A few weeks ago someone was kind enough to give me a table. They helped to load it into my small car but when arrived home and tried to move the table from my car to the house, it was too heavy for me to move on my own. After a good deal of grunting and cursing, I finally managed to get the table onto the front porch where at least it won't get rained on. The table and the legs are still on the porch. If someone comes to visit I will beg them to help me move the table inside the house and maybe they will help to attach the legs.
But wait...no...I cannot bring the table into the house just yet.
Why not?
There are holes in the underside of the table - but wait, I forgot to say that the table top is laying on its side so the screw holes are horizontal. This attracted a very small, mostly black bee and she's been laying eggs in the screw holes of the table.
The tiny bee has gradually been filling each hole with eggs and sealing the hole with mud.
Where is she getting the mud?
I have a lovely hole in my driveway which I filled with clay and small stones. One day I will repair the hole properly. Every time it rains, the hole is a mud wallow mixed with good old Georgia clay and that's exactly what the bee needs to seal the holes. The small stones assure that she will not drown while collecting mud.
Seems like procrastination works in the bee's favor.
She was kind enough to land for a moment so I could get a glimpse. She is mostly shiny and black, her abdomen is somewhat striped with white. After her short rest, she went back to work so that's all I have to go on for identification.
I found a link to help identify bees. Looking at the images in the link, I think she may be a sweat bee. If she stays still again and I have a camera I'll try to get a photo.
[url=htts://www.mnn.com/your-home/organic-farming-gardening/stories/how-identify-different-types-bees]htts://www.mnn.com/your-home/o...[/url]
Here are the screw holes in the table. Here you can see two of the holes; she's still working on one hole and the other has been sealed.
This is one of the holes sealed with clay and mud.
After doing some research I learned that the bee lays female eggs first and lays the male eggs last. The males hatch out first and hang around waiting for the females to emerge. I have more research to do. I need to know how many weeks or months the table has to stay on the porch so the bees can hatch out.
Since there is a constant source of mud/clay/water and plenty of flowers blooming late in the season, all that needs to be done is to make some bee hotels so the bees can have a more appropriate place to lay eggs next time.
Update Oct 24 2018
The bee (or bees) are still busy filling the holes with eggs. A few more holes have been completed and sealed. My Anole lizards have noticed the activity and are hoping for a tasty bee snack. Nature at work.
Update Oct 28 2018
I have not seen the original bee in a while and thought she may have died or become a lizard's lunch. There is a new bee...except this one is a wasp. At first, I was afraid it might be a predatory wasp robbing the nest of the native bee. I think it is one of the beneficial pollinators, Pachodynerus erynnis, also known as the Mason Wasp. She builds the same type of nest. She moves more slowly so I was able to get some photos.
Update, March 2019.
I saw one of the native bees! Checking the 'nursery', I see that several bees have hatched out. Success! I am a native bee grandmother! In a few weeks, I should finally be able to take the take from the porch into the house. It's been a long winter but it was worth the wait.
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