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The Warm Weather Has Awoken The Carpenter Bees

The giant of the Bee world, the Violet Carpenter Bee (Abelha carpinteira in Portuguese and Xylocopa violacea in Latin) can grow to over 25mm long. They appear black as they fly around making a deep noise like a WWII fighter plane, but have a violet tinge, hence the name.

Like all Bees, only the female has a sting but they are very comfortable around humans and rarely sting unless threatened. The are solitary Bees and nest in dead wood which is where the name Carpenter Bee is derived. This recent warm weather has brought them out of hibernation.

We have a Mimosa Tree in the garden and as it flowers this time of year it is full of all types of Bees, mainly Honey Bees from a neighboring farm.

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Violet Carpenter Bee/Abelha Carpinteira (Xylocopa violacea)
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The Bee Eaters have started to make a nest, but not so sure they are staying

Early this afternoon, the Bee Eaters (Abelharucos in Portuguese) were absent from around the house so I decided to take a quick look at their handy work and also quickly erect a pop-up hide.

I sat in the hide for a short while and a breeding pair turned up. They seemed a little nervous around the area, possibly with the hide there, but did visit a few times.

Only once did the male (I think it’s the male) go to the hole that they have started but then the pair flew away. It takes up to 20 days to build the nest so hopefully they will return to complete it. I have also left the hide in place for them to get used to it being there.

You can just about work out the start of the hole on the live view on the camera;

In the hide

I did manage to get this shot of one sitting in a nearby tree.

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Are Bee Eaters making a nesting site in the garden?

Today I could hear a lot of Bee Eater activity as they have a very distinct “chirping” noise.

Our house (or Quinta) is on top of a hill and we have a tree lined driveway up the hill. I could see them sitting in the trees and then it dawned on me.

When the previous owners landscaped the land, they excavated a hole to use the good soil to build some terracing. The hole still exists.

As it was dug with a digger, it has banks very similar to river banks. Bee Eaters build burrows in River banks. Yes, it appears as though they are possibly making their own excavations right here in the garden.

This photo, from a long distance shows 2 of the Bee Eaters sitting in the tree (top right) and the fake river bank that they are paying a lot of attention to.

Bee Eaters new nesting site? – D810, AF-S 500mm f/4 with TC-17II @ 850mm, f/8, ISO360, 1/800sec

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The B52 of the Bee World, the Violet Carpenter Bee

One minute your sitting in the Algarve Serra enjoying the birds singing, then you hear the deep buzzing noise of the Violet Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa Violacea) coming as if it’s on a bombing mission.

The first time people see these giants they may think they are dangerous, yes the females have a stinger (like all Bees, the males do not) but they pose no real threat of stinging.

They happily fly around you, sometimes bashing into things as they do appear to be drunk a lot, without even seeming to care you are there.

They are very common up here in the hills of the Algarve and grow to almost 4cm long!

They nest in dead wood or Bamboo. They will only choose rotting wood so pose no great threat to construction unlike species of Carpenter Bee found elsewhere in the world.

The males are often seen this time of year hovering looking for females.

Here’s a picture from the garden late this afternoon.

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Violet Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa Violacea) - D810, AF-S 300mm f/2.8 @ 300mm, f/3.5, ISO800, 1/800sec - {Flickr Link}

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Bees and the Bottle Brush

Whilst drinking my morning “Bica” (Portuguese Espresso-type Coffee) I couldn’t help notice the stunning colours of the Bottle Brush Plant (Callistemon) against the glorious bright blue morning sky. The Honey Bees where busy collecting from it so I grabbed the camera.

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Bee and Bottle Brush - D810, AF-S 300mm f/2.8 @ 300mm, f/6.3, ISO720, 1/4000sec - {Flickr Link}

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Honey Bee’s are still hard at work in the Algarve

In this region of the Algarve, there are a lot of Honey producers and no matter where you go you will find Hives, even in very remote locations.

It might be near the end of December, but the Bee’s are still hard at work.

This one looks like it’s doing the Michael Jordon Air Walk!

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Honey Bee - D810, AF-S 500mm f/4, f/6.3, ISO360, 1/2500sec - {Flickr Link}

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