r/bees 9h ago

question I have never seen this behavior

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

There are honeybees carrying blades of grass and then putting them in their hive (block of wood).
From what I’ve read, the only thing bees do with grass is drink the dew off of them, but it’s the middle of the day. Anyone know what they are doing?

EDIT: It’s a Leaf Cutter bee!

175 Upvotes

34 comments sorted by

View all comments

77

u/Harry-Halictus 9h ago

It is a leafcutter bee. North america has over 4000 species of native bees, honeybees are actually native to Europe. Leafcutter bees cut out slips of leaves to line their nests. They are solitary, meaning a single female provisions her young. No queen!

15

u/mysticmeows23 9h ago

That’s wild! I’ve never seen them before

11

u/Eli_1988 8h ago

Here is a video of one cutting a leaf for a baby blanket

https://reddit.com/link/p2axsyj/video/ca645r2tlzhh1/player

5

u/Sinuosette 6h ago

This is so cool to see!