Two weeks ago I helped clean up a downed tree and when looking through the pictures I found something interesting. See: Windy Sunday

Do you see the black spot just above the tree and roof? I was taking a picture of where the trunk of the tree snapped, and captured this little black spot.

I zoomed in and saw that it was a bee. Since I have seen these bees around, I knew that it was a female Valley Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa varipuncta).

Here is a Valley Carpenter Bee on a rose at the Community Rose Garden. I have also seen them on my roses. The pictures of the male shown below are from my rose garden.

This is a large bee and usually pretty easy to spot. However, they are dull compared to a male Valley Carpenter Bee.

I like to call this a Golden Snitch Bee. It is really cool when I see one flying around. They zip around a lot and it is hard to get a good picture.

This one is a bit blurry, but shows some pretty good detail of the wings and antenna.

It is always cool to watch the bees zip around the garden.

Steven