13 June 2025 | Article

Bare Sand Benefits Bees

As meadows, gravel pits, and open sandy areas become overgrown or developed, vital nesting habitats for many of our wild bees are disappearing. However, restoring these habitats is both possible and effective– by using bare sand as a conservation management tool.

Around 70% of all wild bee species in Sweden nest underground. They require sunny, dry, and vegetation-free areas with loose sand or gravel. In a recently published study, researchers examined a site in Uppsala and found that open sandy habitats have decreased by 85% since the 1940s (Cepukaite et al. 2025). The decline is directly linked to urbanisation and overgrowth, affecting not only bees but also the parasitic insects that live in symbiosis with them.

However, the same study shows that managing areas with exposed sand has a clear positive effect. The researchers created small sand patches, and within just two years, several species of ground-nesting bees and their parasites had established themselves. Areas with medium-grained sand and low vegetation had particularly high biodiversity.

Previous studies support these findings. British researchers have shown that even small scraped areas at field edges can attract hundreds of nests within a single season. German studies reveal that areas where vegetation has been removed can host up to 14 times more nests than comparable vegetated sites.

How to succeed with bare sand as a conservation method:

• Remove vegetation to expose bare mineral soil
• Use sand with suitable grain size (preferably medium-grained)
• Choose sunny locations – such as slopes, paths, or open glades
• Maintain the sites regularly to keep them open

In Sweden, nearly 100 species of wild bees are red-listed, many of them dependent on sandy habitats. With small, targeted efforts, it is possible to make a significant difference for these specialised species.

Sources:
• Cepukaite, I. et al. (2025). Environmental factors influencing ground-nesting bee communities in an urban landscape: implications for conservation. Urban Ecosystems. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-025-01706-6
• Nichols et al. (2020). Nesting success of ground bees in agricultural landscapes.
• Gardein et al. (2022). Bee nesting in early-successional sand habitats.

Photo: Aiwok, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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This perspective is part of fightCOtwo’s ongoing work on long-term conservation of Swedish boreal forests, integrating verified carbon sequestration, biodiversity outcomes, and documented collaboration with the reindeer herding community and the Sámi Indigenous people.