With their short tongues, Valley carpenter bees can't easily drink the nectar from tubular flowers. So they use powerful mandibles to slice into the blooms and steal it. It's called nectar robbing, since the plants don't get the benefit of being pollinated by these enormous, fuzzy bees.

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On a warm spring day in California’s Central Valley, a super fuzzy golden bee almost the size of your thumb flies in tight circles over red and white Hot lips salvia flowers. You’re witnessing the fitness display of the largest bee in the Western United States – the Valley carpenter bee (Xylocopa sonorina).

The bright golden males of this species release a pheromone as they circle around a focal point, mimicking floral odors. Researchers think that they are using the perfume-y scent to attract foraging female bees. They hope that the all-black, shiny female bees will be impressed by their dizzying acrobatic displays, and decide to choose them as a mate. These striking males are colloquially referred to as "Teddy bear bees."

Many flowering plants in California’s Central Valley produce tubular flowers which are hard to access with the bees' short tongue. Valley carpenter bees, like other types of carpenter bees, don’t have the long tongues that other local pollinators may have (like some moths, butterflies, or hummingbirds). So instead of extending their tongues down a flower to reach nectar (and in the process pick up pollen at the front of the flower), these bees steal the nectar through a backdoor. They use their powerful mandibles to bite a hole at the base of the flower and sip nectar from the side of the puncture, thus bypassing pollination. Researchers call this “nectar robbing.”

---+ Why do carpenter bees eat wood?

Carpenter bees are named for their ability to construct nests in wood – typically logs or human-made wooden structures. The bee nests are made of tunnels about ½ inch in diameter and 6 to 10 inches deep. The tunnels in a bee nest lead to several chambers, where the bees raise their young, as well as hibernate during colder months. In parts of the US, especially the Eastern US, carpenter bees are considered pests.


---+ How do carpenter bees drill holes?

The female bees use their powerful mandibles to tunnel into dead wood… like logs, or tree trunks. Mama bees then lay their eggs and provide food for the developing offspring in these chambers.

The bees may return to the same nest for generations, expanding and renovating year after year.
Carpenter bees don’t have a queen, and they aren’t as social as honeybees, but several bees may room together in a nest.

---+ Find additional resources and a transcript on KQED Science:

https://www.kqed.org/science/1979834/...

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