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Wooden bee house with nesting tubes mounted on a garden fence post

Do Bee Hotels Actually Help Native Bees? What a Bee Hotel Can and Can’t Do

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A bee hotel is a block or bundle of small tubes meant to give cavity-nesting bees a place to raise their young. They’re sold everywhere now, and many gardeners love watching them fill up. But do they actually help native bees? Research says the answer is “sometimes,” and a lot depends on how the hotel is built and cared for.

What the Research Found About Bee Hotels

A three-year study of about 600 bee hotels in Toronto by MacIvor and Packer (2015) counted more than 27,000 bees and wasps. Native wasps were the most common occupants, using almost three-quarters of the hotels each year. Introduced bees showed up at 32.9% of sites, and native bees were parasitized more often than introduced ones. The authors concluded that hotels appeared to boost wasps more than native bees and called for more research.

Most native bees don’t use hotels at all, because they nest in the ground. A bee hotel helps a small group of cavity nesters, mainly mason bees and leafcutter bees. See mason bees in Ohio.

Close view of bee hotel tubes, some capped with mud and some with leaf pieces
Mud caps usually mean mason bees; leaf plugs usually mean leafcutter bees.

How to Set Up a Bee Hotel That Helps

UNH Extension gives practical guidelines:

  • Use a mix of hole sizes from about 1/8 to 1/2 inch. Blue orchard bees prefer about 5/16 inch.
  • Close the back of each hole and keep the edges smooth.
  • Match depth to width. Narrow holes should be 3 to 5 inches deep.
  • Face it east or southeast for morning sun, with a roof or downward angle against rain.
  • Skip pressure-treated wood and mount the house a few feet off the ground.

Oregon State University Extension adds that solid wood blocks, bamboo and plastic tubes aren’t recommended because they hold moisture and can’t be opened for cleaning. Parasites and mold build up and kill many bees. Paper-lined tubes or laminated blocks that open let you clean cocoons in fall.

Wasps in Your Bee Hotel

If wasps move in, that matches what the Toronto researchers saw. Wasps that nest in tubes are solitary cavity nesters, and OSU Extension HYG-2143 notes most solitary bees and wasps only sting if you try to capture or restrain them. Yellowjackets and paper wasps are different: they build paper nests and live in colonies. If you’re seeing paper nests or a busy hole nearby, see identify a wasp nest by shape.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to clean a bee hotel?

Yes, if you want it to keep helping. Replace or open tubes and clean them so mites, mold and parasites don’t build up year after year.

Is a bee hotel better than flowers?

Flowers come first. Without nearby pollen and nectar, bees won’t use the hotel.

Will bumblebees use one?

Generally no. Bumblebees nest in cavities like old rodent burrows. See bumblebee nest in the ground.

Wasps or Bees Nesting Somewhere Else?

Honeybees, bumblebees and native paper wasps are always relocated, never exterminated. Call or text Northwest Ohio Wasp Removal at 419-614-6445, or use our contact page, and send a photo if you can. See humane bumblebee relocation and wasp and hornet nest removal.

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Dark mason bee at a small hole in wood plugged with mud

Mason Bees: Ohio’s Gentle Native Bees (and Leafcutter Bees)

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Small dark bees ducking into nail holes, siding gaps or hollow stems in spring and summer are usually gentle native bees. When people search for mason bees Ohio homeowners spot, they often find leafcutter bees too, since both nest in the same kinds of small holes. Neither lives in a hive, neither makes honey, and both rarely sting. Here’s how to tell them apart and when, if ever, they need to move.

Mason Bees, Ohio’s Mud Builders: What They Look Like

Oregon State University Extension describes the blue orchard bee, a common mason bee, as shiny dark blue-green and about the size of a honeybee. “Mason bee” is a general name for bees that build chambered nests in small crevices or holes using mud. They can’t drill their own holes. They use crevices in siding, old insect tunnels in wood, or nest tubes people put out.

A female packs pollen and nectar into the hole, lays an egg, and walls it off with mud. She repeats this until there are 5 to 8 chambers, then caps the end with mud. That mud plug is the easiest sign of a mason bee nest. Adults are active only for a short time in spring.

