With all the recent publicity about bees dying off all around the world due to a number of reasons including viruses, loss of habitat, climate change, and more, the bee is getting much love lately. Consequently, education about bees is also on the rise. In spite of the notorious dangers posed by bees that inflict painful and sometimes dangerous stings on humans and pets, bees are fascinating creatures.

There are more than 16,000 species of bees. One of them, the miner bee (a.k.a. ground bee) looks very similar to a honey bee. But unlike honey bees, ground bees do not live in hive-based communities.

Instead, they burrow into the ground to build a nest used primarily for laying eggs.

The hard work of tunneling up to four inches into the earth is assumed by the female who, after completing the tunnel, constructs an elaborate mound atop the nest using tiny clay or sandy pellets excavated from below.

Then, she retrieves a ball of pollen mixed with nectar to line the bottom of the nest before laying an egg.

It's a process the female will complete several times usually starting in May each year.

You'll want to watch your step as you navigate through your yard if you see clumps of ground bee nests. They are easy to spot and look a little like freaky ant hills.

There could be hundreds of them, or just a few.

After about 6-8 weeks, the ground bees that emerged in May will have completed their nest building, egg laying cycle and they'll soon die off.

Approximately five days after each egg is laid underneath the earth's surface, it will hatch into a larva and remain under the ground until it emerges next May to start the cycle all over again.

If you're wondering if these ground bees can land you in the hospital in the same way as can a honey bee, the answer is it's possible but not likely.

The sting of a miner bee is seldom strong enough to hurt, much less cause the kind of reaction a sting from a honey bee can elicit.

So why watch your step when the ground bees are nesting in the yard?

Since bees, in general, play a vital role in pollination of crops and flowers, we need to do all we can to preserve all 16,000 species. And since having ground bees in your yard means your crops and flowers are getting some extra pollination love, leaving them alone is especially beneficial.

In South Carolina, the ground bee (miner bee) is active from about mid-May through July. It gravitates to both sandy soils and clay soils. Have you seen nests from ground bees this year? It feels like there are so many more this year than in previous years, right?

Curious and want to know more? Keep reading here.