Rachel Fordyce, a dedicated researcher at a Cornell University entomology lab, began her routine in the spring of 2022 much like any other day, choosing the scenic path through Ithaca’s East Lawn Cemetery as a shortcut from her parking spot at East Hill Plaza. This seemingly ordinary commute transformed into a pivotal moment for ecological science when she observed an astonishing sight: an unprecedented proliferation of bees. These were not the familiar honeybees, but countless individuals swarming across specific sections of the cemetery grounds. Her immediate curiosity led her to collect several specimens in a jar, which she promptly brought to her supervisor, Bryan Danforth, a distinguished professor of entomology in Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. "These are all over the cemetery," she reported, a simple statement that would soon unravel a remarkable natural phenomenon.
The insects were swiftly identified as Andrena regularis, more commonly known as the "regular mining bee." This species is a solitary wild bee, distinct from the social honeybees, and plays a crucial role in ecosystems by nesting underground. These diligent pollinators are vital for a diverse array of crops and wild plants, contributing significantly to biodiversity and agricultural productivity. What began as a casual observation rapidly escalated into an extraordinary scientific discovery. Researchers subsequently confirmed that East Lawn Cemetery harbors one of the largest and oldest known aggregations of ground-nesting bees ever documented globally. Initial estimates suggest the site is home to approximately 5.5 million individual bees, concentrated within a remarkably compact 1.5-acre area. To put this into perspective, this aggregation is comparable to more than 200 honeybee hives and surpasses the human population of Manhattan by more than threefold, highlighting the sheer scale of this subterranean metropolis.
"I’m sure there are other large bee aggregations that exist around the world that we just haven’t identified, but in terms of what is in the literature, this is one of the largest," stated Steve Hoge ’24, the lead author of the groundbreaking study published on April 13 in the esteemed journal Apidologie. Hoge, who conducted this extensive work as an undergraduate researcher in Professor Danforth’s laboratory, exemplifies the profound impact that dedicated scientific inquiry, even at an early career stage, can have on our understanding of the natural world.
The Unearthing of a Bee Metropolis: A Chronology of Discovery
The journey from a casual sighting to a peer-reviewed publication involved meticulous fieldwork and rigorous analysis.
Spring 2022: The Initial Spark: Rachel Fordyce, while commuting, first notices the unusual density of bees emerging from the ground in specific areas of East Lawn Cemetery. Her keen observation skills and scientific background prompt her to collect samples for identification.
Early Research and Identification: The collected specimens are brought to Professor Bryan Danforth’s lab at Cornell University. The bees are quickly identified as Andrena regularis, a species of mining bee. This initial identification triggers a deeper investigation into the scope and nature of the aggregation.
Summer 2022 – Spring 2023: Undergraduate Research Commences: Steve Hoge, then an undergraduate researcher, takes on the project under Professor Danforth’s guidance. His work focuses on understanding the biology, population dynamics, and ecological significance of this particular bee species within the cemetery environment. This period involves preliminary site assessments, literature reviews, and planning for comprehensive monitoring.
March 30 – May 16, 2023: Intensive Field Monitoring: The research team deploys a novel monitoring method involving emergence traps across the 1.5-acre site. These small mesh tents, covering less than a square meter each, are designed to capture insects as they emerge from the soil, funneling them into glass jars for collection and counting. This intensive phase of data collection is critical for estimating the population size and understanding emergence patterns. Over this period, 10 traps are strategically placed throughout the cemetery.
Late 2023 – Early 2024: Data Analysis and Study Publication: The thousands of collected insects are meticulously counted, identified, and analyzed. The data from the emergence traps allows researchers to calculate bee density and extrapolate the total population. This rigorous analysis culminates in the preparation and submission of their findings. On April 13, the study, detailing the discovery and its implications, is published in Apidologie, a leading international journal focusing on bee science. This publication officially introduces the East Lawn Cemetery bee aggregation to the global scientific community, marking a significant milestone in entomological research and conservation efforts.
East Lawn Cemetery: An Unlikely Sanctuary for Wild Bees
The study not only illuminated the biology of these often-overlooked wild bees but also underscored their immense importance as pollinators for valuable agricultural crops, particularly apples, a signature commodity for New York State. "The research elevates the value of solitary ground-nesting bees and shows just how abundant these bees are, how important they are as crop pollinators, and that we need to be aware of these nest sites and preserve them," Professor Danforth emphasized, highlighting the broader conservation message embedded in their findings.
The presence of Andrena regularis at East Lawn Cemetery is not a recent phenomenon. Historical records indicate that this species has inhabited the grounds since at least the early 1900s, suggesting a continuous, century-long occupation. The cemetery itself, established in 1878, provides a unique historical context for understanding the longevity and stability of this bee aggregation.
