I’ve recently noticed a lot of bee activity at the bottom of a shrub in my yard. At a quick glance they appear to be yellow and black striped, 1/2 an inch long, and thinnish. They appear to be going into a hole at the base of the shrub. It’s a very thick shrub so I can’t see into it, but it’s it possible that the bees have built a hole underground or is the hive inside the shrub? I’ve never thought it possible that bees could hollow out a hole underground.
Yellow Jackets build nests in the ground…that’s my bet as to what they are. Yellow Jackets are wasps, not bees. It might be an old mouse or vole hole, but I think they can excavate a hole on their own, too.
Bumblebees and various other species of native bees will nest in the ground. But if they were thinnish, it’s more likely Boscibo is correct and it is some sort of wasp.
- Tamerlane
Yep, sounds like yellow jackets. I’ve seen both these and bumble bees make nests in the ground, under the porch, in a tree, really where ever there’s some shelter. I have two bumble bee nests and one wasp nest in the yard as I type. Be careful about running the lawn mower over them as yellow jackets are quite aggresive. You can either aniahlate the nest now, or wait untill next year when it will most likely be vacated as wasps tend to build new nests every year.