Excavator: Ground. Nesting occurs in light sandy, or more compacted, soil in warm, sunny situations. Nesting aggregations can be very large and compact, especially in coastal districts of the south-west and Dorset. Such aggregations can occasionally occur so low on cliffs that they are constantly sprayed by seawater at high tide (Nevinson 1902; R.C.L. Perkins 1919a).
Radchenko (2015), citing others, states that it nests in different soils and creates relatively large aggregations of nests (Nevinson 1902). The main burrow of the nest is meandering and descends almost vertically down to a depth of 20 cm where there are several cells, one behind the other in a plane, parallel to the ground surface. The inner walls of cells are covered with wax-like lining. Inside the cell the female lays one egg on the pollen ball (Marikovskaya 1972).