Carpenter bumblebee or xylope black bee: unique construction set

Common carpenter bee (lat. Xylocopa valga). Modern science knows more than a million species of different insects. They live everywhere. The famous writer and traveler Vasily Peskov even called them the masters of the Earth. Among insects there are many flying representatives of the class. They can be useful or harmful, harmless or dangerous. Bees are one of the most beneficial insects. They pollinate plants and produce vitamin-rich honey. However, there are completely different bees.

Carpenter bee: photo

Carpenter bee.

Distribution area

The carpenter bee has a fairly wide habitat. Representatives of this species are found in Western Europe, Central Europe, Central Asia, northern Africa in Transcaucasia, the Middle East, and Mongolia.

In Russia, the black bee is found in the Urals, in the Krasnodar and Stavropol territories, in the North Caucasus, in the Tula, Moscow, and Arkhangelsk regions. In our country, this species is listed in the Red Book. Ukraine also included black bees in its Red Book.

general description

Name: Carpenter bee, xylope Lat.:
Xylocopa valga

Class: Insects - Insecta Order: Hymenoptera - Hymenoptera Family: True bees - Apidae

Carpenter and common bee.

The carpenter bee is a representative of solitary bee species. She looks very bright and colorful. The insect is hardy, flies far and perfectly pollinates different types of plants.

The size is impressive; by the standards of the carpenter family, the bee is a large bee, its body reaches a size of 35 mm. The color of the body is black, it is completely covered with hairs. The wings have a blue-violet tint. They are often called bumblebees.

Preventive measures

Having gotten rid of carpenter wasps once, no one can guarantee that they will no longer appear in the house or building where they lived before.

Bee leafcutter

To do this you need to perform certain manipulations:

• After the nest is destroyed, you need to stuff everything with mineral wool, steel wool or polyurethane foam. All these materials are classified as sealing materials, and the insects will not be able to return to the monastery, and the remaining ones will definitely die.
• Experienced gardeners claim that wood wasps do not settle on buildings treated with paints and varnishes. Therefore, this is the most reliable way to prevent the formation of nests, and therefore the accumulation of bees.
• You can also use citrus spray on wooden buildings to prevent pests from returning. The product can be purchased at a special store or made with your own hands. Most bees die from it, and the survivors leave danger in the territory in the genetic code, and their descendants will not settle in the same place.

Method of preparation: you need to grind the peels of orange, lemon, lime, grapefruit and boil for some time in a shallow container, fill with water. Once cooled, strain and place in a spray bottle. It is worth spraying the entrances to the abode of bees.

For your information! Also, all predatory insects cannot tolerate citrus oil. Almond oil and essence also cope with this task.

In addition to all of the above, you need to consider the following:

• To stop reproduction, you will have to use only powder pesticides, since liquid ones are absorbed by the wood and do not give the desired effect. After falling asleep, under no circumstances should you seal the entrance, otherwise the pests will start making new ones and will be able to avoid the action of the poison. This can only be done if there is absolute confidence that the adults have left the home.
• If bees have just appeared on the site and have not yet created a large nest, they can be caught with ordinary bait for flying insects that like sweet aromas.

Note! You should not buy prohibited pesticides, as they are dangerous for people, especially children, and also cause irreparable harm to the environment.

Before baiting, you should make sure that you have all the necessary protective clothing, because females will protect the larvae even at the cost of their lives.

If all attempts are unsuccessful, you should look for a team of specialists. In case of obvious danger to human life, when there are several nests and many insects, they can only be dealt with through complex treatment. But at the same time, the structure of the building will also suffer, because you will have to pick out the honeycombs with larvae.

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Habitats

The carpenter bee lives on the edges of forests and in thickets. It takes up space in dead wood. At the moment, the carpenter or xylope is a rare representative, there are about 730 varieties. Due to the fact that their natural habitat is now being actively cut down, their numbers are significantly decreasing.

The very name carpenter implies a way of life. They love to build a place in leftover wood. And she even makes a separate nest for the descendant. It works very quickly and loudly, like a drill.

How to get rid

So, the carpenter bee itself is harmless, but only if it is far from populated areas. Otherwise, the insect becomes dangerous to humans: it makes a nest in a residential wooden house or destroys agricultural buildings.

As has already been said, these bees bite painfully, and if you suddenly do not notice your new neighbor in time (even despite her impressive, albeit for an insect, size), then you risk suffering both physical and material damage: a painful bite and pretty much eaten walls.

