Quote:
Originally Posted by violetcarpenterbee  Hi Stuart,
There are about 6 holes in the tree trunk, like the one in the attached pictures. I have seen bees going in and out of them I think there is more than one bee using each hole, sorry no pics of bees yet. I think the weather needs to be a little warmer to temp them out again, I dont know how many bees there are but one day last summer I counted eight in the garden in view at the same time.
Please click on the attached links below for pictures of the holes and the tree trunk: www.constella.co.uk/bees/hole1.jpg www.constella.co.uk/bees/hole2.jpg www.constella.co.uk/bees/trunk.jpg |
This all looks quite encouraging really. I don't get much idea of scale with these pics of the holes, but I suspect you could, perhaps, stick your thumb into each.
It wouldn't be unusual for Xylocopa to be using the holes as communal roosts, in fact, George Else & I found no less than 7 males of X. cantabrita roosting in an empty rivet hole on a railway sleeper that was being used as a boundary post in southern Spain.
If these ARE Xylocopa, then 8 individuals in one place is a pretty remarkable observation! I can't wait to see pics when it all warms up. There are quite a lot flying now in the Paris area of France (so I heard today), so it won't be long now before your beasties take to the air.
Shots of the HEAD will be critical in determining these to species level, although any pic should enable us to sort to genus. Here is a link to X. violacea showing the diagnostically coloured sub-apical segments of the antennae of the male:
Framed on Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Let the sun shine!!
Stuart