bolueeleh wrote: ↑Mon Apr 16, 2018 4:20 pm does carpenter bees make honey?

John Bingham wrote: ↑Mon Apr 16, 2018 5:08 pm They have very small individual nests so they probably just feed nectar straight to the larva? I had one living in the bamboo frame that held the chain link netting that stopped monkeys getting onto my balcony. I had seen the big black bee go in and out of that hole for months. But one day I went up the ladder to adjust the netting and forgot, so I pulled myself up by putting my hand over bbb's hole. The fucker was none to happy and came out to the door and stung me. It was a bit painful and made my finger swell to double size but it went down within a couple of hours. The bbb didn't leave a stinger embedded in me so I think it survived.

StroppyChops wrote: ↑Mon Apr 16, 2018 5:38 pm

John Bingham wrote: ↑Mon Apr 16, 2018 5:08 pm They have very small individual nests so they probably just feed nectar straight to the larva? I had one living in the bamboo frame that held the chain link netting that stopped monkeys getting onto my balcony. I had seen the big black bee go in and out of that hole for months. But one day I went up the ladder to adjust the netting and forgot, so I pulled myself up by putting my hand over bbb's hole. The fucker was none to happy and came out to the door and stung me. It was a bit painful and made my finger swell to double size but it went down within a couple of hours. The bbb didn't leave a stinger embedded in me so I think it survived.

Uncle Goggle says only female bees sting, and other than honeybees most varieties don't die after stinging. Good to know, as these ones are cute! I'll bet there are at least a few Japanese folk who'd keep them as pets.