Burrowing bees

Hi,
I have noticed lots of sandy piles on the edge of the lawn and bed woth holes in.
I have seen tiny bees coming and going.
Do they cause any problems for plants or the grass?
Is it safe to let my toddler run around near them?

Thanks
D

 

You beat me to it Exlabman, Im having the same problem.

At first I thought they were worm casts but when the sun comes out hundreds of these little bee like insects are flying in and out.

They are a bit smaller than your little finger nail with brown stripes, their bodies are a little flatter than an ordinary bee.

I noticed them last year but there seems to be twice as many this year and they are ruining my lawn.:gaagh:

Like you I am worried about the grandchildren.

Ive been trying to get a photo of them but the little blighters wont keep still long enough.

I hope someone here at GC can help us with our problem and identify what they are.

 

We have burrowing bees as well, but not sure they're the same ones. Ours are massive. Really huge, you wonder how on earth they can possibly fly they're so big!!

I *think* I've read somewhere that these are solitary bees, and are usually very placid. Might be mason bees?
But I'm certainly no expert, so don't quote me on that.

I however, do just let my kids play in the garden. I've told them never to try to catch insects because they won't like it, and they might hurt them (kids hurting insects that is!). they know bees might sting, so they generally know not to touch them. Evie's almost 4 and she's fine with it all. Henry's 18m so he does still try to catch stuff. When she was younger, evie did once catch a bee - a really big one, but it didn't sting her.