Busy Building!

    Along about noontime, I glanced out the front window just in time to see something zip to the left.  Ok, so that was a big bee!  Shoes on, camera in hand and glasses..I need my glasses!  I had to go find a bee!  The search did not take long because the bee was busy building a home.  There, on my gatepost, was a nice sized hole and there, going in that hole, was the bee.  She was poking stuff into the hole.  This was obviously a female that had gnawed out a tunnel in the post and then gnawed individual rooms.  In these cells, she laid in a stock of pollen and regurgitated nectar.  She then laid eggs in the different cells of the tunnel before sealing them off from the rest of the tunnel.  The sealing is done with plant fibers and soft wood from her gnawing.  This was her intentions for the day.  It was time to seal the main entrance to her nest.

  

  These tunnels can sometimes be up to 5 feet long and have many, many side cells.  The female bee does all the work.  Several generations of bees might use the same tunnel with a female adding to the tunnel system each year.  The tunnels are also used as overwintering spots for bees.  They will again lay in a stock of pollen and seal themselves in once the weather turns cold.  Many of the adult bees will die during the winter but those who survive will gnaw their way out during spring and start the process anew.

  The bee that has claimed my fencepost is a Southern Carpenter Bee.  These bees are not as fuzzy and cute as some of the other bees.  Some resemble Bumble Bees but mine lacks the bright yellow fuzziness.  In fact, this one looks downright intimidating!  The females are not apt to sting.  She can and will if you grab her but she is far too busy to be concerned about a mere human.  That said, the male does not have a stinger but he sure can get himself in a tizzy and act like a big bully if he thinks you are getting to close.  But that is all he does...nothing else...at all.   So Carpenter Bees are not a threat to anything but the wood in your house and, well, any gateposts that just happen to be handy.  I guess it is time to remedy a problem before it gets any worse.