When carpenter bees share the same nest, there is usually just one primary queen who lays eggs and forages for the food to feed her offspring.
Instead, all female carpenter bees can mate and raise offspring.
The structure of the carpenter bee nest is unlike the organization of honey bee or bumble bee colonies, where sterile, female worker bees collectively care for the nest and brood. When the availability of nesting sites or material is limited, it becomes advantageous for carpenter bees to cooperatively live together in small, related groups. If she is using an existing nest, she will expand it and rear more offspring. If the nest is started from scratch, she will be able to rear four to five offspring in a season. When a new nest is started, a lone female will excavate the nest until there are sufficient chambers to begin rearing offspring. When nesting resources are abundant, eastern carpenter bees typically live as solitary bees, with one reproductive female inhabiting each nest. However, more recent research shows that they sometimes live cooperatively in loosely knit social groups. Images: Alex Wild/ Behavior and Lifecycleįor many years, scientists believed these bees were a solitary species that did not engage in social behavior. (B.) Male carpenter bees have distinctive white facial markings, (C.) they hover and harass intruders to defend their territory. (A.) Powerful mandibles allow carpenter bees to chew perfectly round holes into wood. The labor required for new nest construction, combined with the reproductive benefits of inhabiting an existing nest, make pre-established nesting sites desirable. Carpenter bees who defend an existing nest, or usurp a nest from a neighbor, are rewarded by having more space, time, and energy to raise offspring. The construction of a new nest requires a lot of time and energy that will decrease the number of offspring a female will be able to produce during her lifetime. For female carpenter bees, reproductive success is directly related to the size of their nest. On average, a carpenter bee can excavate one inch of tunnel per day - large nests are the product of many years of work!Īs with all living organisms, behavior is influenced by reproductive success. Carpenter bees often nest in small groups, and the same nests are used year after year, growing more elaborate with each generation. The egg will hatch into a larva and eat the pollen ball as its only source of food. Within each chamber, the female carpenter bee lays an egg on a ball of pollen and nectar she collected. She even uses the shavings from her excavation to create walls between the chambers.
#Carpenter bee series
Using her mandibles, the female carpenter bee excavates a series of tunnels with chambers to house her offspring. By manipulating the environment around them to suit their lifestyle, carpenter bees construct durable homes that can be reused over many years. In fact, most bee species live underground in cavities or nests they excavate in the soil or inhabit preexisting above-ground cavities such as reeds, stems, or tree hollows. They acquired their name because they create nests by chewing perfectly round holes into the wood with their powerful mandibles, which is an unusual habit in the bee world. The name Xylocopa translates to "wood-cutter". Lana MejiasĮastern Bumble Bees have entirely fuzzy bodies.
In contrast, the eastern carpenter bee is a less social species that nests above ground in cavities they create in wood.Ĭarpenter bees have shiny abdomens and distinct black circles on the thorax. Bumble bees are social insects who live in colonies underground and cooperatively care for the nest and rear offspring. However, it is easy to distinguish the two with just a little bit of training! Carpenter bees have shiny abdomens, while bumble bee abdomens are fuzzy. AppearanceĮastern carpenter bees are often mistaken for bumble bees because of their similar size and appearance. By developing an understanding of their behavior and by choosing preventative strategies that take their natural lifecycle into account, we can ensure safety to both manmade structures and these beneficial insects. Carpenter bees are often considered pests because of their potential to damage wooden structures. In fact, 15% of our agricultural crops are pollinated by native bees such as carpenter bees. Carpenter bees are important pollinators of many flowering plants found in our gardens, natural areas, and on farms. While there are numerous species of large and small carpenter bees native to North America, Xylocopa virginica is the only large carpenter bee found in Pennsylvania.
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