One Man's Trash is Another Man's Treasure

One of the hallmarks of a neglectful gardener is the accumulation of stuff that should be thrown out or recycled. Like the old plastic nursery pots that you will never reuse or the old garden furniture that have outlived their useful life.

Case in point is an old wooden bench that can no longer be used because the wooden planks have cracked and warped with age. It sat in the back of my driveway for about a year before I decided to get rid of it. Then I noticed that Carpenter Bees were buzzing around the bench. On closer examination, I discovered that they had burrowed a hole in one of the wooden planks. The wood shavings that accumulated underneath the bench was a clue.

Carpenter bees are one of the many solitary bees that are native to California. They burrow holes in wood and lay their eggs in the excavated tunnel. The entrance to the tunnel can be very symmetrical as you can see here in one of the wood planks of my bench.



They are busy pollinators. In my yard, the Carptenter Bees favor my Potato Vine (Lycianthes rantonnei), Matilija Poppies(Romneya coulteri) and my Flannel Bush (Fremontodendron californicum ).

In Southern California, the females of the Valley Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa varipuncta), have black shiny bodies whereas the males are golden with green eyes. Here is a picture of a male that was in yard today. The males can be very bold and will fearlessly buzz around your head. The males are harmless as they do not have a stinger.



It has been over two years since I first discovered the tunnels in my old, dilapidated bench. Now a third generation of bees have emerged and will likely lay their eggs in my bench much like their predecessors. I have since changed my mind about throwing the bench away. As they say, one man's trash, is another man's treasure.