Field notes: The Gold-backed Bee
This female Mason bee, I call the gold-back bee. I’m not sure how she came to be. I saved the bamboo reed that she was using. In 2008, I missed the emergence of the occupants, but I did discover a “normal” Mason bee cleaning the contents. Since 2007 I have seen at least one gold-back bee in 2008 and 2009. In 2010, we had an unusual amount of rain and I did not see this type of bee.
Date: May 15. 2007
Update: June 9, 2010
Place: Washougal, WA
