THE FANTASTIC CARPENTER BEE

THE FANTASTIC CARPENTER BEE

These large bees can often be seen buzzing about in Hong Kong. See them in the butterfly gardens of Shing Mun reservoir, or Tai Po Kau, or this one was found at the top of Kadoorie Farm.

The name “carpenter bee” is derived from the fact that these bees build their nests in wood.  

Here are some interesting facts about carpenter bees…

• Male carpenter bees will sometimes buzz around people, putting on a show, but male carpenter bees are unable to sting. The females will sting, but only if sorely provoked.

Take off...in LNEC

•  Only the female carpenter bee does the nest building, and she will drill out a small sized hole that is perfectly dug.  She will dig a few centimetres  in and then move at a right angle following the grain of wood. • A carpenter bee can grow up to an inch long.

• You will only see them in the warmer weather, as they hibernate when its cold. During the springtime, male carpenter bees will be out foraging for food while the females work to ready the nest for her new brood of eggs.

• A short while after male carpenter bees mate, they die.  It won’t take long for the females to die after they lay their eggs and seal up the larvae into the tunnels that they dug out.

yes, we do have a Traditional Chinese Facebook page: 香港野 Hong Kong WildCreatures

(not always 100%, but a big thank you to all the HKU students and Lung Fu Shan Centre that helped with the translations).

神奇的木蜂

這些大蜜蜂經常在香港到處嗡嗡作響，可以在城門水塘的蝴蝶園、大埔滘或嘉道理農場的山頂位置發現牠們。

「木蜂」這個名字源於這些蜜蜂會在木頭上築巢的事實。

以下是有關木蜂的有趣事情：

• 雄性木蜂有時會在人們周圍嗡嗡作響，但他們其實無法刺到別人，所以只是在做戲；

• 只有雌性木蜂會築巢，她們會挖出一個小洞，挖到幾厘米深，然後按木紋直角移動；

• 木蜂可生長到一英吋長；

• 你只能在溫暖的天氣裡看到牠們，因為在寒冷的天氣牠們會冬眠。在春天，雄性木蜂會到外面尋找食物，而雌性則為新卵的孵化做準備；

• 男性木蜂交配後不久便會死去，而雌性在產卵後將幼蟲密封到她們挖出的隧道中，這過程並不會花費很長時間。