This homeowner found a new tenant moving into a surprising spot.
Even for bees, there's no place like home. A homeowner asked r/insects for help after spotting a little visitor making their home in an unusual spot.
"Bee? Storing yellow stuff on garden socket," they wrote. "[It] is constantly travelling [from] my flowers back to the hole and it seems to me like it's storing pollen? Can someone help me figure [out] what's going on?"
The video shows a small bee making their home in an outdoor outlet, where it had collected pollen. Commenters identified it as a wild bee.
Wild bees, or native bees, are different from domesticated honey bees or bumblebees. There are only eight recognized species of honey bees, while there are over 20,000 species of wild bees. While honey bees live in colonies, wild bees are usually solitary, making their homes in tiny holes like this homeowner's electrical socket.
Thankfully, the homeowner was happy to have a new guest. They even considered buying "one of those insect hotels" so "she would consider rehoming. It doesn't bother me and I'm not [planning] to touch her house, I'm just wondering if she would be more comfortable in a bigger 'house.'"
Buying a bee house can feel silly, but bees and other pollinators are extremely important. We have bees to thank for a significant portion of our agriculture — "one out of every three bites of food we eat exists because of animal pollinators like bees, butterflies and moths, birds and bats, and beetles and other insects," according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
One of the best ways to support pollinators is with a native plant lawn or garden. Habitat loss is one of the main factors in declining bee populations, and rewilding your lawn with native plants provides the food and shelter they depend on. A natural lawn doesn't just benefit the bees — it can save you time and money, too.
Native plant lawns require significantly less maintenance than traditional grass lawns. Once established, you can forgo mowing, weeding, and watering almost entirely.
Commenters provided helpful resources for supporting the bee and other pollinators.
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If you were to switch from a grass lawn to a more natural option, which of these factors would be your primary motivation?
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Making it look better 🌱 "Looks like a wild bee," one user said. "They live in small holes in wood or even in the ground. It has taken a shine to the small aperture in your socket as it thinks it is a sheltered home."
Another commenter suggested looking into "resources on providing nesting habitat for solitary bees and wasps."
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