What family of bees should I look for species that live underground?

I took some photos of those underground wasps

The photos aren't worth keeping, but I'm hoping to find out a little about these wasps. Seems to me there must be a large number of them.

… Wisconsin Oecanthinancy, 9 August, 2009 - 12:06pm

Yellow Jackets

They look like Yellow Jackets

… JP McHale, 12 August, 2009 - 7:38am

Hmmm...

It may be a teeny bit risky, but you can try either in the early morning or late night hours to put something tasty like honey just near the entrance. Then, when they wake up and start moving around, they may stop long enough to feed on the honey and give you a good look. Doing it when they're inactive in the dark or cold may be a bit safer. Slowly and gently walking up and just dropping a small glob should do it.

I think all of the ground nesting species of hymenoptera would stop for that. And who doesn't appreciate a little breakfast!

… Cassie Novak, 3 August, 2009 - 1:54pm

Risky? Not necessarily

If you are talking about social ground nesting wasps, such as yellow jackets, yes, that would be dangerous. Social wasps and bees are very protective of their large investment. But solitary bees or wasps are not very likely to sting and in general their sting is not very painful.

… Beatriz Moisset, 4 August, 2009 - 8:28pm

There are a large number of bees coming and going...

...I'm going to try this weekend -- by setting up my camera on a tripod and then using the zoom function on my camera. I don't know what they would be attracted to though -- are all wasps sweet eaters?

… Wisconsin Oecanthinancy, 4 August, 2009 - 9:59pm

wasp videos

Have you seen Dick Walton's videos? Lots of ideas for wasps that live underground.

http://www.rkwalton.com/wasps.html

… Ilona L., 3 August, 2009 - 1:08pm

Several families

Some members of the larger families, Apidae, Andrenidae, Halictidae, Megachlidae and Colletidae are ground nesters. At least Agapostemon is easy to recognize. Good luck; I have tried to do the same, so far without luck.

… Beatriz Moisset, 3 August, 2009 - 6:41am