The Carpenter Bee (genus Xylocopa)(Afrikaans name houtkapperby) is so named because of the fact that it bores holes into trees, wooden structures and plants. They can end up being truly destructive to wooden structures, boring so many holes that the structure eventually collapses.
The male is the brightly coloured black and yellow partner whilst the female is a plain buffy yellow colour.
The male patrols fixed areas around flowers, twigs or leaves of particular trees or bushes.
The female houses special mites in a chamber in her abdomen. We have seen both in our garden and in Intaka Island.
