BEE AWARE: More than honey bees are about to appear
by Kathy Chilek/Victoria County Master Gardener
February 22, 2025
Mason Bee (Photo by Kathy Chilek
Leaf Cutter Bee (Photo by Kathy Chilek)
Megachile Leaf Cutter Bee (Photo by Kathy Chilek)
Carpenter Bee (Photo by Kathy Chilek)
Southern Carpenter Bee (Photo by Kathy Chilek)
While social honeybees have survived the winter by eating stored honey and huddling together to keep warm, some of their solitary female relatives have survived alone outside. In many bee species, no males survive the winter due to cold and lack of food.
Only the adult females previously mated and prepared to lay eggs survive in a state similar to hibernation known as diapause. Warming temperatures signal these female bees to emerge and hunt for suitable nesting sites.
Honeybees and bumble bees, considered social bees, are only two of over 800 species of bees that live in Texas. Ninety percent of those other bees are solitary that is they do not live in a large community or a hive and they do not make honey.
Here are five interesting bees to watch for this spring:
Leaf Cutter Bees and Mason Bees:
These two types of bees prefer pre-made tubes to build their nurseries in. Tubes can be natural hollow plant stems or manmade short lengths of bamboo placed inside a horizontal tin can.
If you spot several leaves on plants that have perfectly circular pieces cut from their edges, you will know leaf cutter bees are near. The bee carries a leaf circle into its tube and uses it to seal the end of the tube. Then she places a pile of pollen next to the leaf and lays an egg on it.
The second leaf circle she cuts becomes a wall between the first cell and the second cell. She will repeat this process until the tube is full. You can see the outside of the last leaf when you look at the end of the tube.
Mason bees build their nests the same way, but instead of leaves they use mud as a wall between each cell and to plug both ends of the tube. If you use a readymade “insect house” with several sizes of tubes for bees, it must be cleaned and disinfected after use each year to prevent spreading diseases and mites.
Squash Bees and Sunflower Bees:
These two types of bees prefer to dig vertical tunnels then make a cluster of brood cells at the bottom. These bees are “specialists” who only feed on the pollen and nectar of one type of flowering plant.
The entrance holes to squash bee tunnels can be found under vines of squashes, pumpkins and some gourds. Sunflower bee tunnels will be close to helianthus sunflower patches.
Carpenter Bees:
You may come face to face with a large bee that hovers in front of you, daring you to pass. Its chest is furry but its back third is black and shiny. “Shiny Hiney” bees are carpenter bees.
They hover near nests to protect them. They have powerful jaws used for chewing nest tunnels in wood. You can see entrance holes to tunnels in sides of old barns or wood fences. Thankfully, a coat of paint usually discourages their chewing on wood in houses.
Interesting facts: Carpenter bee eggs are among the largest eggs laid by insects. Eggs are roughly 1/3 the size of the adult bee. A female only lays 8 or so eggs in its lifetime. Adult bees too large to enter some of their favorite flowers, bite a hole in the base of the flower and steal the nectar without entering the flower.
All bees are amazing creatures. There are sweat bees attracted to human sweat because they crave salt. There are cuckoo bumblebees with naughty behaviors. Are you curious? Check them out!
Gardeners’ Dirt appears in The Victoria Advocate each weekend.