Mining Bees

Description:

Small bee with a lot of yellowish "fur" on the head and thorax. Dark body, clear wings. There were hundreds of these bees flying low to the ground, landing on the ground and mating (from what I could tell). These bees nest in the ground. I observed many small holes in the ground around where these bees were flying but didn't get a good photo of any of them. These bees tend to be active in cooler weather (they were spotted in the beginning of March). Apparently it is very difficult to identify individual species in this genus.

Habitat:

Blydenburgh County Park, sandy soil in an unused campground area (too early in the season).

Notes:

I have never seen so many bees in one place. We had to be careful not to step on them as they were landing on the ground frequently.