 x 3 inches.
I mowed within 3 feet of this nest with a commercial zero turn
before I knew it was there. They were not aggressive.
After that, I walked up close enough to take this picture.
Again, they were not aggressive.
They almost look and act like honey bees, but I've never seen
honey bees build a nest in the ground like this.
I'm in mid-Michigan if climate/location matters for determination.

mvphoto81841.jpg
 
Royce,

We have ground bees in Tennessee. They are yellow jackets. They are very aggressive and sting like crazy. Their bodies are shaped more like wasps
than honey bees. When I find one of their holes, I wait until nightfall, pour a little bit of gasoline into the hole, and ignite it. You don't want
too much gasoline because their hole in the ground can be a rather extensive underground maze and you wouldn't want to ignite a large area.

That might not be what you have. That is what we have here.

Tom in TN
 
Tom you are correct. I had the same thing here 3 weeks ago. Mowed up close and saw yellow jackets coming out
of the hole. Pop bottle of gasoline and a match eliminated the problem.
 
You should leave them alone if possible. Mean as
they are, they contribute to the pollination process.
But if theyre near an area where someone could
get hurt, then yea they gotta go. This is the surprise
I got while fixing a tire. I got out of there fast. Next
morning it was gone, a skunk or something ate it.
cvphoto101268.jpg
 
We have yellow jackets and bumble bees here too.
I would think yellow jackets would have been way more aggressive.
And these were far smaller than bumble bees. Honey be sized.
My eyesight isn't what it used to be, even through my bifocals.
I'll see if I can catch one, but they do need to be dispatched.
They are within a few yards of the house where the grandkids play.
 
I found a Yellow Jackets nest in the ground by good luck I didn't get stung. There was plenty of activity around the nest. When
I looked up how to eliminate them I got an answer. It said to use water and dish soap. So at nightfall I poured water and soap
down the hole. I haven't seen any activity since. It was a lot safer than gasoline as the hole was only 2 feet from my garage.
 
There is a guy here in North Texas I
know. He was running a tractor and brush
hog and run over one in the ground. They
were bees. He was stung around 100 times.
He went to the hospital and spent the
night. He has never been allergic to
stings before but after this he was given
an epy pen. The doctors told him that he
might be now.
 
They may well be mason bees. They are very
passive. I have them in the ground in the
equipment shed. You can walk through them
with no action. Take a look at pictures of
mason bees and see if they look familiar.
I can't tell from the picture.
 
I think I'm a few miles south of you. I moved a couple mty plts last week and saw the same thing. I
was surprised that they didn't seem to bother me or mind my presence. They had a similar hole in the
ground. I just took my plts and left them alone.

I've ran into them before brush hogging and they weren't so friendly. Another reason why I went with
cab tractors. I've seen bees more than once going nuts around the windows trying to get to me.
 
(quoted from post at 17:43:58 09/15/21) You should leave them alone if possible. Mean as
they are, they contribute to the pollination process.
But if theyre near an area where someone could
get hurt, then yea they gotta go. This is the surprise
I got while fixing a tire. I got out of there fast. Next
morning it was gone, a skunk or something ate it.
<img src=https://www.yesterdaystractors.com/cvphotos/cvphoto101268.jpg>
Actually yellow jackets dont pollinate anything. Honey bees and bumble bees do.
 
royce, being a beekeeper, i am a little familiar with bees , hornets and wasps. all bees have hair on their bodies, honey bee, mason bee, bumble bee,
carpenter bee, ect. as a bee flies it generates static electricity. when it lands on a flower, the pollen is attracted to the static charge on the hair. as the
bee flies, it combs the pollen with its legs, mixed with a little honey the bee carries in its stomach, it forms a pollen pellet it stores on its back legs for the
return flight to the hive. hornets and wasps are generally carnivorous, preying on insects, meats, sugar sweets ect. soooo, what it looks like you
have is a yellow jacket nest. it is either western yellow jackets, southern yellow jackets, or german yellow jackets. i got a call a week ago to remove a
beehive at a neighbors house. it was yellow jackets. i used tempo dust to kill the hive. altho i had my bee suit on, they were not aggressive at all at the
time i treated the nest. depending on weather conditions, food availability, and other factors they can be calm or super aggressive. if it has hair on it, its
a bee, if it doesnt, its a wasp or hornet.
 
