Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov might have feted the Bumblebee in music but it is the domestic life of the Carpenter Bee that inspires a fitting paean. How about one by the Carpenters?
My wife and I had seen the Carpenter Bee buzz past us as we stole a furtive smoke on the balcony, but we never imagined that it lived there. Until, with a menacing hum of blurry wings, the walnut-sized insect drove our little daughter back into the house in a frenzy of sheer terror.
Of our two balconies, the one adjoining the bedroom is narrower and shaded most of the time by a bamboo chik curtain. For many days we had noticed a trail of fine, powdery wood dust, along with enigmatic yellow stains that stippled the floor. What might they be, we wondered.
Slowly, the curtain lifted on our little mystery.
It appeared that the bee, true to nature, favoured the circular hole of the bamboo poles that anchored the curtain. Several times during the day, we'd see it approach the hole at the far end, landing gear at the ready. Even when the curtain was lowered, the metallic blue-black flying machine would have no trouble locating it.
Now, it helps to know that the Carpenter Bee, despite its appearance, is not the same as the Bumblebee. The latter insect is social and lives in colonies but our Carpenter Bee maintains a nuclear family. Also, the Bumblebee's hairy abdomen sets it apart from the smooth, shiny bottom-parts of the Carpenter.