Dunning’s Miner Bee

Love is in the air! 🐝💛 Dunning's miner bees (Andrena dunningi) pair up in early spring, ensuring the next generation of these essential pollinators. A fleeting moment of romance before the real work begins!

Unlike honeybees that live in large colonies, Andrena dunningi is a ground-nesting species. Each female digs her own burrow in bare soil, often in clusters with other miner bees. These nests are harmless to gardens—no structural damage, no aggressive behaviour, just quiet pollination at work!

Despite their impressive work ethic, these bees are incredibly docile and rarely sting. Their sole focus is collecting pollen from early bloomers like willow flowers (Salix spp.), particularly black willow (Salix nigra) and sandbar willow (Salix interior). Occasionally, they’ll visit bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis), another springtime gem.

If you spot small holes in your garden soil, congratulations—you’ve got miner bees! Consider yourself lucky and let them be; their presence is a sign of a healthy ecosystem. But beware of certain gardening practices: tilling the soil can destroy their nests, and mulching too heavily makes the ground unattractive for nesting. Giving these hard-working bees space to thrive ensures they continue playing their vital role in pollination.

So next time you see a small bee darting between early blossoms, remember—it might just be Andrena dunningi, nature’s quiet pollinator, buzzing away in service of the season!