photo by Matthew Field and found on Wikipedia
So another amazing weekend adventure involved driving down to the South Bay to attend the Going Native Garden Tour and to meet the Meeses in person! (and see the Curbstone Valley crew again, too!) The first garden where I stopped had some amazing bees buzzing about the blooming poppies, lupines, and other incredible natives. Wandering around, all the visitors abruptly stopped and turned their heads to observe the giant golden buzzing thing hovering amongst the Rhus ovata (or Sugar Bush). What is it?! Well, I had to know and after googling "giant yellow bee", I immediately found the answer: Xylocopa varipuncta, or a male Valley Carpenter Bee. The females are shiny and black, but the males really steal the show with their size alone. I'll resist the urge to fish story it, but it was huge. Since he was hovering around one area, he must have been protecting nesting females.
Hopefully now that I'm picking up my own Rhus ovata at the nursery this afternoon, I can attract a few myself! ( I couldn't resist)
Here's a link to another amazing photo. Aren't they gorgeous?
