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Nesting
Bees nest in most diverse ways. Many make their nests
in tunnels under the ground, while others look for suitable holes in wood,
such as deserted galleries of woodboring beetles and cracks between rocks, or
for hollow plant stems. Most bee species smear their cells in the nest with
their own excrement, while megachilid bees cover them with sand, chewed up
leaves, resin, or leaf fragments. Some species use these materials to build
free-standing cells in rock niches or on branches. |
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Hoplitis tridentata mason bee nests in a hollow stem. |
Osmia cornuta
mason bee uses mud to stop up the borehole in wood containing its nest. |
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Carder bees (Anthidium manicatum) look for suitable little stones to close the entrance to their
nests. |
Hoplitis lepeletieri mason bees pass the night in the cells of their native nest built of
sand. |
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Slovenian
Museum of Natural History
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