(Just to clarify, I wish to prevent drowning, not to cause it)
If I apply overhead irrigation water to an area with bees nesting in the ground (Diadasia, perhaps? They like Opuntia flowers) would that harm the offspring in the burrows? I’m asking because rain is not typical in my area in the early summer, so I fear the bees may not be adapted to a lot of water coming in to the nests.
Reading more about the life cycle of bees, it seems that the new generation will probably be in the ground for quite some time; maybe still there into the next rainy season? So perhaps they do withstand water, at least in the later stages…
that’s exactly what a nefarious bee drowner would say
Well If possible can you change irrigation system
It transports water with thread which is in bottle which is in pot,But I dont’t know if it will work on bigger area. And I don’t know why bees are attracted towards thread because this is not sweet water just water
honeybees use water and evaporative cooling to cool their hives when it is hot!
I couldn’t say for sure, but my inclination would be towards caution? I’ve never noticed nest holes in the ground in areas that have sprinkler type irrigation (though a lot of other insects seem to be drawn to the moisture and increased humidity in the area), which would make me cautious that if they were in the process of nesting they would abandon the site, or that the larvae wouldn’t develop properly due to evaporative cooling.
(Context- I’m also in Southern CA, but I don’t have any background studying nesting bees. That’s just what I suspect from observation of the irrigated and unirrigated areas near me – lots more little holes in the ground in unirrigated areas.)
Yes, that’s true. I think the best indicator of the situation is that I have in past years watered the area–not a lot, no more than once per month starting in late June or early July–and the bees still come back to that spot to nest every spring. I still worry about it though. I got a book on bees and read about the nest building of that genus, but didn’t really conclude anything either way, except that Diadasia is probably finishing up their nest building by July. The introduction of that book does say in general if you have ground nesting bees in an undesired spot, “repeated application of water may persuade them to leave.” Which doesn’t sound good but then again I only water them infrequently.
Yeah, how often and how heavy the irrigation is probably makes a good bit of difference. And of course the damp earth provides resources for Hymenopterans too!
i would be surprised if bees that nest underground haven’t adapted to water somehow. i’ve never studied the soil in your neck of the woods, but when i imagine Southern California soil, i think of relatively sandy, well-draining soil. i would imagine that kind of soil would be hard to make inhospitable for burrowing bees, let alone to drench enough to drown anything.
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