Bee?? identification help please

[theeggman]

Whilst we were digging a trench in the churchyard this am we were finding at about 8" deep. below turf, insects that looked very beelike.
They are slightly smaller than a worker honeybee, shiny black abdomen with 1 white stripe over the thorax.
The 'nests' they were in looked as though the soil had been mixed with water to form a slurry and formed into a sphere with the right sized hole through it.
Along a 10yd. 1ft wide trench we found at least 2 dozen but all isolated from each other.
Sorry,no photos.
Tim

 

[simonwig]

Hi Tim

They sound like mining bees, there are quite a few species. Try google to see if you can find a picture that matches your memory.

Andrena cineraria - ashy mining-bee seems to have a white stripe. http://bit.ly/YhxtSt

Simon

 

[Luminos]

Whilst we were digging a trench in the churchyard this am we were finding at about 8" deep. below turf, insects that looked very beelike.
They are slightly smaller than a worker honeybee, shiny black abdomen with 1 white stripe over the thorax.
The 'nests' they were in looked as though the soil had been mixed with water to form a slurry and formed into a sphere with the right sized hole through it.
Along a 10yd. 1ft wide trench we found at least 2 dozen but all isolated from each other.
Sorry,no photos.
Tim

Are you a gravedigger??

 

[theeggman]

Thanks Simon,
That looks very much like the bees in question but they had only 1 distinct white stripe.
They may not have fully developed before they were thrust out into the cold wet world today.

Luminos,
If it were a grave we were digging it would be for a 10yd x 1ft parishioner.
We're putting some lights from the car park to the church.
Tim

 

[Luminos]

Thanks Simon,
That looks very much like the bees in question but they had only 1 distinct white stripe.
They may not have fully developed before they were thrust out into the cold wet world today.

Luminos,
If it were a grave we were digging it would be for a 10yd x 1ft parishioner.
We're putting some lights from the car park to the church.
Tim