Solitary bee digs a nest in the sand - Sequence photos

Building a nest in the river sand is tough work, especially considering this native solitary bee must do all the work herself, as well as gather food to deposit next to each egg after she digs the tunnel. How long will it take her to go out of sight into her developing tunnel?

Red-tailed Mining Bee (Andrena erythrogaster)

This photo shows her six minutes into her tunneling. 

Shall we view her progress from start to finish?

The photo below is when she began at 2:52:35

She might need some goggles with the sand flying up and around 2:53:04

Beginning to make progress @2:53:51

She lies on her back to do some ceiling work @ 2:54:05.

@2:55:28 She is digging in face into the ground. 

Does anybody have a pickaxe I could borrow?

Now she is starting to see the light - the dark @2:58:29.

2:58:54

2:59:05

2:59:24 Out of sight, but much tunneling left to do.

She started digging at 2:52:35. She went out of sight into the tunnel at 2:59:24. Total of about seven minutes. 

Red-tailed Mining Bee (Andrena erythrogaster)

All Andrenidae nest in the earth. All line their nest with a waterproof substance secreted by the female to protect her progeny from soil bacteria.  An estimated 1 to 7 foraging trips per day. Andrena spp. flight range: 11-14mm 500 yds - 1 mile. 7-9mm <500 yds. Overwinter as adults. (Andrena spp.) Stage of diapause: prepupa. Host to Obliterated Cuckoo Nomad Bee (Nomada obliterata).  Narrow Oligolecty, meaning forage for pollen on one or few species of flowering plants. The Red-tailed Mining Bee primarily collects pollen from willow (Salix) plants. She is native to North America and is a solitary bee. 

Solitary bees are those that live and reproduce independently, without forming colonies or hives like honeybees and bumblebees. Female solitary bees create their own nests, provision them with food, lay eggs, and seal them off, then move on to build more nests. These bees are not aggressive and don't have the need to defend a large colony. 

Female length is 10-12 mm. 

Population status: Declining in the Northeast.

View more iNaturalist postings by Bernie of this species at https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=47&taxon_id=198995&user_id=bugeyedbernie