Connecticut
Carpenter Bees
September 2007
These photographs, taken in Connecticut in 2007, document an eastern carpenter bee (Xylocopa virginica), a large native bee of eastern North America. Carpenter bees are often confused with bumblebees because of their size and the dense yellow hair on the thorax, but their abdomens are glossy and largely hairless rather than densely covered with hair.
Female carpenter bees use their mandibles to excavate tunnels in wood, including dead wood and structural lumber. They do not eat the wood; excavated material is pushed from the tunnel as sawdust. Inside, females construct a series of brood cells, each provisioned with pollen and nectar for a developing larva. Eastern carpenter bees do not form bumblebee-like colonies. Females may nest independently or share a nest with other females. Males often patrol nesting areas but cannot sting.
Carpenter bees feed on nectar and pollen and can be effective pollinators. They can perform buzz pollination, vibrating flowers to release pollen from specialized anthers, including those of tomatoes and eggplants. On some tubular flowers, they may instead cut an opening near the base to reach nectar, a behavior known as nectar robbing.