How to remove xylocopa?

For this, various methods are used, more or less effective:

• Pesticides against wasps and other large Hymenoptera. They can be in the form of powders, aerosols, gels, and so on. It is impossible to say which one is optimal: all of these remedies have their advantages and are effective when used correctly. In particular, agents such as carbaryl (Sevin) and boric acid are effective.
• Gasoline . It is very toxic and will undoubtedly kill bees and their larvae if poured into xylocope tunnels. But you should be extremely careful with this substance: firstly, it is flammable, and secondly, the human body’s reaction to gasoline is not much different from that of insects. So take care to protect your skin from getting gasoline on it, and your lungs from inhaling its toxic fumes. It is best to use a spray bottle.
• Finally, there are more humane (relatively) methods of dealing with carpenter bees: You can scare them away with loud noise , which they cannot stand (using a music center near their nest, turned on at full volume). The bravest ones can use a tennis racket and swat a couple of pests, striking fear into the hearts of others (bees, by the way, have no hearts).

Life cycle

Carpenter in the process of construction.

The female begins to build a place for her offspring in the spring. She makes ideal compartments in the wood for children; nectar and pollen are placed inside to make it soft. These cells have perfectly smooth edges. The passages to the cells are lined up along the fibers.

When the larvae wake up, they feed on the reserves and spend the winter there. Only when it warms up do they gnaw their way out and fly out.

Nutrition

Like other representatives of Bees, the carpenter feeds on pollen. Preference is given to plants of the legume and Rosaceae families. She is very selective when it comes to food. Can sort through a large number of plants, covering vast distances in search of suitable flowers. From flower nectar, the bee makes a nutrient substrate for future larvae. She leaves it in each cell of the nest.

Facts and Features

Domestication.

It’s interesting that people want to tame the carpenter bee in order to get honey from it, like they do from domestic bees. But nothing works.

Activity.

Carpenters fly very far and are not afraid of rain or bad weather.

Health.

Unlike ordinary bees, carpenter bees do not suffer from bee mites.

Capabilities.

Carpenters can collect pollen even from flowers that have one long corolla.

Kinds

Xylocopa is a very ancient bee. It existed long before modern civilization and is considered a kind of “living fossil.” Scientists count more than 700 species. The carpenter bee lives in different parts of the planet. In the vastness of America you can find an amazing subspecies that is completely black in color.

They are much larger than their Russian relatives and are particularly aggressive. Cases of this bee attacking a person are often recorded. The black carpenter bee to collect pollen twice a day - at dawn and in the evening, at dusk.

In European territory, carpenter bees are found in Germany. Surprisingly, this particular species is practically immune to various diseases. They have strong immunity. The harshest and most dangerous continent, Africa, has its own species of insect. It is mainly found in Tunisia and Algeria.

A distinctive feature is a flat, wide belly and long mustache, about 6 millimeters. African carpenter bees are very aggressive and dangerous, in principle, like all animals on the continent. In addition, after stinging a bee, it smears its victim with propolis, which is very difficult to wash off from the skin and clothes.

May cause a severe allergic reaction. You need to be very careful, avoid the bee and under no circumstances provoke it with sweeping movements of your arms and legs. Bumblebees are also considered carpenter bees.

Many scientists are inclined to believe that bumblebees are a subspecies of xylocopa. But they have a traditional yellow and black color. The level of aggression is very high. They can attack both animals and humans without warning.

Lifestyle of bumblebees at the end of summer

At the end of summer, the family matures. Under normal conditions, the queen, having laid 200-400 eggs from which workers emerge, begins to lay eggs from which males and future female founders are born.

Males fly out of the nest when they are 3-5 days old and spend their short life outside it, spending the night on plants. The mating behavior of males of different species is different:

• Males of the subterranean, small rock and other species of bumblebees wait for the female at the entrance to the nest and mate with the emerging female.
• Ground, garden, forest and other bumblebees fly along a certain route and stop at certain points, over which they hang for a long time, fluttering their wings in the air, and also sit down on the ground. At these so-called “buzz points”, male bumblebees leave droplets of secretion secreted from the mandibular glands located at the base of the upper pair of jaws. The smell of this secretion helps them navigate and attracts females. Mating also takes place there.
• Some species of bumblebees choose noticeable landmarks in the area: stones, tree trunks, groups of flowering plants, fly over them and mate with approaching females, who attract males with their appearance and smell.

