All articles tagged with #ground nesting
Cornell researchers estimated 3–8 million Andrena regularis bees living underground beneath East Lawn Cemetery near Cornell Orchards, using emergence traps to count and arriving at 5.5 million as a midpoint. The finding underscores how cemetery grounds can host massive, understudied ground-nesting bee populations and highlights how nearby orchards provide forage, reinforcing cemeteries as biodiversity hotspots.
Researchers counting 3–8 million bees at East Lawn Cemetery in Ithaca, NY, estimate an average population of 5.5 million ground-nesting Andrena regularis. Using emergence traps over ~6,000 square meters, the study found males emerge first in April and highlighted nearby Cornell Orchards and sandy soil as key factors supporting this large, pesticide-free population. The work underscores cemeteries as biodiversity hotspots and pollinator habitats, and it launches a global citizen-science effort to document other ground-nesting bee populations.
Researchers from Cornell estimated about 5.56 million ground-nesting Andrena regularis bees emerging from a 6,500 square meter area beneath East Lawn Cemetery in Ithaca, New York—one of the largest bee aggregations on record—highlighting how undisturbed soil in cemeteries can support abundant, often overlooked pollinators.