Scientists assert that this discovery strongly reinforces the concept of cemeteries serving as crucial refuges for biodiversity, especially in increasingly urbanized landscapes. Older cemeteries, particularly those situated within cities, have long been recognized for their role in sheltering uncommon plant species, diverse insects, a variety of birds, and even small mammals. These sites, often untouched by the extensive development that characterizes surrounding areas, become ecological islands. Keven Morse, the superintendent of East Lawn Cemetery, whose family has managed the non-profit grounds for 46 years, attests to this rich biodiversity. He has observed deer, geese, hawks, foxes, coyotes, and, of course, countless bees, noting that he has never been stung by them despite their abundance. Morse expressed a sympathetic understanding of the bees’ presence, stating, "I just felt bad having to mow in certain areas. There’s probably three or four sections where they really migrate heavy, there’s a lot of them." This sentiment reflects an inherent respect for the natural inhabitants of the cemetery.
Researchers explained that cemeteries provide an exceptionally suitable habitat for ground-nesting bees due to several critical factors: the land is generally peaceful and rarely disturbed by construction or intensive landscaping, and crucially, it is largely free of pesticides. These conditions create an ideal, stable environment for species like Andrena regularis to thrive undisturbed for generations. Furthermore, the specific soil composition of East Lawn Cemetery, characterized by significant amounts of sandy soil, aligns perfectly with the nesting preferences of these bees, offering well-drained and easily excavatable substrate for their subterranean homes. The proximity of Cornell Orchards, located approximately one-third of a mile from the cemetery, also plays a vital role by providing an abundant and consistent source of early spring flowers, particularly apple blossoms, which are essential for the bees’ foraging needs during their active season.
The World of Solitary Bees: Beyond the Honeybee Hype
While honeybees (Apis mellifera) capture the lion’s share of public attention and conservation efforts, they represent only a small fraction of the global bee diversity. A staggering 75% of all bee species are solitary ground-nesters, much like Andrena regularis. "It’s the most common lifestyle for bees," Professor Danforth clarified, underscoring a significant gap in public awareness regarding bee ecology. Unlike honeybees, which live in complex social colonies, solitary bees do not produce honey in quantities for human consumption, nor do they live in hives. Each female builds and provisions her own nest, typically underground, laying eggs in individual cells stocked with pollen and nectar for her offspring.
When Steve Hoge embarked on his research into Andrena regularis, he was struck by the scarcity of scientific information available on the species. One of the most detailed references he encountered dated back to 1978, nearly half a century old. This lack of contemporary data presented a unique opportunity for the Cornell team to significantly enhance the scientific understanding of this specific bee’s biology and life cycle.
Female Andrena regularis construct intricate underground nests, excavating tunnels and creating individual brood cells. Within each cell, they deposit a single egg alongside a meticulously prepared provision mass of pollen and nectar, serving as the sole food source for the developing larva. The larvae undergo their developmental stages beneath the surface, eventually emerging as adult bees. A distinguishing feature of this species, relatively rare among bees, is that they overwinter as adults. This characteristic enables them to emerge very early in the spring, precisely timed with the bloom of apple trees and other early-season fruit trees and wildflowers in the region. "This species overwinters as adults, which is relatively rare, and that’s part of the reason why they come up out of the ground so early in the spring, timed to the apple bloom," Hoge explained. In New York, their emergence typically occurs in April, coinciding with daytime temperatures consistently reaching around 70 degrees Fahrenheit. This synchronized emergence highlights a co-evolutionary relationship between the bees and their primary floral resources, critical for both their survival and the pollination of important agricultural crops.
Counting the Uncountable: The Methodology Behind Millions
Estimating a population of millions of tiny insects spread across a specific area requires innovative and precise methodologies. To accurately gauge the bee population and study their emergence patterns, researchers employed a sophisticated monitoring technique utilizing emergence traps. These traps are ingeniously designed: small, mesh-covered tents, each covering less than a square meter of ground, are placed over potential nesting sites. As insects emerge from the soil, they naturally ascend into the tent and are funneled into a collection jar at the apex. "You capture a whole community of animals coming out of the ground with this approach," Danforth noted, emphasizing the comprehensive nature of the method.
Between March 30 and May 16, 2023, the research team strategically deployed 10 such emergence traps throughout the 1.5-acre bee aggregation within the cemetery. Over this period, they meticulously collected 3,251 individual insects. While this collection included 16 different species of bees, beetles, and flies, Andrena regularis overwhelmingly dominated the samples, confirming its status as the primary resident of this particular aggregation.
Using the number of bees captured in each trap, researchers were able to calculate the average bee density per square meter across the cemetery’s approximately 6,000 square meters (1.5 acres). Based on these calculations, the estimated total population of Andrena regularis ranged from an impressive 3 million to 8 million bees, with an average estimate settling at a staggering 5.5 million individuals. This robust statistical analysis provided a high degree of confidence in the monumental scale of the discovery.
