#carpenter bee

[bedupolker]

A valley carpenter bee couple

[onenicebugperday]

Broad-handed carpenter bee, Xylocopa latipes, Xylocopinae

Photographed in Cambodia by geechartier

[keymintt]

carpenter bee study

[alienbath]

Shout out to the Violet Carpenter bees with their iridescent wings

(Source: The John Russell Honey Company)

[netscapenavigator-official]

I literally just learned that male carpenter bees are usually the ones tasked with protecting the nest from predators. They have that little yellow bald spot on their heads, and they’re usually the ones buzzing and hovering near you, just kinda looking at you. However, the reason they hover near you is actually because they think they’re being intimidating, and they’re trying to scare you off. If that doesn’t work, well, male carpenter bees don’t have stingers, and they don’t bite, so their only defense mechanism to scare humans off is to bump into us over and over. Literally just fly full speed into us, head first, and hope it’s enough to scare us away. I love carpenter bees so much. 🥺 Truly the himbos of the insect world.

[herpsandbirds]

Blue Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa caerulea), family Fraser's Hill, Malaysia

photographs by Nick Volpe

[have-you-seen-this-animal]

How about Xylocopa violacea (violet carpenter bee)?

Of course!

Photos thanks to the John Russel Honey Company & Steven Falk.

[samimarkart]

So psyched to get these in the mail today! I was the May artist for Bizarre Beasts for their episode on small carpenter bees

This was a super fun projected and I enjoyed getting to work on three different color interpretations for these!

[creatureimages]

ridiculously handsome fellow

[razztazzel]

Guys I love bees

Runner up

Don’t kill me AAGGHH (based on my general like of the bee not like… in game stat wise)

[onenicebugperday]

Abbott’s carpenter bee, Xylocopa abbotti, Apidae

Found in Southeast Asia

Photo 1 by clicque, 2-3 by rckinglet21, and 4-7 by oscarnine

[personostient]

GASP bloo bee is sooo preeettyyy, may I touch the face/fuzzy fur?~

Bee my guests~

[crevicedwelling]

hello mister carpenter bee I’ve got you now. whats that it seems you do not want to be held. my apologies and good luck out there~

[toadalled]

A bee named Lavender, for a client.

[feather-bone]

[ID: an illustration of a black and yellow bee on purple flowers. The border is wood-textured. Text reads: "Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa spp.), They chew tunnels into exposed wood, carving out a gallery of brood cells. In each cell an egg is laid, and left with a cache of pollen and nectar for the new larva." End.]

8/12 pollinator posters - carpenter bee and hyacinth!

[giulliadella]

Day 7 of posting cute creatures that we found on our field trip:

Today’s special is BEES!

^These four were male bees! They don’t have a stinger so we were able to hold them. There are no words in this world to describe how soft they are. Male bees don’t make honey, they only exist in order to fertilize the queen’s eggs and then they are kicked out of the colony to die alone.

These were females. On the left is a common bumblebee and on the right is a carpenter bee. The carpenter bee was very drunk or weakened by something because she was very sluggish. But she could have stung my professor! He wanted to hold her so that we could get a better picture. Entomologists truly have balls of steel because he is allergic to bees.

Carpenter bees are the goths of bees. They are black with violet sheen and they live alone in holes they make in wood. They too are very important pollinators, but they don’t make honey.

And lastly:

Bee orchids (Ophrys apifera)! They evolved to look like bees and they also produce bee pheromones to attract horny male bees who go at them thinking that they’ll have some fun times, but they just get tricked into pollinating this sinister orchid. (Btw, am I the only one who sees a smiling face on this flower?)