Good for you, esthermgr! I had never heard of ground bees and I thought you had yellow jackets (which are probably pollinators too).

You might want to go back to your old post and update it with your this information.

Ground Bee's are Bumble bee's..

Where as honey bees nest in raised hives, or in the trees, bumble bee's always nest in or very near ground level.

"ground bee's" could also be some other sort of bee type that nests in the ground besides bumble bee's.

I had a huge army of bumbles and honey bee's on my flowers last year, and I plant stuff just for them( Anise Hyysopp- the Bee Buterfly bush)

I saw 4 bee types( including bumble and honey) and several wasp types, and I love when they are around.... one of the bee types was really cool and had to be a local strain, very pretty things.

There are several types of Bee that nest in the ground, Called Solitary Bees, no hives, no queen, no workers, and produce no honey, as do the European Honey Bee and the Bumblebee. The ground bees often build cones with the soil they excavate when building their tunnels. Reminds me of a minature Crayfish(crawfish,crawdad) cone you would find in the swamps.
They are necessary pollinators and along with the Bumblebees probably did an excellent job for many eons, before the importation of the European Honey Bee, which became a vital addition to the winged pollinators for the expansion of the American agriculture industry. (Food Basket of the World, they say).
The European Honey Bee population has met with some formidable obstacles in recent years, first it was the mites that infested their hives and spread disease, bacterial infection of their larvae and now, Total Colony Collapse, where the workers leave the hives and never return. What happens to them, has not been determined.
It is estimated that 95-98% of their World-wide wild populations have been eliminated by disease and pesticides.
The Africanized strain(hybrid?) is not immune. either.
Food(hopefully) for thought. :Rb

Just FYI, these types of bees seem to be FAR less aggressive than ground dwelling yellow jackets. Last summer I was tearing out a dilapidated shed when I discovered a nest underneath the broken concrete floor. I did not want to spray wasp killer, as these were awesome looking bees! I suited up in lots of carhart clothes and a mask and removed their central "hive" with a shovel, relocating it to another part of the yard. I did not get stung once! They didn't even really attempt. If these were yellow jackets I would have been in trouble. Don't kill these bees!!!

The only bees I dislike are carpenter bees because they bore into my porches each year. Oh, and hornets.
When I was young, I was taught to be afraid of bees but now, as a gardener, I find them so peaceful.

Although, several summers ago, while I was watering a camellia I was casually kicking a small stump nearby trying to get rd of it. This was Field Lesson #1, Yellow Jackets. I got 23 bites on my legs. They do have my respect now as I swat them away from picnics. I also felt truly initiated as a gardener!

This is an organized hive that is nesting completely underground. They look from a distance just like honeybees. I'm very curious to know exactly what they are. They are middling aggressive- when you go close they don't bother you, but when when I unwittingly started digging up their nest they chased me 20 ft away.

Could they be Yellow Jackets? They make their nest underground.

Shot

Snakes and spiders are nothing compared to accidentally hitting a nest of ground bees. Surveying land comes with some danger, but bees are the most fierce critters in the woods if you ask me! We lost some equipment to them and decided to wait until winter to try to recover it. Getting stung in the face is no fun, and the pain lasts two days and the swelling lasts longer. STAY AWAY !!!

I have several different types of bees in my yard and they never bother me. They almost seem to realize that it was me that gave them the nectar the flowers on my veggie plants make. If you want to see a bee that's scary looking go to YouTube and search for Japanese hornets now those things are scary. The exterminator will catch one and tie a ribbon to it so they can follow it back to the hive.....IT'S THAT BIG.

I don't know what kind of hornet ours is, but he's almost the size of a shotgun cartridge. Well, he was. Note to nature lovers, if you don't want to have to kill a hornet, don't carry a yellow cup full of soda pop out on to your back porch.

This ole dawg just learned something new ... hmmm, ground bees. Good to know

There are both digger bees and mining bees in the USA. Probably 1k+. Around 4k different native bees. Yellow jackets (wasp) are meat eaters that also nest in the grown. Pack a powerful sting. Usually about a dozen at a time. I hate 'em.