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Posts Tagged: Valley carpenter bees
Sold on the Salvia
Ever watched Valley carpenter bees (Xylocopa varipuncta) foraging on salvia? Native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, distinguished professor of entomology at the University of California, Davis, recently noticed a flurry of carpenter bees in the...
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 private property in Davis, scores of eyes peered from the drilled holes. Soon, adult male Valley carpenter bees (Xylocopa varipuncta)--those green-eyed...
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.
Pollen Power
Female Valley carpenter bees are solid black--except when they're foraging around passion flowers. Then they're black and yellow--the yellow being the color of the pollen transferred to their thorax. Beautiful? Absolutely. Mary Patterson, one of the...
A Valley carpenter bee receives a brush of pollen. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Check out the yellow pollen on this Valley carpenter bee's thorax. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Honey bees frequent the passion flowers, too. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
'Teddy Bear' Bees
Along about this time of year, the calls come pouring into the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology and the Bohart Museum of Entomology. "I just saw a golden bumble bee. I think it's a new species! Can I name it?" "I just saw a huge bee...
Male Valley carpenter bee, Xylocopa varipuncta, is blond with green eyes. This is on a germander bush, Teucrium fruitcans. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Female Valley carpenter bee is solid black. This is on a rock purslane, Calandrinia grandiflora. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Carpenter Bees Like Almond Blossoms, Too
We're accustomed to seeing honey bees pollinating the almonds. But carpenter bees do, too. We spotted a female Valley carpenter bee, Xylocopa varipuncta, foraging in an almond tree on Feb. 24 in a field adjacent to the Harry H. Laidlaw...
A female Valley carpenter bee buzzes in the almond blossoms. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Full speed ahead: carpenter bee sights an almond blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Female Valley carpenter bee meets almonds blossom. She's shaking her thoracic muscles to loosen the pollen. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
