Posts Tagged: carpenter bees
Carpenter Bee: Beneficial Insect or Pest?
Let's face it--some folks are not fond of carpenter bees. Honey bees, yes! Bumble bees, yes!...
A female mountain carpenter bee, Xylocopa tabaniformis orpifex, pierces the corolla of salvia to rob the nectar. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A male mountain carpenter bee, Xylocopa tabaniformis orpifex, heads for bulbine. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A familiar sight: a female Valley carpenter bee, covered with pollen and nectaring on a passion flower. The female is solid black, while the male of this species is a green-eyed blond. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A male Valley carpenter bee, Xyclopa varipuncta, pierces the corolla of a foothill Penstemon. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Female carpenter bees, Xyclopa variuncta, often drill holes in limbs of dead trees to build their nests. This find, from Davis naturalist/photographer Allan Jones, shows a male wintering inside one of the holes. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Celebrating the Honey Bees and Earth Day
Doom or gloom? Boom or bloom? Today is Earth Day, and millions of folks around the world...
Two honey bees forage in the tower of jewels, Echium wildpretii. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A cordovan honey bee dives head first in a tower of jewels blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A honey bee, its tongue or proboscis extended, heads for a nectar treat. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Robbing the Nectar
It's the easy way to do it. A carpenter bee heads for a foxglove blossom and drills a hole in the...
A honey bee looking for a hole drilled by a carpenter bee in the corolla of a foxglove. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Still searching--the honey bee is getting closer to finding the hole pierced by a carpenter bee.(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Found it! Ah, sweet nectar! (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Sold on the Salvia
Ever watched Valley carpenter bees (Xylocopa varipuncta) foraging on salvia? Native pollinator...
A female Valley carpenter bee, Xylocopa varipuncta, forages on grape-scented sage, Salvia melissodora. Note the "pollen cap." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Check out the "pollen cap" on this female Valley carpenter bee, Xylocopa varipuncta, foraging on grape-scented sage, Salvia melissodora. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The 'Gold' That an Apple Tree Yielded
Thar's gold in them thar apple trees. Gold? When a rotten apple tree was cut down last week on...
A male Valley carpenter bee (right) peers from a hole. A female (all females are solid black) occupies the hole next to him.
A cluster of male Valley carpenter bees.
Extension apiculturist (emeritus) Eric Mussen holds a handful of male Valley carpenter bees.
This male Valley carpenter bee backed into its drilled hole to keep warm.