Bee Basics - USDA Forest Service - US Department of Agriculture

to excavate wide tunnel systems in which they build their nests, hence theircommon name of carpenter bee.Carpenter bees are not always well-behaved pollinators. Occasionally, whena flower has a long throat that places the nectar out of reach of its tongue, thecarpenter bee uses her sharp mouth parts to cut a slit at the base of the flowerwhere the nectar is stored. She then drinks the nectar without coming near thepollen dispensing anthers or stigma of the flower. Thus, carpenter bees can benectar robbers that cheat the flower instead of doing it a service in return forits nectar. Bumble bees are also capable of floral larceny. Look at the trumpethoneysuckles, horse mints, or abelias in your garden. You may find the telltalesigns of these attacks, flowers with their throats slit by thirsty carpenter bees.Small carpenter bees in the genus Ceratina are related to the larger carpenterbees, although you would never mistake them because of the size difference.They nest in pithy stems, such as blackberry brambles or roses rather thandigging their own..A female large carpenter bee (Xylocopavirginica) slits the corolla base of atrumpet vine (Tecoma stans) gainingaccess to nectar otherwise unavailablewith its relatively short mouthparts.17