SayCheese

Taken at the farm on 1 August 2010.

This is a male Carpenter Bee,  Xylocopa virginica, guarding its home in the cavity of a bamboo that is a part of a gate in the farm. It hovered over us every time we went near the gate. The female was inside, busy with nest making. The male spent many hours guarding its territory against other males, hovering about the nests for hours. The best way to move a male carpenter bee out of the way is to toss a small pebble past the bee. They will attempt to chase it, long enough for a human to get past. A female Bee always comes back to the place she was born in and makes a nest in or near her maternal home.