MYN / Clay Bolt / Carpenter bee (Xylocopa virginica) next to a Small carpenter bee (Ceratina), South Carolina, USA. Composited image. Meetyourneighbours.net project

MYN / Clay Bolt / Eastern carpenter bee (Xylocopa virginica) with high density of mites, next to a Cuckoo bee (Holcopasites calliopsidis), which is dwarfed by a US dime. Composite. Meetyourneighbours.net project

Clay Bolt / Eastern carpenter bee (Xylocopa virginica) male on dandelion, Mt Ranier, Maryland, USA, April.

Clay Bolt / Eastern Carpenter Bee ( Xylocopa virginica) with Varrow mite and covered in dew, Southern Appalachians, South Carolina, USA, August.

Clay Bolt / Eastern Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa virginica) flying around a flowering Eastern Redbud tree (Cercis canadensis), Southern Appalachians, South Carolina, USA, April.

Michael Durham / Eastern carpenter bee (Xylocopa virginica) covered in pollen, in flight near North Cherokee National Forest, Tennessee, USA, June.

Doug Wechsler / Eastern carpenter bee (Xylocopa virginica) on Spotted beebalm (Monarda punctata), New Jersey, USA. September.