I am really interested in seeing these bees. If you cannot get a pic of one landing shoot it again and push the exposure 2-3 fstops.
 
Thank you glennster, I appreciate the information!
I'm familiar with the hair/no hair comparison, as well as the
different body shapes of wasps/hornets/mud dobbers for example.
My eye sight is failing me here though.
I can see honey bee sized "critters", with yellow and black on them,
that build a nest, or inherit a nest, in the ground.
Curiosity though, where do "yellow jackets" fall in those categories?
I assume they are not bees, but some flavor of wasp or hornet?
 
Bumblebees and Yellow Jackets are the only two colony-type wasps/bees that make a nest in the ground. There are others, but the others that I know of are more solitary.

Since you mention that they resemble honey bees, I would be very careful near that hole. My guess is they are Yellow Jackets (wasps; not bees). In my area, the Yellow Jackets have become somewhat less aggressive at the moment as they are preparing to ready the hive for Winter. BUT.....if they deem you a threat, that also means they will likely attack more ferociously than normal. When one stings, it prompts others to join in. The more they sting you, the more it calls for others to do the same.
 
Years ago yellow jackets dug a hole in my front lawn, didn't know it was there until I saw one sting my dog as it was walking by. That night I poured a little
gas in the hole and covered it with a piece of wood to keep the vapors in, they were dead by morning.
 
When I was still disking for others, there was one field that had bees in the ground. Every year almost in the same spot. When I went over the the top of them they were
some kind of peed off. It was like no bees, then bees everywhere in about three seconds. It wouldn't help to to to a higher gear, they could fly 10
times faster than my trctor. Before I knew it I was hit three times was the worst. Then I knew where they were, and went around them. Stan
 
There is a hole just like that near the shed where i park the ATV. Looked at it just the other day- saw an insect about an inch long, maybe 1 1/2 inch working at filling in the hole. So i
stepped on it, didn't kill it right off, but you could see it was angry and it was big. Quickly crushed it, so no photo possible. There is another hole nearby, might be time for some hornet
spray down the hole, not sure i want to use gasoline so close to a building- hate to get stung by something like that. Thanks for this post - we keep learning on this site.
 
I get yellow jackets in holes in my yard. I go out after dark
and pour some Sevin dust in and around the hole. In a couple
days they are dead or gone.
 
I used garden hose and flooded their hole. Put dirt over hole and water filled hole with dirt. Took care of my problem. My hole was next to well, so I didn't want to use chemicals.
 
valleview, what you are describing are cicada killer wasps. they hunt cicadas and bury them in the ground for their offspring to feed on. google a picture of them. they are harmless.
 
We have the small size ground wasps here, they are generally not aggressive, you can stand by the entrance, they won't bother
you. It's fun to cover it with a bucket or something similar to see how long it takes for them to find a detour.

Like most other wasps, disturb that nest and they will attack. The small ground wasps I have encountered, even when disturbed
intentionally, will bumble all around looking for the aggressor for a little while, then calm right down, back to their
regularly scheduled program. If you had mowed over the hole, you would find out if they are the same or similar.

I have disturbed a nest without knowing it was their, one time stood on the hole, didn't know it, got 3 dozen plus stings,
which do hurt, but not so much or long, but they itch for a week !!! That one nest I did dig up with the loader bucket and
destroy. It was like the tip of the iceberg once exposed, was huge and you'd never think it could be that big.

The entrance hole on your nest is very large, surprising actually. These darned ground wasps love the dead furrow side wall or
even ground that was worked in the last year, whenever I mow over those areas, I look real good or usually get nailed at least
once in the back of the head.

In comparison, bald or white face hornets are also not aggressive if you are near the paper type nest they build, you can
stand pretty close to those, obviously use care, but at the first inkling of a disturbance they become super aggressive and
they will attack at night, they leave a sentry outside near the nest. I have stood in their flyway, they just go around, then
hit the nest with something, and quickly got away to observe. They never figured out it was me ! They calm soon, but if you
get tagged with the pheromone with those, you will get nailed hard by lots of them. I do not clear brush this time of year, or
late summer, you miss seeing one of these on an open station tractor, not good and I narrowly avoided this scenario in '04
once, nest was at face level too. Glad I spotted it, was a huge one too.
 

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Back
Top