Leafcutter Bees

OSU Extension HYG-2143 notes that leafcutting bees look like honeybees but are usually darker, and females have white to yellowish hair under the abdomen. They prefer hollow stems or twigs, and sometimes use rotting logs or old beetle holes. They plug their cells with circular leaf sections. If you see neat, round notches cut from the edges of garden leaves, that’s a good sign leafcutter bees are nearby.

Leafcutter bee carrying a round piece of leaf; like mason bees, Ohio leafcutters are gentle
Leafcutter bees cut neat circles from leaves to line and plug their nests.

Do They Sting or Damage the House?

  • Stings are rare. Oregon State notes mason bees sting only if handled roughly or trapped under clothing. Colorado State University Extension says leafcutter bees aren’t aggressive, and their mild sting is much less painful than a honeybee’s or a yellowjacket’s.
  • They don’t bore into sound wood. Mason bees need holes that already exist, and Colorado State says leafcutter bees don’t damage homes or wooden structures.
  • They’re solitary. OSU notes most solitary bees sting only if you try to capture or restrain them. Females may nest close together, but each one tends her own nest.

When Do They Need Removal?

Rarely. Because the adults are active for a short season and don’t defend a colony, most mason and leafcutter bees can simply be left alone. If you’d rather they not use a particular gap, wait until they’re done for the season and then seal the hole. If you’re not sure what you have, send a photo. Small dark bees can be confused with sweat bees, mining bees or even small wasps. See sweat bees and mining bees and how to identify wasps, bees and hornets.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do mason bees make honey?

No. Oregon State notes mason bees are solitary and don’t produce honey.

Should I put up a bee house?

It can help if it’s built and cleaned properly. See do bee hotels actually help?

Are these the same as bumblebees?

No. Bumblebees are larger, fuzzier and live in colonies. See Ohio bumblebee species and buzz pollination.

Not Sure What’s Nesting in Your Siding?

Honeybees, bumblebees and native paper wasps are always relocated, never exterminated. Call or text Northwest Ohio Wasp Removal at 419-614-6445, or use our contact page, and send a photo if you can. See humane bumblebee relocation and wasp and hornet nest removal.

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Bumblebee gripping a yellow tomato flower

Buzz Pollination: Why Bumblebees Matter for Ohio Tomatoes and Blueberries

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If you’ve stood near a tomato plant in July and heard a bumblebee give off a sudden, louder buzz, you’ve heard buzz pollination. The USDA Forest Service explains that the bee grabs the flower and rapidly vibrates its flight muscles. That shakes the whole flower, and pollen streams out of small openings in the anthers. It’s one of the best reasons to relocate a bumblebee nest instead of killing it.

How Buzz Pollination Works

Some flowers don’t leave their pollen out in the open. Penn State Extension notes that blueberries and tomatoes keep their pollen hidden inside tube-shaped anthers, so it has to be buzzed out. The bee holds on to the blossom and vibrates at the right frequency, and the pollen falls onto her body.

This isn’t a rare trick of a few plants. A 2016 study in Apidologie by Switzer and others (2016) notes that about 8% of flowering plants, around 20,000 species, have these pore-like anthers. The same study found that bumblebees change their vibration frequency depending on the plant they’re working.

Bumblebee on white bell-shaped blueberry blossoms, a crop that benefits from buzz pollination
Blueberries are one of the crops that do better with bumblebee visits.

Honeybees Can’t Do It

The Forest Service guide states it plainly: honeybees do not buzz pollinate. That doesn’t make honeybees less valuable. It just means some plants depend on other bees. The USDA Forest Service lists tomatoes, cranberries, blueberries, eggplants and their relatives as plants bumblebees buzz pollinate. Tomatoes produce pollen but no nectar, and greenhouse growers bring in bumblebees, most often the common eastern bumblebee, to pollinate them.

The USDA National Agroforestry Center adds that tomatoes, cranberries and blueberries produce larger and more abundant fruit when they’re buzz pollinated. It also notes that bumblebees and mason bees stay active in weather that’s too cold or wet for honeybees, which helps on cool spring mornings when fruit plants bloom.

