Wild honey bee ground nests are prevalent yet frequently vacated in the Eastern Cape, South Africa

Selecting a suitable nest site is crucial for survival of central place foraging eusocial insect colonies. While the western honey bee (Apis mellifera – hereafter ‘honey bee’) is well studied as managed livestock, relatively little is known about the nesting strategies of wild populations of this important pollinator. We located wild honey bee nests in South Africa using beelining techniques, with which we followed foraging bees from stands with sugar water to their nest entrances. We recorded nest natural history data at the time of nest discovery and changes in nest occupancy at three time points. We assessed seasonal changes in nest vacancy and damage by cavity type using generalized linear mixed effect models. We located 127 wild nests, 90 of which were located via beelining. Nests in ground cavities were the most prevalent nest type (69.3% of all nests analyzed, N = 127), followed by nests in cavities in plants (23.6%), manmade structures (5.5%), and rock (1.6%). Over half of all nests were vacated by the end of the year-long study period. Nests in ground cavities were vacated more frequently than were nests in plant cavities after 4–6 months of monitoring. We documented an ecological relationship between wild honey bees and burrowing mammals, including aardvarks (Orycteropus afer), for the creation and use of ground cavities. While honey bees are often described as tree-dwelling, we demonstrate that wild honey bee nesting strategies are regionally specific. Conservation strategies of wild honey bees should account for local nesting strategies, including the reliance on other animals to construct nest sites.