California Carpenter Bee

Carpenter bee on sage flower likely Foothill variety Sages such as this Cleveland sage will bloom in summer with supplemental water. We are the Xylocopa more commonly known as the carpenter bee.

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Thats because California bees belong to two completely different species the Xylocopa californica and Xylocopa varipuncta commonly known as the valley carpenter bee.

California carpenter bee. Carpenter bees also frequently attack dead wood on trees or lumber from southern yellow pine white pine California redwood cedar Douglas fir cypress mimosa mulberry ash and pecan trees. However carpenter bees do not have any hair on their abdomens. Youll generally find California carpenter bees in the southwestern portion of the United States Arizona California New Mexico.

The family Apidae is a large and very diverse group of bees. The male Western Carpenter Bee has bluish metallic reflections on its body while the females have smoky dark-brown wings. Carpenter bees look very similar to bumblebees which is why they are often confused.

A robust insect roughly the size of a small pecan the carpenter bee is the only really large bee in the Southwest that is metallic blue-black to black according to Floyd Werner and Carl Olson Insects of the Southwest. You might have encountered this bee before nesting in or around your home. They are not as big as valley Carpenter Bee but they are also metallic.

It contains a diverse array of digger bees most of which nest in the soil carpenter bees which nest in soft wood or pithy stems and bumble and honey bees which nest in large cavities or hives are social. A bumblebee by contrast has a hairy abdomen. You can differentiate the two by examining the dorsal upper side of the abdomen.

The valley carpenter bee occurs in Arizona and California. Typical large carpenter bee all black with some bluishgreenish reflections. The male is golden brown and fuzzy earning it the nickname of the teddy bear bee.

Male has some lighter markings on. California has three species of carpenter bees. The Western Carpenter bee is the second-largest bee in California.

Instead they have a black and shiny abdomen. Our relatives include our naturalized European cousin the honey bee Apis mellifera and the Bombus species common name bumblebee. It is the real California Carpenter Bee Xylocopa californica.

Xylocopa tabaniformis orpifex is the most problematic for buildings and loves redwood or cedar posts or trees and will spend weeks digging a 12 by 4-6 inch hole into same for their nest site. Genus Xylocopa Large Carpenter Bees No Taxon Subgenus Xylocopoides Species californica Western Carpenter Bee Size. The biggest is the Valley carpenter bee Xylocopa varipuncta.

Alternatively the other species of carpenter bees Virginica will have a lot more yellow on their bodies. The Valley Carpenters are the largest bees in California. If its shiny and hairless its a carpenter bee.

Xylocopa is a member of the Apidae family. The rarely-seen males are golden and fuzzy with gold-green eyes. Carpenter bees genus Xylocopa are solitary bees that burrow into wood.

California carpenter bees are generally almost all black with a slight sleek shine to it. The female is solid black while the male commonly known as the teddy bear bee is a green-eyed blond. Arizona Carpenter Bee Xylocopoides californica arizonensis Carpenter bees have certain tastes in wood and prefer good wood not rotten wood for nesting material.

Sound undecayed wood without paint or bark is usually selected for nests. Carpenter bee looking out of nest hole She lays one white egg on a pollen clump separates it with a wall then repeats for 5-7 cells per tunnel. They avoid most hardwoods.

Its about an inch long. They have the same thick black and yellow hair. Not one of the species commonly found in California resembles the typical carpenter bee on the other side of the Rocky Mountains.

This carpenter bee has cut the side of a sage blossom close to the base to access the nectar within. The valley carpenter bee is the largest bee we have in California. Usually referred to as black bumblebees theyre actually distant cousins to bumblebees just like honey bees.

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