".~.pril 18, 2018
porter
Page 3B
i:MONROE OUTDOORS by Terry W. Johnson
spring the
azaleas growing
in my yard have
produced an un-
I ~aralleled floral show. Since
ithe azaleas are chock-full of
!blooms, each shrub seems
i~o be literally shrouded
i ~th a blanket
I ~fcolor. Unbe-
i ownst to me,
plany of these
~, ~gorgeous blooms
victims of
; obbery.
I made this
; iscovery while
I admiring the.
', !arge George
:Tabor azaleas TERRY W.
, #ncxrclmg a
',Chinese chestnut
tree standing alongside my
garage. The shrubs' delicate
pink, trumpet-shaped blos-
soms seemed to glow in
the golden sunshine of late
afternoon.
Suddenly I noticed scores
of large carpenter bees fly-
ing from bloom to bloom.
I assumed they were land-
ing on the flowers' showy
petals and then crawling
, down the long throats of
the blooms to reach the
nectar housed at the base
of the flowers. To my
amazement, this was not
the case.
When each bee landed
on a flower, it immedi-
~,i!di!iiiii:~!![~!! i~ i~ ~ ~ ~75!i~i!)~
less for quite some time
before flying to another
bloom. I first thought the
carpenter bees were collect-
ing nectar that had some-
how seeped out between
the flower's petals.
However, that night I
asked my good friend Dr.
Jerry Payne, a
retired research
entomolo-
gist, what he
thought the
carpenter bees
were doing. He
explained they
were feeding on
nectar through
small holes they
JOHNSON chewed in the
petals. He went
on to say that if I closely
examined flowers visited by
the carpenter bees, I would
find the holes.
Since the carpenter bee
is much too large to fit
through the narrow neck
of the azalea blossom, the
only way that it can feed
on the blossom's nectar is
to take an alternative route.
One solution to this prob-
lem is to cut a hole into the
base of the flower Where
the nectar is located.
The next morning, as
expected, the carpenter
bees were hard at work
feeding at the George
Tabor azalea blossoms.
When I examined the spots
flowers nearby, many of
them also displayed feeding
portals cut by the bees.
Shortly thereafter, my
wife noticed a wasp feed-
ing at one of the holes
created by a carpenter bee.
I am certain the wasp is
one of man)) other animals
that take advantage of the
oppommity to feed on nec-
tar that otherwise would be
unavailable to them.
The carpenter bees' odd
behavior is called nectar
. robbing. It is considered
a form of larceny because
the carpenter bee avoids
contact with the reproduc-
tive parts of the flower and
does not aid in pollination.
The first person to report
this fascinating behavior
was the German naturalist
Christian Konrad. In 1793
he recorded bumblebees
robbing nectar from flow-
ers. Even Charles Darwin
wrote that he observed
bumblebees doing the
same thing in 1859.
Many other animals
practice nectar robbing,
including various species
of ants, wasps, birds, and
mammals. The only other
animal I have seen robbing
nectar is the orchard ori-
ole. Each summer I enjoy
watching orchard orioles
that nest in my backyard
slit open trumpet creeper
blossoms to feed on the
A carpenter bee chews its way into an azalea blossom to
feed. on the nectar. (l~hoto/Terry Johnson)
base of these showy orange
flowers.
For years, I have wit-
nessed carpenter bees rob-
bing nectar from blueberry
blossoms. I have never
noticed that their nectar
larceny affected my blue-
berry crops. Studies have
shown that nectar robbing
does not seem to have a
negative impact on seed or
fruit production. I can also
attest that this form of rob-
bery has not has a negative
effect on the azalea flowers
that have been victimized
by the bees this spring.
Interestingly, during the
recent telecast of the 2018
ately scrambled down the where the bees were feed- nectar that collects at the Masters Golf Tournament,
outside of the blossom to
lng, sure enough, 1 iouna
me juncture otthe petals the short longitudinal slits ^
and the green sepals Once
aescrlDea Dy ur. eayne.
there it remained motion- When I checked other
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the flowers. Based on my
recent discovery, I suspect
the bee was robbing nectar
from azaleas adorning the
hallowed grounds of the
Augusta National Golf
Course.
I urge you to take the
time to walk around the
azaleas blooming in your
yard. Chances are, you will
either find carpenter bees
feeding or the tiny slits they
cut in the bases the blos-
soms. This evidence will
prove that larceny even
occurs in the serene setting
of your back-yard.
I noticed, in one instance,
when the camera provided
viewers with a dose-up of
some of the azaleas grow-
ing on the course, a car-
penter bee flying around
Terry Johnson is retired
Program Manager of the
Georgia Nongame-Endan-
gered Wildlife Program. He
has written the informative
column 'Monroe Outdoors'
for the Reporter for many
years. Email him at
tjwoodduck@bellsouth, net.
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