Golden bee makes buzzworthy appearance
DEAR JOAN: We live in Willow Glen and have had a few black carpenter bees residing in an old, dead tree stump for a few years now. They hover like heavy helicopters when coming in for landings at their side entrance to the stump, almost like they are doing a security check of their surroundings.
Recently, we have seen a bright golden-orange carpenter bee entering and exiting. It is the same size as the black bees but it’s brilliant in its coloring. Can you shed any light on this beautiful creature?
Paula and Ken Massa San Jose
DEAR PAULA: I’d say your golden bee is a Valley carpenter bee, Xylocopa varipuncta, also known as a teddy bear bee.
The Valley carpenter bees are the largest of the species. The males are a gorgeous golden color while the Valley girls are black.
You may see other carpenter or bumble bees that have some gold on them, but the male Valley bees are completely golden. They also are completely harmless, having no stinger. Only the female carpenter bees have stingers, but they rarely use them.
I’m pleased beyond measure to hear you’ve been happily coexisting with your bees for so long now.
Unlike Eastern carpenter bees that can do significant damage to houses and other buildings, our West Coast variety are much better neighbors. They prefer an easier path, boring into wood that already is showing decay, and unfinished redwood.
Carpenter and native bees play an important role in pollinating gardens and crops. Honey bees tend to focus on specific plants, visiting only those on their daily to-do lists, but carpenter and native bees stop by every flower they can find, making them just as valuable as the honey bee, if not more.
They also are more docile. Honey bees will aggressively defend their hives, but the carpenter bees don’t have a hive to defend. They may share a log or stump, as they are doing in your yard, but they do not have a communal hive.
The males will defend their general territory, but without a stinger, the worst they can do to you is dive bomb you and probably give you a good scare.
DEAR JOAN: I live near the San Jose Municipal Rose Garden. In January I started having hundreds of what I’m pretty sure are robins. They have orange breasts and they are large birds. I have bird baths in my backyard and in the front courtyard. There were so many birds, that you couldn’t even see the birdbaths. They were everywhere else as well.
Why do you think there are all of these birds all of a sudden?
Jeanmarie Pelz
DEAR JEANMARIE: We often hear about seeing the first robin of spring, but it’s a fallacy that we only see robins in the spring and summer.
Robins are permanent residents of the Bay Area, although they make themselves scarce in the winter, living in areas where food is more plentiful.
This year, however, as we struggle through another year of drought, many creatures that winter away from urban areas, have come in closer to find food and water.
Because birds also form large flocks in the winter for better protection, warmth and to have more eyes searching for food, we were treated to huge flocks of birds in our yards.