Soon after mating, the males die, and the fertilized females hide in secluded places for the winter. Bumblebees hibernate in the ground. To do this, they dig holes 5-10 cm deep in dry areas with soft soil. In the spring, they get out of their hiding places and fly in search of a place to build a nest.

Photo credit: Kevin Cole, CC BY 2.0

Characteristic

Wild individuals have the same body structure as domestic ones:

• two pairs of wings;
• head;
• breast;
• belly;
• paws;
• proboscis;
• sting.

They are also characterized by a hairy covering and a chitinous skeleton. Excellent vision is evidenced by the presence of two compound and three simple eyes. Both females and males have antennae in varying numbers. This organ of smell is endowed with increased sensitivity. Serves to determine the level of heat, humidity, and the presence of carbon dioxide in the nest.

Taste buds are located on the proboscis and paws. The lower lip transformed into a proboscis. The top one looks like a chitinous plate. The sting is located at the end of the abdomen. There are a few nicks on the surface. Therefore, after a bee stings an enemy, it lingers in the body. The bee itself always dies.

What do they eat?

Wild honey plants, like “noble” ones, eat nectar and pollen collected from flowering plants. They prefer trees such as linden and bird cherry. Among the shrubs – viburnum. Herbs include clover, oregano, thyme, angelica, mother and stepmother, chicory, mint, sage.

Where do they spend the winter?

“Free” honey plants spend the winter in their nest. With the onset of the cold season, the house is cleaned. Bees clean out debris, expel drones, and seal honeycombs with wax plugs. Protecting their home from drafts and excessive humidity, insects seal the cracks with propolis.

By the end of autumn, honey plants gather in a large lump. Its density depends on the ambient temperature. The colder it is outside, the denser they cluster. Insects of the upper tier are inactive. Inside, individuals actively move, generating heat. The “core” temperature reaches 350.

Gradually the bees change places. Individuals, moving inside, warm up and begin to generate heat themselves. The family, using food supplies, slowly moves up.

For successful wintering the main conditions must be met:

• strong numerous swarm;
• honey supply;
• preparing the house (absence of draft and dampness);
• peace and quiet around the winter hut.

When metabolism slows down in cold weather, one bee needs up to 7 mg of food per day.

What does a forest bee's nest look like?

The houses of wild families are located in tree hollows. The internal structure always exactly matches the size, shape of the “room” and the location of the taphole.

Construction always starts from the bottom tier. The honeycombs are tightly attached from the sides and top. The bottom is made rounded. A new family rebuilds 5-7 plates. Their size depends on the size of the swarm, location, and time of “building.” However, the distance between the honeycombs is always maintained the same - 12.5 cm.

As the number of individuals increases, the house expands and can grow up to two meters in diameter. The insects will definitely “close” the large hole at the entrance, while the small one will gouge it out.

The lower entrance is located at a height of up to 7 meters. The nest is built on the south side of the trees. There should be a water source nearby. Usually bees choose an old linden tree or aspen tree with a hollow. If the trunk begins to hum when tapped, then the nest is nearby.

Dream Interpretation - Bite

A dream in which you bit your man means true love; if he did the same, there is complete reciprocity between you, based on common spiritual interests. If you are bitten by a rabid animal, this means illness and failure; if it is a lion, you will experience pressure from competitors. A dream in which you received a fatal bite from a poisonous snake and are shuddering in death convulsions is a sign of impatience in anticipation of upcoming intimacy with a man. If you are bitten by a small but feisty dog ​​in a dream, in reality you will suffer minor losses, and if a huge dog bites you, your financial situation will sound an alarm. Being bitten by fleas, bedbugs or ticks will leave an unpleasant aftertaste on your soul from meeting a vile type who once dishonored you.

Symptoms: pain, itching, swelling, skin rash and others

The local reaction manifests itself within the first minutes in the form of burning, itching and pain. Next, swelling occurs and the skin begins to redden.

A few minutes after the bite, a burning sensation, swelling, and redness of the skin occurs.

Such bite symptoms do not require specific therapy and disappear within 2–4 days. An allergic reaction develops within a few minutes, but passes within a few hours. Depending on the intensity, the following appear:

1. Itching, swelling, redness of the whole body.
2. Difficulty breathing, chills, increased heart rate.
3. Skin rashes.
4. Temperature increase.

Signs of toxic poisoning:

• nausea;
• vomit;
• dizziness;
• abnormal heart rate;
• weakness;
• loose stool.

These symptoms appear only with multiple bites.