5.5 million bees found beneath New York State cemetery. It's one of the largest populations ever recorded
BBC Wildlife Magazine • • science
Key Points:
- Researchers at Cornell University discovered one of the largest known aggregations of mining bees, estimating about 5.5 million Andrena regularis in East Lawn Cemetery near the university in Ithaca, New York.
- The bees form large, non-social colonies in well-drained areas with suitable soil for burrowing and nearby food sources, such as the nearby Cornell Orchards, which provide pollen and nectar.
- Andrena regularis, first recorded at the cemetery in the early 1900s, overwinters as adults and emerges in early spring, timed to coincide with the apple bloom, allowing researchers to effectively trap and estimate their population.
- During a six-week sampling period in spring 2023, over 3,200 insects were collected using emergence traps, confirming the dominance of Andrena regularis and supporting the estimate of millions of bees across 1.5 acres.
- This discovery highlights the potential for other large bee aggregations worldwide that remain undocumented, emphasizing the importance of further research on solitary bee populations.