What Buzz Pollination Means for Your Garden

Why We Relocate Bumblebees

When a bumblebee nest is under a step, in the mowing path or next to a door, it may have to move. We relocate it instead of spraying it. The colony keeps working, and the garden keeps its buzz pollinators.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is that loud buzz a warning?

Usually not. A short, louder buzz while a bee clings to a tomato or blueberry flower is the sound of the bee vibrating pollen loose.

Do honeybees help tomatoes at all?

Honeybees don’t buzz pollinate, so researchers describe them as poor pollinators of tomatoes, peppers, blueberries and cranberries.

Can I attract more bumblebees?

Plant a mix of flowers that bloom from spring to fall and avoid spraying open blooms. Bumblebees also need undisturbed nest sites.

Bumblebee Nest Where It Can’t Stay?

Honeybees, bumblebees and native paper wasps are always relocated, never exterminated. Call or text Northwest Ohio Wasp Removal at 419-614-6445, or use our contact page, and send a photo if you can. See humane bumblebee relocation and wasp and hornet nest removal.

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Bumblebee feeding on the orange center of a purple coneflower

Are Bumblebees Aggressive? Bumblebee Behavior Around People

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Bumblebees are big, loud and fuzzy, and when one buzzes past your ear it’s natural to flinch. So are bumblebees aggressive? Away from their nest, not really. Washington State University Extension calls bumblebees among the most docile of bees when foraging, but notes they will aggressively defend their nests if necessary (WSU Extension). Here’s how they behave around people and what changes near a nest.

Are Bumblebees Aggressive on Flowers?

A bumblebee working your coneflowers or clover is collecting nectar and pollen. OSU Extension notes bumblebees are important pollinators of certain clovers because of their long tongues (OSU Extension HYG-2143). Bumblebees can also fly in colder and wetter weather than honeybees, WSU notes, which is why you may see them out on cool spring mornings. A foraging bumblebee generally ignores people unless it’s grabbed, stepped on or trapped against skin.

Near the Nest Is Different

OSU notes that social bumblebees will defend their nests. Nests are occasionally hit by mowers, and the irritated workers will aggressively pursue and sting repeatedly. Unlike honeybees, WSU says, bumblebees don’t have barbed stingers, so they can sting more than once. Most nests are in the ground or in protected spots such as old rodent burrows, cavities in wood, dry grass or leaf litter, or vacant birdhouses. See bumblebee nest in the ground.

Bumblebee flying toward purple catmint flowers in a garden bed, the kind of foraging scene where people ask are bumblebees aggressive
Bumblebees moving from flower to flower are foraging and rarely sting unless handled or trapped.

Behavior Changes Through the Season

The Xerces Society describes an annual cycle. In spring, a mated queen emerges from her overwintering spot and spends time searching for a nest site, which is why you may see a single large bumblebee flying low and slow over the ground or along a foundation. Once her first workers emerge, they take over foraging and nest defense while she stays inside laying eggs. By late summer, the colony produces males and new queens. The old queen, workers and males die off in late summer or fall, and only the new queens survive to overwinter (Xerces Society).

How to Stay on Their Good Side

  • Don’t swat or grab. Let a bumblebee fly on. If one lands on you, wait or gently brush it away.
  • Watch where you mow. Look for bees flying in and out of one spot before you start. See holes in the lawn.
  • Give nests space. Flag the spot and route foot traffic around it.
  • Catch strays indoors. WSU suggests trapping a bee in a jar against a window, sliding a card underneath and releasing it outside.
  • Know the allergy signs. WSU advises seeking medical help immediately for a known sting allergy or signs such as swelling of the lips, tongue or mouth, or difficulty breathing. See sting allergies.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I know it is a bumblebee?

Several large bees look similar. See Ohio bumblebee species.

Is it a bumblebee or a honeybee?

Bumblebees are larger, rounder and fuzzier. See why beekeepers never exterminate honeybees.

Do bumblebees come back to the same nest?

Rarely. WSU notes they don’t reuse old nests, and only new queens survive the winter.

Bumblebees Too Close for Comfort?

