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June 05, 2011
Carpenter Bees Like Our Mailbox
I recently learned that carpenter bees (Xylocopa virginica) in Illinois look very similar to bumblebees (Bombus s.s.) I may have been misidentifying them for years. This year I was prompted to learn a little more when I was puzzled by the fact that "bumblebees" seemed very interested in my mailbox.
It turns out that what I was observing was the male carpenter bees patrolling the area while females were chewing holes in the mailbox in order to lay their eggs. Upon closer inspection I found a couple of perfectly round holes in the bottom of the mailbox. I also found one in the wooden post. I was a little disappointed that the bees had not found the dead trees that I had left for them in the backyard, but who am I to tell them where to raise their young? Benia and I decided that despite the damaging behavior, we would allow the bees to use our mailbox as they deemed necessary. The worst that will happen is we need to buy a new post some day. The mailbox is actually metal with a cedar "house" built around it.
We are just happy that Native Suburbia is a place where carpenter bees can find food, water, shelter and a place to raise young.
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