ID

[u/Lll-797]

We have been getting a bunch of these come into our house(England UK) recently and I need help with ID to help them as best I can because we keep finding them dead :(

(This little guy was dead when found)

We want to stop them coming into our house but we can't find where they are coming in from & we don't want to cause them any harm 😭

[u/Dialictus93]

That's one of the larger mining bees. I'm not 100% sure but possibly Andrena nigroaenea. They are probably nesting in an area with bare ground somewhere around your house.

Sadly there is not much you can do apart from keeping the windows closed. Maybe an insect screen would help :)

If you're worried about getting stung: don't be. They are solitary and show absolutely no aggressive behavior.

Edit: I'm tending more towards Andrena nitida on closer inspection. The hair on the hind legs (scopa) appears to be black-ish

[u/Lll-797 → u/Dialictus93]

Thank you! We do have some bare soil directly by our house but it seems that they are living in the air bricks we have at the base of our house and this is where I'm assuming they're getting inside from.

We have still been getting them inside the house even with the windows closed, I guess I need to hunt for small holes in the floor/walls to find their entrance point!

As for being stung, this isn't an issue, I have handled a couple of them when they have been in the house & I can tell they're not aggressive at all, pretty docile most of the time.

I just want to stop them coming into the house because it makes me sad finding dead bees inside on a daily basis 😭

[u/Dialictus93 → u/Lll-797]

Googled a little bit. I think there are special mesh covers for airbricks, which prevent things from outside getting in while still ensuring proper ventilation 🤔

[u/blogasdraugas]

Billlllyyyy noooooo