Bumblebees are always relocated, never exterminated. Call or text Northwest Ohio Wasp Removal at 419-614-6445, or use our contact page, and send a photo if you can. See humane bumblebee relocation and humane bee removal and relocation.

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Bumblebee at the entrance of a small hole in the ground under a shrub

Bumblebee Nest in the Ground: Leave It, Move It or Call?

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A fuzzy bee disappearing into a hole by the shrubs or under the deck is a classic sign of a bumblebee nest in the ground. Ohio State University Extension notes that bumblebees live in annual colonies formed in soil cavities, old rodent burrows or similar voids (OSU Extension HYG-2143). Most of the time, a ground nest can be left alone. When it’s in the wrong spot, it can be moved. Here’s how to decide.

What a Bumblebee Nest in the Ground Looks Like

The Xerces Society says most bumblebees nest on or beneath the ground in an existing insulated cavity, often an abandoned rodent burrow. The common eastern bumblebee often builds its nest 1 to 3 feet underground, with a tunnel from the surface ranging from about 18 inches to 9 feet. From above, you’ll usually just see a hole, sometimes hidden under leaves, grass or a deck board, with bumblebees flying in and out.

Colonies are small compared with honeybees. Xerces notes they peak by midsummer at roughly 25 to 1,000 bees depending on species.

Not every bumblebee nests underground. Xerces notes some species nest aboveground in tree cavities, bird nests or exposed housing insulation, and that foragers can travel up to two miles for food. So a bumblebee on your flowers doesn’t necessarily mean a nest in your yard.

When You Can Leave It Alone

  • It’s away from traffic. A nest at the edge of a bed or under a shrub is easy to work around.
  • It’s late in the season. Xerces explains that the founding queen, workers and males die at the end of the cycle in late summer or fall. Only new queens survive, and they leave to overwinter elsewhere.
  • It won’t be back. Xerces notes it is uncommon for bumblebees to reuse a nest site the next year, and WSU Extension notes they don’t reuse old nests (WSU Extension).
Bumblebee feeding on a red clover flower in a lawn near a bumblebee nest in the ground
Bumblebees are important pollinators of clover and many garden plants.

When to Call

  • It’s in the mowing path or by a door. OSU notes bumblebee nests are occasionally hit by mowers, and irritated workers will aggressively pursue and sting repeatedly.
  • Kids, pets or someone with an allergy use that area. WSU notes bumblebees don’t have barbed stingers and can sting more than once. See keeping kids and pets safe.
  • You’re not sure it’s bumblebees. Yellowjackets nest in the ground too. See ground bees vs. yellowjackets and holes in the lawn.

How We Relocate a Ground Nest

We don’t spray bumblebees. When a nest has to move, we relocate the colony rather than kill it. Until then, mark the spot with a flag, mow around it, and keep pets away.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should I pour water or gas in the hole?

No. It’s dangerous, it harms a native pollinator, and it can send defending bees straight at you.

Which bumblebee is it?

See Ohio bumblebee species.

Will they sting me?

See are bumblebees aggressive?

Bumblebees Nesting Where They Shouldn’t?

Bumblebees are always relocated, never exterminated. Call or text Northwest Ohio Wasp Removal at 419-614-6445, or use our contact page, and send a photo if you can. See humane bumblebee relocation and humane bee removal and relocation.

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Metallic green sweat bee collecting pollen on a yellow black-eyed Susan flower

Sweat Bees and Mining Bees in Ohio: Harmless Native Bees You Can Leave Alone

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Small bees landing on your arm on a hot day, or dozens of little bees zipping over a bare spot in the lawn in April, can be unsettling. In most cases, these are sweat bees and mining bees, two groups of gentle native bees that are common across Northwest Ohio, Eastern Indiana and Southern Michigan. They are valuable pollinators, they rarely sting, and in almost every case the best plan is to leave them alone. Here is what to know.

What Are Sweat Bees?

Sweat bees belong to the family Halictidae, one of the largest groups of bees in North America. They get their name because some species are attracted to the salt in human sweat and will land on skin to lick it.

