Beneath a peaceful cemetery in Ithaca, New York, millions of wild bees are quietly doing one of the most important jobs in nature—helping plants grow and reproduce.
Scientists have discovered that around 5.5 million bees live underground at East Lawn Cemetery, forming one of the largest known groups of ground-nesting bees in the world.
The discovery began in 2022 when Rachel Fordyce, a technician working in an entomology lab at Cornell University, noticed large numbers of bees while walking through the cemetery on her way to work.
Curious, she collected some in a jar and showed them to her supervisor, Professor Bryan Danforth.
The bees were identified as Andrena regularis, also known as the “regular mining bee.” These are solitary bees that live in the ground and play a key role in pollinating crops.
This simple observation led to a much bigger finding.
Researchers realized that the cemetery was home to a massive bee population spread across about 1.5 acres.
In fact, the number of bees is roughly equal to more than 200 honeybee hives and even exceeds the population of Manhattan.
A recent study led by undergraduate researcher Steve Hoge explored this remarkable site in detail. The research showed not only how many bees live there, but also why they matter.
These bees are especially important for pollinating high-value crops like apples, which are widely grown in New York. Unlike honeybees, these wild bees are often overlooked, even though about 75% of all bee species live alone in the ground.
The cemetery turns out to be an ideal home for them. The soil is sandy, which makes it easy for bees to dig nests.
The area is also quiet, rarely disturbed, and free from pesticides.
Nearby orchards provide plenty of flowers in early spring, giving the bees the food they need. All these factors together help explain why such a large population has survived there for so long.
In fact, records show that these bees have been living in the cemetery for over a century. The cemetery itself was founded in 1878, and bee specimens were collected there as early as the 1900s. This suggests the bee population may have existed for generations.
To estimate the number of bees, researchers used special traps placed on the ground. These traps captured insects as they emerged from their underground nests. By measuring how many bees came out of each small area, scientists were able to estimate the total population across the entire site.
Their calculations ranged from 3 million to 8 million bees, with an average of about 5.5 million.
The study also revealed interesting details about the bees’ life cycle. Male bees emerge first in early spring, waiting for females to come out a few days later so they can mate. The bees are timed to appear when fruit trees and wildflowers begin to bloom. Some other species, known as “cuckoo bees,” take advantage of this system by laying their eggs in the nests of these mining bees.
This discovery highlights something surprising: cemeteries can be important places for wildlife. Because they are often quiet and undisturbed, they can serve as safe habitats for many species, including birds, mammals, and insects.
Researchers say protecting these bee habitats is very important. If land like this is developed or paved over, millions of pollinators could be lost instantly. These bees may be small and mostly unseen, but their impact on food production and ecosystems is enormous.
