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Pesky ground bees digging in your yard?
Because these insects are pollinators, you should, ideally, leave ground bees alone.
But you don’t want the fear of a sting to keep you from enjoying your yard.
Panoramedia/ WikiMedia Commons /CC BY-SA 3.0
The good news: there are ways to address the problem of ground bees.
This is why they seek out bare patches in a lawn.
To thwart them, be diligent aboutreseeding any bare patches in the lawnas soon as you notice them.
Tim Grist Photography / Getty Images
To that end, prevent them from making nests by keeping the soilin your lawn sufficiently moist.
One answer is toapply garden mulchto block them.
While mulching is also an option here, a popular choice in shrub beds is tolay landscape fabric.
The larvae develop underground in the nests and emerge next spring.
This will drown the larvae.
Sprinkle some cinnamon on the ground where ground bees have dug their holes.
They may leave to find ground that smells better to them.
A knowledgeable pro will not only remove the ground bees but also verify they don’t come back.
While the adults will die, their offspring will be present next spring.