Excavator: Ground. This bee often forms large, compact nesting aggregations, in horizontal or vertical, sandy surfaces (R.C.L. Perkins, 1919g; Chambers, 1949; Westrich, 1989).
In continental Europe the species is also said to nest solitarily (Dylewska, 1987).
It nests in different soils as a solitary species often with the nests aggregated together. Emeis (1955) observed many thousands of nests of this species on the island of Amrum (northern Germany) on sand dunes, an area of 2.5 km long and 0.5 km wide. Individual aggregations numbered from six to 120 nests located from each other at a distance of a few centimetres to several metres, sometimes entrance holes of nests almost merged.