Physical Appearance

Color varies from shiny or iridescent black to brown or golden. Most species have a hairy thorax and relatively hairless, shiny abdomen.  Males and females of many species are different colors, with the males often a lighter color over part or all of their bodies.

 

The female carries pollen in a brush of specialized hairs, called a scopa, on each hind leg.

 

Characteristics

Both males and females are long-lived. Females usually live well into their second year. Males and female siblings in their first year of life often overwinter together in their natal nest, and do not find mates until the following spring.

 

Despite their large size, carpenter bees are very gentle. The males may put on a loud and energetic display of buzzing and swooping around flowers where females forage, but this is all bluster. Like all male bees, male carpenter bees lack a stinger, and so are harmless to humans.

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Carpenter bees have long tongues and so are able to reach nectar at the base of deep tubular flowers;  despite this ability, both sexes are known to occasionally “rob” nectar by chewing a hole at the base of a flower.

 

Female carpenter bees are able to buzz-pollinate the flowers of certain plants, sonically releasing a burst of pollen from deep pores in the anthers.

 

As they are long-lived and active throughout much of the year, carpenter bees tend to be excellent general pollinators, collecting pollen and nectar from a wide range of seasonal plants. This characteristic, taken together with the female’s ability to buzz-pollinate the flowers of various plants, makes carpenter bees valuable crop pollinators.

 

Size: Medium to very large, robust bee, 1/2 to 1-1/4 inch in length.