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British Beekeepers Association Official Forum 

  • Solitary bees

  • General Q&A, Bee chat and only Bee chat please
General Q&A, Bee chat and only Bee chat please
 #3084  by PJay
 14 May 2019, 10:41
A couple of month ago I dug up some alpine plants and inadvertantly disturbed a fairly large population of solidary bees which had nested in the soil. The latter covers a large area and is approximatley 30 ft x 2 ft and is right in front of my front window so naturally I do want a strip of bare soil on show, but on the other hand I do not want any harm to come to the bees. Is there a time of the year when I could plant some perennials, e.g. wall flowers, but cause only limited disturbance to the bee population?
 #3092  by Jim Norfolk
 14 May 2019, 18:35
The adult bees are flying now but will stop in a month or so. They will leave behind larvae in tunnels which can be anything from about 6 inches to 2 feet underground depending on which species you have. They provision the larvae with pollen and they develop into pupae and overwinter in the soil. The next generation emerges around March the following year depending on the weather and location. If you are only planting near the surface, then as soon as the flying bees have finished would be fine. Otherwise planting in winter through to March would be OK. If the soil is not compacted the new bees should be able to dig themselves out in spring. You should be able to see the tunnel entrances and could maybe plant small wallflower plants between them now.
 #3093  by PJay
 14 May 2019, 18:46
Jim Norfolk wrote:
14 May 2019, 18:35
The adult bees are flying now but will stop in a month or so. They will leave behind larvae in tunnels which can be anything from about 6 inches to 2 feet underground depending on which species you have. They provision the larvae with pollen and they develop into pupae and overwinter in the soil. The next generation emerges around March the following year depending on the weather and location. If you are only planting near the surface, then as soon as the flying bees have finished would be fine. Otherwise planting in winter through to March would be OK. If the soil is not compacted the new bees should be able to dig themselves out in spring. You should be able to see the tunnel entrances and could maybe plant small wallflower plants between them now.
Jim - many thanks. I will follow your suggestions and plant later in the year.