


Marvellous Miners
Why choose this project?
Most of the UK's native bees are solitary bees, which do not form communal nests. Instead, female bees make and provision their own individual nests, usually in tunnels or tubes. Mining bees are a type of ground-nesting solitary bees and are the largest genus of bee in the UK, with 67 different species. Despite this, they are often overlooked - let's see if we can change that!
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This project aims to see if we can make 'bee hotels' suitable for mining bees. We have a few ideas to try out, and as this is a pilot project, we are just as interested in what does not work as we are in what does.
How can you help?
We are looking for volunteers to make different types of mining bee hotels so we can understand what they like. We then ask you to observe these hotels once a week to determine if there are any bees using the space (and what kind they are).
What do you get out of it?
By taking part in this project, you will be helping to conserve a genus of bee which is often overlooked in conservation at the same time as increasing the ecological value of your garden. Mining bees provide our gardens with lots of ecosystem services - as well as being charismatic creatures and great pollinators, their burrows also aerate the soil.
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