Ground nesting bees just made headlines; 5.5 million of them were hiding beneath a New York cemetery, in one of the most jaw-dropping discoveries in scientific history.
A Casual Walk That Changed Everything
Rachel Fordyce was just trying to save money on parking. Every morning, she would leave her car at Ithaca’s East Hill Plaza and walk through East Lawn Cemetery on her way to work at Cornell University’s entomology lab.
Then one spring day in 2022, she noticed something unusual. Bees everywhere. She grabbed a jar, collected a few specimens, and brought them to her supervisor, Professor Bryan Danforth.
That jar of bees led to one of the most extraordinary entomological discoveries in recent memory.
Truly remarkable stories like this don’t come along every day. To me, it almost feels miraculous. But let’s get into it.
5.5 Million Bees. Underground. Beneath a Cemetery.
After investigating the site, researchers at Cornell University estimated that East Lawn Cemetery is home to approximately 5.5 million ground-nesting bees, specifically Andrena regularis, commonly known as the regular mining bee.
The findings were published in April 2026 in the peer-reviewed journal Apidologie.
To put the scale in perspective:
- That’s more than 3 times the population of Manhattan
- Equivalent to over 200 honeybee hives packed into just 1.5 acres of land
- The population ranges from 3 million to 8 million bees, depending on the season
“I was completely floored when we did the calculations,” said Professor Danforth.
These ground-nesting bees have lived undisturbed beneath the cemetery for over 100 years.
Why a Cemetery?
It turns out East Lawn Cemetery is the perfect habitat for ground-nesting bees and for a very specific reason: nobody disturbs the soil.
Unlike parks, gardens, or farmland, cemeteries are rarely dug up, paved over, or treated with pesticides. The sandy, undisturbed soil at East Lawn has allowed this bee population to thrive for over 100 years.
Scientists believe Andrena regularis has been nesting at this site since at least 1935 and possibly since the cemetery was founded in 1878.
How They Counted 5.5 Million Bees
Counting millions of bees underground sounds impossible. But researchers used a clever method:
- They placed traps at various points around the 6,000 square meter cemetery
- They counted how many bees emerged per square meter
- They extrapolated that number across the total area
The result: between 3.1 million and 8 million bees, with an average estimate of 5.56 million.
For comparison, the largest previously recorded ground-nesting bee aggregation in the scientific literature counted just over 1.6 million bees in Arizona.
Wait, bees that live underground?
Most people picture bees living in hives hanging from trees. But here’s a surprising fact: about 70% of native bee species actually nest in the ground.
Unlike honeybees, Andrena regularis is a solitary species; each female digs her own small burrow, lays her eggs, stocks the nest with pollen, and seals it up. The eggs hatch underground, develop into adults, and emerge the following spring.
The males come out first, waiting near the nest entrances for the females to emerge, a kind of underground mating race that happens every April.
Why This Discovery Matters
Beyond the sheer “wow” factor, this discovery has serious implications for pollinator conservation:
These mining bees are critical pollinators for apple orchards. Cornell’s own apple orchard, just 500 meters from the cemetery, relies heavily on Andrena regularis.
“If we don’t preserve nest sites, and someone paves over them, we could lose in an instant 5.5 million bees that are important pollinators,” warned Professor Danforth.
The research also highlights an unexpected conservation insight: cemeteries may be some of the most important wildlife habitats in urban areas precisely because they’re left undisturbed.
Key Facts at a Glance
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Location | East Lawn Cemetery, Ithaca, New York |
| Species | Andrena regularis (Regular Mining Bee) |
| Estimated Population | ~5.5 million (range: 3–8 million) |
| Area | ~6,000 square meters (1.5 acres) |
| Known Presence Since | At least 1935 |
| Study Published | April 2026, Apidologie |
| Research Team | Cornell University |
A woman’s daily walk to work. A jar of bees. And suddenly, scientists are rewriting the record books for one of the largest wild bee populations ever documented.
East Lawn Cemetery isn’t just a resting place for the dead; it’s a thriving, buzzing underground city of millions, hidden in plain sight for over a century.
Leave us your thoughts: Did you know that most bees actually live underground? And how many other hidden cities like this might be buried beneath our feet right now in cemeteries, parks, and backyards around the world?
Sources: Cornell University Chronicle / ScienceDaily
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