Stop! Thief! Carpenter Bees are Notorious Nectar Robbers | Deep Look

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With their short tongues, Valley carpenter bees can't easily drink the nectar from tubular flowers. So they use powerful mandibles to slice into the blooms and steal it. It's called nectar robbing, since the plants don't get the benefit of being pollinated by these enormous, fuzzy bees. SUBSCRIBE to Deep Look! https://www.youtube.com/user/kqeddeeplook?sub_confirmation=1 DEEP LOOK is a ultra-HD (4K) short video series created by KQED San Francisco and presented by PBS Digital Studios. See the unseen at the very edge of our visible world. Explore big scientific mysteries by going incredibly small. -- On a warm spring day in California’s Central Valley, a super fuzzy golden bee almost the size of your thumb flies in tight circles over red and white Hot lips salvia flowers. You’re witnessing the fitness display of the largest bee in the Western United States – the Valley carpenter bee (Xylocopa sonorina). The bright golden males of this species release a pheromone as they circle around a focal point, mimicking floral odors. Researchers think that they are using the perfume-y scent to attract foraging female bees. They hope that the all-black, shiny female bees will be impressed by their dizzying acrobatic displays, and decide to choose them as a mate. These striking males are colloquially referred to as "Teddy bear bees." Many flowering plants in California’s Central Valley produce tubular flowers which are hard to access with the bees' short tongue. Valley carpenter bees, like other types of carpenter bees, don’t have the long tongues that other local pollinators may have (like some moths, butterflies, or hummingbirds). So instead of extending their tongues down a flower to reach nectar (and in the process pick up pollen at the front of the flower), these bees steal the nectar through a backdoor. They use their powerful mandibles to bite a hole at the base of the flower and sip nectar from the side of the puncture, thus bypassing pollination. Researchers call this “nectar robbing.” ---+ Why do carpenter bees eat wood? Carpenter bees are named for their ability to construct nests in wood – typically logs or human-made wooden structures. The bee nests are made of tunnels about ½ inch in diameter and 6 to 10 inches deep. The tunnels in a bee nest lead to several chambers, where the bees raise their young, as well as hibernate during colder months. In parts of the US, especially the Eastern US, carpenter bees are considered pests. ---+ How do carpenter bees drill holes? The female bees use their powerful mandibles to tunnel into dead wood… like logs, or tree trunks. Mama bees then lay their eggs and provide food for the developing offspring in these chambers. The bees may return to the same nest for generations, expanding and renovating year after year. Carpenter bees don’t have a queen, and they aren’t as social as honeybees, but several bees may room together in a nest. ---+ Find additional resources and a transcript on KQED Science: https://www.kqed.org/science/1979834/carpenter-bees-stab-flowers-to-steal-their-nectar ---+ More Great Deep Look episodes: Watch This Bee Build Her Bee-jeweled Nest https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPbH1YhsdP8 This Bee Builds Sandcastles at the Beach https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfMCZYkG5Xo 🏆Congratulations🏆 to the first 5 fans on our Deep Look Community Tab to correctly answer our GIF challenge! Antskerala Sian Lazuli NC Strange codeBread Mohammed Yaser ---+ Thank you to our Top Patreon Supporters ($10+ per month)! Jessica Burt Humburg Karen Reynolds Daisuke Goto Allison & Maka Masuda David Deshpande Hyper Music Wild Turkey Chris B Emrick Tianxing Wang J8Zenith Companion Cube Mark Jobes Blanca Vides monoirre Kevin Judge Titania Juang Aurora Roberta K Wright Syniurge Supernovabetty Anastasia Grinkevic El Samuels KW Kimberly Hall Carrie Mukaida Mehdi Jellyman Nicky Orino Cristen Rasmussen Shonara Rivas Cindy McGill Sonia Tanlimco SueEllen McCann Misia Clive Noreen Herrington Kelly Hong Caitlin McDonough Louis O'Neill Laurel Przybylski Shelley Pearson Cranshaw Joshua Murallon Robertson Nicolette Ray Jeremiah Sullivan 吳怡彰 Wade Tregaskis Elizabeth Ann Ditz Silvan Delphine Tseng Shonara Rivas TierZoo Levi Cai Jana Brenning Kenneth Fyrsterling ---+ Follow Deep Look and KQED Science on social: https://www.tiktok.com/@deeplookofficial https://www.patreon.com/deeplook Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kqedscience/ Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/kqedscience ---+ About KQED KQED, an NPR and PBS affiliate in San Francisco, CA, serves Northern California and beyond with a public-supported alternative to commercial TV, Radio and web media. Funding for Deep Look is provided in part by PBS Digital Studios. Deep Look is a project of KQED Science, the largest science and environment reporting unit in California. KQED Science is supported by the Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation, Campaign 21 and the members of KQED.