CARPENTER BEES - IN DOHA? (BRIEUC 6C

Carpenter Bees - In Doha? (Brieuc 6C)

When we started our research, Brieuc announced to the class that he had “black bees” in his garden. I was convinced that these must be wasps and decided to check in with our beekeeper (Papy Michel) who assured me that Brieuc was correct and probably had carpenter bees.

So, does Brieuc have these wonderful creatures living in his garden? Keep reading to find out!

Have you ever wondered how carpenter bees build those special nests into the wood and where do they like to build their homes or how they protect their nest? Well we are here to find out.

I chose this topic because I really like bees because they are like the pollinators of the world, but I chose a special type of bee that somehow lives in my back garden. They are called carpenter bees and you can also call them black bees. I really wanted to find out how they build those nests that are most of the time built into tree branches

To build nests, carpenter bees bore through soft wood to lay their babies and often the females do those jobs. They chew the tunnels into wood to make their nest galleries. After that the small pieces of wood are deposited outside the nest and they are called ”frass”.The entries of their nests are normally 3 to 5 cm big, but their tunnels can be 3m long. Those tunnels lead to several rooms, where the bees stock their food or lay their eggs. Carpenter bees often like to build their nests into soft wood; they also like to make their nests into posts and rails made out of oak wood. They prefer to make their nests in redwood, pine, cyprus and oak wood.To build female carpenter bees chew the wood with their strong mouth parts.The construction of their nests can last several years and this process takes a lot of energy out of bees and that just proves how hard working bees they are.

Papy Michel told me that during storms you should never approach carpenter bees nest or hives because during storms they become more aggressive due to the pressure in the atmosphere and they only have one stinger, so when they sting you it rips the bees abdomen and they die. Males are normally the ones that guard the hive, but the females cause the most pain when they sting you.

So, are there carpenter bees in Doha?

My story started when I was looking outside the window while sitting down on the couch and I saw a kind of black silhouette. I did not go straight to it because it could have been another type of nest. So, I went to my mom and told her that there was a weird looking nest in my garden. She looked at it for a moment and then said” those are bees!”

I was shocked.

It was the first time I ever saw bees in Qatar.I was not convinced that our bees were bees because they were black. I searched black bees and then carpenter bees came up and that is how I found that carpenter bees were in my garden.Papy Michel also confirmed that I was correct as he kept carpenter bees for honey.

I am still not totally sure if they are carpenter bees because they did not really have a nest into the wood, it is more like a hive but I would love to find out more about them.

If anyone in our community is able to give Brieuc more information about black bees, please send your information to Mrs Olivier (colivier@sisq.qa)

This is what they look like:

In text citations (“Bee Information for Kids: Bumblebee & Honey Bee Facts”) (“Carpenter Bee Facts & Control: Get Rid of Carpenter Bees”) (“Carpenter Bees - Do Carpenter Bees Have a Stinger?”)

Links https://www.pestworldforkids.org/pest-guide/bees/

https://www.orkin.com/stinging-pests/bees/carpenterbee#:~:text=Small%20carpenter%20bees%2C%20or%20Cer atina,the%20same%20as%20large%20bees.

https://agrilifeextension.tamu.edu/library/landscaping/ carpenter-bees/

https://images.app.goo.gl/AwWLC3bkDPam6MTt7

https://images.app.goo.gl/jcoJmkCbPsNE9bY38