Fun Tawny Mining Bee Facts For Kids

The tawny mining bee, Andrena fulva, is a ground-nesting species. They are also known as orange bees due to their coloration. They are generally solitary in nature and nest underground.

It is a gingery bee with thin furry hair on its body. These bees have been spotted mostly during springtime in gardens and parks. The female tawny mining bee is larger than males and covered in a much denser layer of orange and red hairs.

Females have brilliant red hairs on the thorax and abdomen. They are tiny in size and always keep themselves busy. It has been found that there are hundreds of different species of tawny mining bee in the Pacific Northwest.

The tawny mining bee's habitat distribution ranges from the Balkans to southern Scandinavia, England, Wales, and Ireland. As spring arrives, one can look out for mounds like that of a volcano in their lawns as these bees live in it. They are mostly found in regions with abundant flowers as they feed on flower nectar.

They produce the valuable delicacy that is honey. Humans have priced pure honey quite high due to its various uses. Their conservation status is considered to be common as they have a great population.

If you want to know more about honey bee species, you can also check out these mason bee facts and Africanized bee facts pages
 

Tawny Mining Bee Interesting Facts

What type of animal is a Tawny mining bee?

The tawny mining bee (Andrena fulva) is a type of bee.

What class of animal does a Tawny mining bee belong to?

The mining bee (Andrena fulva) belongs to the Insecta class of animals.

How many Tawny mining bees are there in the world?

The total population of these bees in the world is unknown. However, according to the wildlife reserves, their presence in the wild is less common now than it was in the past.

Where does a Tawny mining bee live?

They live in parks, gardens, banks, roadside, hills in soil or clay. These bees live in underground burrows and their nests look similar to that of ants as it has been observed that their nests consist of volcano-like mounds.

What is a Tawny mining bee's habitat?

In the wild, mining bees are found in a wide assortment of habitats with no real note choices. These bees are usually menu search in parks and gardens, building their nests holes along south-facing hills with rare or slight vegetation, including managed gardens.

Who do Tawny mining bees live with?

They live as a group in order to produce honey.

How long does a Tawny mining bee live?

The total lifespan of these bees is about eight weeks.

How do they reproduce?

In the wild, the breeding season of miner bees generally occurs during the spring season. After mating, the male usually dies, and the female begins to construct a nest.

Over 100 females construct nests in a couple of square meters. However, the Mining Bee doesn't make an ordinary settlement.

Every female has her own way of building their nests. Their nests consist of an upward shaft 8-12 in (200-300 mm) with a few brood cells expanding it. The female then fills these cells with a combination of nectar and dust, on which she lays one egg in each cell.

The hatchling hatches after a couple of days and starts to develop rapidly inside half a month. Adults arise and fly out of their nests during summer, after hibernation.

What is their conservation status?

The conservation status of these bees is of Least Concern as they have a stable population. However, wildlife reserves of different regions have taken initiatives to preserve these solitary bees due to their great importance to nature.

Tawny Mining Bee Fun Facts

What does the Tawny mining bee look like?

The tawny mining bee (Andrena fulva) is a ginger-colored bee. Females are larger than males, and they are covered in a much denser layer of orange hairs.

Females have brilliant red hairs on the thorax and abdomen. They are as small in size as bugs. They forage food and store them in their beehives and produce honey for the rest of the season.

How cute are they?

These bees are quite adorable, considering the value they hold to our environment and that they don't sting.

How do they communicate?

They communicate via buzzing or vibration as wasps.

How big is a Tawny mining bee?

Males have a body length of around 0.4–0.5 in (1-1.2 cm), whereas females can reach 0.3–0.4 in (0.8-1 cm). They are slightly smaller than honey bees, which do sting.

How fast can a Tawny mining bee fly?

This species of bees are quite a fast flyers. However, their exact speed of flight is not known.

How much does a Tawny mining bee weigh?

There is no accurate measurement for these bees.

What are the male and female names of the species?

The name of males and females names of this species don't have any separate names.

What would you call a baby Tawny mining bee?

The tawny mining bee babies are generally known as broods.

What do they eat?

They feed on nectar and pollen from flowers, but the foraging choices will diverge depending on the species.

Are they poisonous?

Mining bees are harmless and will not sting. They are valuable pollinators of garden flowers, fruit trees, and vegetables like oil-seed.

Would they make a good pet?

Normally these bees are not harmful, so if anyone wants to take this bee as a pet, they can be kept easily.

Did you know...

Tawny mining bees are also known as European sand bees as they reside in sandy burrows.

Their scientific name 'fulva' is the Latin word for 'tawny', which refers to their coat or body coloration.

Can mining bees sting?

These solitary bees are totally harmless and do not sting like other bees.

What does the Tawny mining bee do?

The Tawny mining bee UK are common, spring-flying, solitary bees that nesting under, building a little volcano-like heap of clay around the mouth of its hole. The female collects pollen and nectar for the worms, growing under and vegetating as insects over winter.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! Learn more about some other Arthropods from our brown recluse spider and morpho butterfly pages.

You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable Tawny mining bee coloring pages.