[TheMagus84]

I was watching a bee flying around when it landed on the sidewalk & then dug down into the dirt inbetween the blocks. He completely buried himself. No hole was left, he just disappeared into the dirt like one of those snakes in the desert that bury themselves to hide. I watched for quite awhile but he never came back out. My husband doesn't believe that it actually buried itself, he thinks I just didn't see it fly away, but I watched the whole thing, my face was only about 2 feet away from him, I saw his butt disappear into the dirt. So I'm not mistaken or confused, it really happened.
I was wondering if this is normal behavior for bees & if so, why do they do it?
I think it was a Honey Bee since it was smallish, but I'm no expert.
I hope I'm not intruding where I'm not welcome since I'm not a beekeeper. I just couldn't find any info about it anywhere & thought beekeepers might know.
I'm very curious, so any ideas about why they do this would be nice.
Thanks.

 

[Rader Sidetrack]

Welcome to Beesource!

'Honeybees' are a social bee, which means they live in a colony with many other honeybees. Those colonies are typically aboveground.

However there are other kinds of bees, likely native and characterized as solitary bees, that do nest in the ground. More on that here:
http://ecoipm.com/2014/03/13/ground-bees-active-but-do-not-threaten-people-or-yards/


And there are also other kinds of flying insect that may resemble bees, but perhaps are wasps, that nest in the ground.

 

[tabby]

I have also watched bees dig and bury themselves in my yard, but they weren't honey bees.

 

[Barry Digman]

Here's a link to some brief descriptions and photos of bees that are native to Michigan.

http://www.msue.msu.edu/objects/con...nhancing Farm Landscapes for Native Bees.pdf/

And the rule here is that once a husband is mistaken he's obligated to buy you a couple of beehives. Honest. It's a rule.

 

[TheMagus84]

Thanks for all the replies. I think I figured out which kind of bee it was. I looked at the pics from Barrys link & it looked most like the Andrenid Bee. They're solitary bees that nest in dry dirt. Thanks so much for helping me satisfy my curiosity. I think my husband might use his allergy to bee stings to get out of getting me the required "I was wrong" beehives though. :\
I'm going to read up on the Andrenid some more now since I saw quite a few of them yesterday. If they don't sting very often then I'll have one less bee to worry about when my husbands working in the yard.
If he does get me the beehive you can be sure I'll be back to ask how to care for it.
Thanks again.