While walking through **East Lawn Cemetery** in Ithaca, Cornell University laboratory technician **Rachel Fordyce** noticed a staggering number of bees emerging from the earth. She brought several specimens back to her laboratory supervisor, entomology professor **Bryan Danforth**. This observation marked the beginning of their formal research.
The researchers discovered that the cemetery sits atop one of the **largest known aggregations** of mining bees ever documented—the species **Andrena regularis** (the common mining bee).
**Population estimates** suggest an average of **5.5 million** individuals (ranging from 3 to 8 million) across just **1.5 acres** (roughly 0.6 hectares). This population is equivalent to the output of **more than 200 honeybee hives**.
Why this location?
- **Undisturbed soil**. As a long-established cemetery, the ground is rarely tilled, excavated, or built upon, providing ideal conditions for a multi-generational colony.
- **Optimal soil conditions**—the ground is loose, sandy, and well-drained. These mining bees excavate individual burrows that can reach depths of 30 to 50 cm.
- **Minimal competition and an absence of pesticides**.
Scientists believe the colony has existed for **at least 100 years**, with the species first documented at this site in 1935. It stands as one of the oldest known aggregations of this magnitude.
Key Characteristics
- This is **not a single super-colony** like those found in honeybees. *Andrena regularis* are **solitary bees**. Every female digs her own burrow, lays her eggs, and provides for her offspring independently. They have simply chosen the same location to live in a massive "village" comprised of millions of individual nests.
- These bees are **exceptional pollinators**, particularly for apple trees and other fruit crops. Their efficiency is comparable to hundreds of commercial beehives.
- They are docile: because they do not defend a communal hive filled with honey, they are not aggressive toward humans.
Why were they unnoticed for decades?
These bees remain active for only a few weeks each spring, primarily during April and May. For the remainder of the year, they stay underground. Because cemeteries are quiet places where few people wander off the paths, the massive seasonal emergence of the bees went unnoticed for decades.
This story highlights the vital importance of **protected land parcels** for biodiversity, even in urban settings. Researchers emphasize that paving over such a site or significantly altering the landscape could result in the loss of millions of critical pollinators in a single season.
This specific species possesses a rare biological trait: they overwinter underground as fully formed adults (imagoes). Once April air temperatures consistently hit 21°C, millions of insects simultaneously tunnel through the soil. The males emerge first in a sudden wave, forming "mating swarms" above the headstones while waiting for the females—a spectacle that perfectly coincides with the peak blooming of apple trees.
"If we don't start valuing and protecting these sites, someone might just pave them over, and in an instant, we would lose 5.5 million vital wild pollinators that regional food security depends on," Professor Bryan Danforth emphasized in an official Cornell University release.
**For 90 years, 5.5 million bees have thrived beneath the cemetery.** While generations of people were born, lived, and passed away above, an invisible and vibrant world hummed beneath their feet.
This discovery serves as a **metaphor for our relationship with nature**. We frequently overlook the wonders existing right under our feet. We assume we know our surroundings perfectly, yet the world remains full of secrets.
**The next time you pass an old cemetery, take a closer look at the ground.** A whole universe might be hidden just beneath your footsteps.
P.S. Rachel Fordyce continues to park at that same cemetery today. She now knows that sometimes the most extraordinary discoveries await on your most familiar routes—you simply have to look down.
