Excavator: Ground. In England, the species sometimes nests in vast aggregations in bare soil, for example surfaces exposed by land slippage, in artificial mounds of soil (Guichard, 1974), and even in the sides of rabbit burrows. Nesting sites may be subject to occasional inundation by the sea. A nesting aggregation of this species at Scolt Head Island, Norfolk, is reached by the highest spring tides. Following one exceptionally high tide at this locality, the bees were observed trying, unsuccessfully, to reach their burrows which were submerged by about 7 cm of water (Field & Foster, 1988). Also on the Norfolk coast, bees have been seen emerging from waterlogged mud (D.B. Baker, pers. comm.).
In Holland it nests in the consolidated sands of dunes and at the base of sea walls (Manning, 1955).