CARPENTER BEE

any of the insects of the family Xylocopidae (order Hymenoptera) found in most parts of the world. The small carpenter, Ceratina, is about six millimetres long and of metallic coloration. It nests in plant stems, which the female first hollows out and then packs with pollen and eggs. A number of individual cells are placed in a row, separated by thin partitions of wood debris mixed with saliva. The large carpenter, Xylocopa, somewhat resembles the bumblebee but differs in having a nonhairy abdomen and in its habit of nesting in a tunnel excavated within solid wood.