CARPENTER BEE
The carpenter bee is a large black bee which derives its name from its habit of nesting in dead wood or bamboo. It is not a bumblebee as it has a shiny abdomen, whereas all bumblebees have hairy ones. There are 500 species of carpenter bee worldwide, but the Kefalonian carpenters are up to 30mm in length, all black with blue/black wings. My friend and artist Kirsty Nichol, calls them flying olives, and she is not far wrong.
The carpenter bee can bore holes in wooden dwellings, but the damage to the building is superficial. Unfortunately, carpenter bee nests are attractive to woodpeckers, and they can do more damage drilling for the larvae. Although carpenter bees are solitary, you will find that some bees bore their holes near other carpenter bee’s nests. They do not eat the wood that is bored out from their nesting tunnels, they eat nectar from flowering plants. Males are harmless, since they do not have a stinger, but the female carpenter bees are capable of stinging, although they are usually docile and only sting if provoked.
