An Ithaca cemetery hosts one of the largest concentrations of ground-nesting bees on Earth.Each spring, the soil at East Lawn Cemetery in Ithaca, New York, erupts with life as millions of bees burst forth from underground all at once.These are not social honeybees living in hives. They are solitary miner bees known as Andrena regularis. The insects spend nearly their entire lives hidden in individual underground tunnels. For most of the year they stay out of sight, then emerge en masse in early spring to feed, mate, and lay eggs for the next generation.Researchers from Cornell University calculated that roughly 853 bees occupy every square meter of soil. Across the entire cemetery, this translates to as many as 5.5 million bees surfacing during a single season.The staggering scale of this population was only fully revealed in 2021, when scientists began intensive study of the site. Using small emergence traps placed on the ground, they sampled the area and confirmed the enormous hidden colony.What makes the phenomenon especially remarkable is the bees’ life cycle. They overwinter as fully grown adults, an uncommon trait, and appear early in spring to coincide with the flowering of apple trees. This timing makes them vital pollinators for regional crops such as apples and blueberries.Despite their massive numbers, these bees are surprisingly easy to miss. About 75 percent of all bee species nest in the ground, yet they receive far less attention than the more familiar hive-dwelling species.The cemetery turns out to be an ideal refuge. The soil is seldom disturbed, pesticide use is minimal, and the habitat remains stable throughout the year.Scientists caution that such unique sites can vanish rapidly if the land is developed or paved. In an instant, millions of essential pollinators could be lost forever.Science and facts💡
An Ithaca cemetery hosts one of the largest concentrations of ground-nesting bees on Earth.Each spring, the soil at East Lawn Cemetery in Ithaca, New York, erupts with life as millions of bees burst forth from underground all at once.These are not social honeybees living in hives. They are solitary miner bees known as Andrena regularis. The insects spend nearly their entire lives hidden in individual underground tunnels. For most of the year they stay out of sight, then emerge en masse in early spring to feed, mate, and lay eggs for the next generation.Researchers from Cornell University calculated that roughly 853 bees occupy every square meter of soil. Across the entire cemetery, this translates to as many as 5.5 million bees surfacing during a single season.The staggering scale of this population was only fully revealed in 2021, when scientists began intensive study of the site. Using small emergence traps placed on the ground, they sampled the area and confirmed the enormous hidden colony.What makes the phenomenon especially remarkable is the bees’ life cycle. They overwinter as fully grown adults, an uncommon trait, and appear early in spring to coincide with the flowering of apple trees. This timing makes them vital pollinators for regional crops such as apples and blueberries.Despite their massive numbers, these bees are surprisingly easy to miss. About 75 percent of all bee species nest in the ground, yet they receive far less attention than the more familiar hive-dwelling species.The cemetery turns out to be an ideal refuge. The soil is seldom disturbed, pesticide use is minimal, and the habitat remains stable throughout the year.Scientists caution that such unique sites can vanish rapidly if the land is developed or paved. In an instant, millions of essential pollinators could be lost forever.Science and facts💡
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