The traps also yielded valuable insights into the emergence timing differences between male and female bees. Male Andrena regularis consistently appeared first during the warmer periods in April, several days ahead of the females. This phenomenon, known as protandry, is a common reproductive strategy in many insect species. "The males come out first and wait for the females, so that they have the best opportunities to mate and pass on their genes," Hoge elucidated, explaining the evolutionary advantage of this staggered emergence pattern. Early emerging males have a competitive edge in securing mating opportunities with newly emerged, receptive females, thereby maximizing their reproductive success.
Conservation Imperatives: Threats and Global Initiatives
Despite the impressive numbers of Andrena regularis at East Lawn Cemetery, the study also brought to light potential threats to this thriving aggregation. One significant challenge documented was brood parasitism by nomad bees (genus Nomada), specifically Nomada imbricata, often referred to as "cuckoo bees." These parasitic bees employ a sinister strategy: they wait until a female Andrena regularis has meticulously prepared her underground brood cells and provisioned them with pollen and nectar. The nomad bee then surreptitiously enters the host cell and lays its own egg. Once the nomad larva hatches, it quickly kills the host bee larva and proceeds to consume the carefully stored pollen and nectar, effectively hijacking the resources intended for the mining bee’s offspring. While a natural part of the ecosystem, high rates of parasitism can impact host populations.
The discovery of such a massive and long-standing bee aggregation underscores a critical conservation concern in the broader context of global pollinator decline. Bees, along with other pollinators, face unprecedented threats from habitat loss, widespread pesticide use, climate change, and disease. The implications of losing such aggregations extend far beyond the immediate ecological impact; they directly threaten global food security and the health of natural ecosystems. Pollinators contribute an estimated $235 to $577 billion annually to global crop production, making their protection an economic as well as an environmental imperative.
To address these pressing concerns and aid in locating and protecting similar nesting sites worldwide, Professor Danforth and his colleagues have launched an ambitious global citizen science initiative. This program encourages individuals to report any ground-nesting bee aggregations they encounter. By harnessing the power of public participation, researchers hope to map previously unknown pollinator hotspots and gather crucial data for conservation strategies. "These populations are huge, and they need protection," Danforth passionately stated. "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." This stark warning highlights the fragility of such concentrated populations and the irreversible damage that can result from habitat destruction.
Broader Impact and Implications for Biodiversity and Urban Planning
The East Lawn Cemetery discovery carries profound implications for ecological science, agricultural policy, and urban planning. Ecologically, it serves as a powerful testament to the resilience of nature when afforded undisturbed spaces. It also elevates the understanding of solitary bees, often overshadowed by honeybees, showcasing their critical role in maintaining ecosystem health and biodiversity. For agriculture, especially in regions like New York heavily reliant on crops like apples, understanding and protecting these native pollinators is paramount. While honeybees are often rented for large-scale pollination, wild bees provide essential, often uncredited, services that contribute to higher yields and crop quality. The reliance on a diverse pollinator community acts as a buffer against risks associated with disease or decline in any single species.
From an urban planning perspective, the findings offer a compelling argument for rethinking the use and management of green spaces within cities and towns. Cemeteries, often considered merely as places of remembrance, emerge as invaluable biodiversity corridors and refuges. Their undisturbed nature, often older trees and varied plantings, and minimal chemical intervention make them ideal sanctuaries. This model can inspire other urban green spaces, such as parks, botanical gardens, and even neglected vacant lots, to be managed with biodiversity conservation in mind. Promoting "bee-friendly" landscaping, reducing pesticide use, and preserving areas of bare, sandy soil could transform urban environments into vital hubs for pollinator survival.
The research also opens numerous avenues for future scientific inquiry. Further studies could delve into the genetic diversity of the East Lawn Cemetery bee population, investigate the long-term demographic trends, explore the specific microclimates that favor their nesting, and analyze the broader interactions within their localized food web, including other pollinators and predators. Understanding how this particular aggregation has sustained itself for over a century offers invaluable lessons for pollinator conservation efforts globally.
The groundbreaking study was a collaborative effort, with co-authors including postdoctoral researchers Jordan Kueneman and Katherine Odanaka, undergraduate students Steve Hoge ’24 and Cassidy Dobler ’26, and lab technician Rachel Fordyce, whose initial observation sparked the entire investigation. The essential funding for this critical research was generously provided by the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability, the National Science Foundation, and the Federal Capacity Funds program, underscoring the institutional and national commitment to understanding and protecting Earth’s vital biodiversity. The East Lawn Cemetery, once a quiet place of rest, has now become a vibrant symbol of ecological discovery and a beacon of hope for pollinator conservation.
