6 Facts About the White Faced Bee

Am I the only one, who after being sick of winter, smiles a warm greeting at the sight of those white-faced bees buzzing around everywhere?

When I was a little girl, my grandfather explained how the bees with the yellow or white spot between their eyes can't sting as they don't have a stinger. He also showed me how to catch them in my hand if I was sneaky and quick enough. That was my favorite March pastime, catching bumble bees, until they disappeared as quickly as they came.

Today, I noticed our first bees; hovering around my head; near bushes; out by the barn; close to our house and I had questions that could no longer remain unanswered: Do they have a name?; Why do they hover?; Is it the female or male that's without a stinger?.

Today, as I was explaining to my twelve-year-old nephew the same thing my grandfather explained to me thirty-two years ago, I would do some research on those annually familiar bees.

I answered six questions with fascinating answers:

Question: Do they have a name other than just bumble bees?
Answer: Yes, they are Carpenter Bees! That's fitting.

Question: Is it the female or male that has no stinger?
Answer: The males lack stingers. The female carpenter bees have black faces and can inflict a painful sting if they are handled. (or sometimes if you stick your finger in a hole they've made in wood)

Question: Why do the males hover in one spot, chasing off anything that comes near, especially another male bee?
Answer: They are protecting a nesting site.

Question: Why do the females bore holes in untreated wood?
Answer: They make tunnels deep in the wood where they lay their eggs.

Question: Why do I sometimes see the females flying around with fat, yellow legs?
Answer: They have large pollen baskets on their hind legs for collecting pollen to take as food to their young.

Question: Do they provide an important service to the world?
Answer: YES! We need them to pollinate our trees and flowers!

After answering the questions it seems they are mostly harmless and important to our way of life. I'll never look at those white faced bees the same way; as just a bothersome bee.

[Source]

http://extension.missouri.edu/explore/agguides/pests/g07424.htm