How to Recognize Sweat Bees

  • Size: Mostly small, often under half an inch long.
  • Color: Many are a brilliant metallic green or blue-green. Others are dark brown or black, sometimes with pale bands on the abdomen. Some species have a green head and thorax with a black-and-yellow striped abdomen.
  • Behavior: They visit a wide range of flowers from spring to fall and often land on people on hot, humid days.

Where Sweat Bees Nest

Most species nest in the ground, digging narrow tunnels in bare or sparsely vegetated soil. A few species nest in rotting wood. Some are solitary, while others share a nest entrance or form small, simple colonies. Their nests are small and do not create a large defended colony the way yellowjackets do.

What Are Mining Bees?

Mining bees are mostly in the genus Andrena, a large group of solitary, ground-nesting bees. They are among the first bees active in spring, often appearing when the first trees and spring flowers bloom.

How to Recognize Mining Bees

  • Size: Small to medium, roughly the size of a honeybee or smaller.
  • Color: Usually fuzzy and brown, reddish-brown, gray or black, sometimes with pale hair bands.
  • Nests: Small holes surrounded by volcano-shaped soil mounds, often many in the same patch of lawn or garden.
  • Timing: Most noticeable in early spring, and activity typically lasts only a few weeks.
Mining bee at its burrow entrance in bare soil; like sweat bees, mining bees are gentle native ground nesters
A mining bee at its burrow. Each female digs and stocks her own small nest.

Although many mining bees may nest in the same area, each female builds and provisions her own nest. The cloud of bees you see is often males patrolling for mates, and male bees cannot sting.

Why Sweat Bees and Mining Bees Matter

Both groups are important native pollinators. Mining bees are especially valuable in early spring, when they visit fruit tree blossoms, willows, maples and early wildflowers. Sweat bees visit a huge variety of garden plants, wildflowers and crops through the summer. Because neither group stores large amounts of honey or forms big colonies, they are easy to coexist with.

Do Sweat Bees and Mining Bees Sting?

Female sweat bees and mining bees can sting, but they are not aggressive. Stings usually happen only when a bee is trapped against skin, such as under a shirt collar or when someone swats a sweat bee that landed on them. Their stings are generally mild compared with yellowjacket or honeybee stings. As with any sting, anyone with a known insect sting allergy should take precautions. See our article on sting allergies for warning signs.

Bee Removal: When Is It Needed?

Almost never for these bees. As a beekeeper-owned company, we encourage homeowners to leave sweat bees and mining bees alone. They do not damage homes, they are active for a limited time, and they help gardens and orchards. A few simple steps help:

  • Gently brush off bees that land on you instead of swatting them.
  • Wear shoes in the yard while mining bees are active.
  • Raise the mower deck or skip mowing a nesting patch for a few weeks.
  • If you want fewer ground nests next year, water and overseed thin areas in late summer or fall. These bees prefer dry, bare soil.

The exception is when what you think are “ground bees” are actually yellowjackets. Yellowjackets are shiny, bright yellow and black, and they fly in and out of a single busy hole. Our guide to ground bees vs. yellowjackets walks through the differences, and our page on yellowjacket ground nests explains when removal is needed.

How These Bees Compare to Other Bees

  • Honeybees: Golden-brown, live in large permanent colonies with wax comb, and swarm in spring. Honeybees are always relocated, never exterminated. See our honeybee swarm guide.
  • Bumblebees: Large, round and very fuzzy, with small annual colonies. Also always relocated. See Ohio bumblebee species.
  • Sweat and mining bees: Small, mostly solitary, nest in soil and are best left alone.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do sweat bees land on me?

Some species are attracted to the salt and moisture in sweat. They are not trying to sting. Brush them off gently.

Are the green bees in my garden dangerous?

Metallic green bees in our area are usually sweat bees. They are gentle pollinators and are rarely a problem.

How long will mining bees be in my yard?

Usually only a few weeks in spring. After that, the nests are quiet until the next generation emerges the following year.

Not Sure What Kind of Bee You Have?

Call or text a photo to Northwest Ohio Wasp Removal at 419-614-6445 or use our contact page. We serve Northwest Ohio, Eastern Indiana and Southern Michigan, and we are happy to help you identify bees before you decide on any bee removal.

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