Digger Bees!

Don't worry, they don't bite..... or sting!

You may have seen digger bees out on the course, most likely in a dry traffic areas where we have no irrigation. Coming off of #2 tee and the start of #10 fairway are areas that come to mind for me.

Digger bee nests in front of #2 tee

While they are able to sting, they are very much more passive than their more protective bee cousins. Please see the quote from the Iowa State University website below:

“The threat of being stung by digger bees is highly overrated. The bees are docile and not likely to sting unless handled or threatened. There is no nest guarding behavior or attack behavior like there is with social insects such as honey bees and yellowjacket wasps. Control is usually not necessary unless the bees are nesting close to human activity.”

These bees are also valuable native pollinators in our landscape. For that reason, and the fact that they pose minimal threat to us, we do not treat these areas with insecticide. Hopefully a little bit of information can make you feel more comfortable about these valuable insects co-existing in our landscape.