Tonight I will share some pictures of a valley carpenter bee (Xylocopa varipuncta).

Here is my first glimpse of the valley carpenter bee, she is mostly hidden by the bloom.

How do I know that this bee is a female?

The male of this species is gold and the female is a metallic black.

It was easy to keep an eye on her and follow her around the rose garden as the valley carpenter bee is the largest bee in California and can be as large as an inch in length.

I really like the coloring on this rose. Despite the high temperatures we have had lately there were some nice blooms on the bushes.

I have been trying to capture some good pictures of a female valley carpenter bee for quite some time. I thing I finally did.

If you want to see what the male valley carpenter bee looks like, click here.

Steven