Urban Almanac: Thieving Bees

Kelsey Low, a naturalist at Houston Arboretum, recently caught this fat, fuzzy carpenter bee in the act of stealing nectar from red sage. Red sage's narrow flowers usually attract pollinators tiny enough to climb inside, where they cover themselves in the pollen that they then carry to other red-sage flowers, ensuring the wildflower's future. Carpenter bees are too big to do that — so instead, they pierce a hole at the base of the flower and suck out the sweetness, no pollination provided.



"Thankfully," writes Kelsey, "nectar robbers are outnumbered by legitimate pollinators, and even nectar thieves may accidentally carry pollen from flower to flower as they try to cheat the system."