Pests We Treat Photo Album: A Digger Bee Community Created in Carteret, NJ
Hundreds and Hundreds of Digger Bees
Both the front yard and the backyard had a massive infestation of digger bees!
How You'll Spot Digger Bees
Digger bees, also called ground bees, are roughly 1/4 to 1/2 inch long and typically nest in areas of the landscape where the grass is sparse or very thin. Female digger bees "dig" nests into the ground that are about 1/2 of an inch deep. You'll realize you have a digger bee infestation when you find little mounds of soil with a pencil-sized hole in it. Digger bees are solitary bees that live one colony per hole, but there may be many holes in an area creating digger bee communities, which is EXACTLY what happened here!
Not Aggressive, but Tread Carefully
Although the venom from a digger bee sting is strong enough to cause a severe allergic reaction in some people, they are very non-aggressive and usually only sting if they are being stepped on or directly handled. In fact, a sting from a digger bee is a lot less painful than the sting of a yellow jacket! Still, caution is needed, especially for those who are highly allergic to bee stings (unfortunately, some of the residents of the community are).
Solution to a Digger Bee Problem
For treatment, we applied a granular bait to every single digger bee mound and then injected a residual dusting application into each one. Both of these treatments will eliminate the digger bees quickly.