there were quite a few of these clustered together digging holes in a sandy abandoned logging road bed. If what I read is correct this should be a female, as males do not collect pollen. I have another photograph of a different bee- possibly a male if that would be helpful, but I didn't attach it to this ID, as it is a different specimen, though I am pretty sure the same species. They could dig quite quickly, disappearing in less than a minute.