These, however, are solitary bees that do not collect honey and do not sting, though they could bite if handled roughly. They are garden pollinators and serve an increasingly important role as honey bee populations decline.
Gardeners can actually enhance miner bee populations by providing dried mud blocks for nesting.
Biology Miner bees are found across most of the eastern US from March to September depending upon climate. In NC they emerge in May and are active about 8 weeks. They normally nest in bare, hard soil, more often on steep slopes or vertical surfaces of adobe or hard clay. They have also been collected burrowing between stones of old chimneys built with non-cement mortar. The miner bee nests in colonies of separate tunnels excavated into the hard clay.