A carpenter bee seeks pollen from a cactus bloom.Place your photo caption here

Q&A- ASK THE EXPERTS

Q. We have a single female carpenter bee that has made a home in a log in our backyard. I do not know how much of a pest these bees can become and would appreciate any advice.

A. Carpenter bees are solitary, meaning they don’t form large hives like honeybees, says University of Arizona Maricopa County Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Cathy Rymer. The female excavates soft wood in which to lay her eggs, each in a separate chamber. She only produces one brood each year. When the young emerge, they fly off to start lives on their own. Although carpenter bees may seem menacing because of their large size and noisy buzzing, they are relatively harmless.

A clumsy flier, the black female is capable of stinging; but this is rare because of her docile nature. The male is seen much less often and is a golden-amber color. He is more aggressive but cannot sting. These bees are excellent pollinators. To prevent them from tunneling into wood, keep exterior wood surfaces painted or sealed. Here is a link to more information: ipm.ucdavis.edu/pmg/pestnotes/pn7417.html.

Q. We planted a Meyer lemon tree and harvested wonderful lemons from it the first year. However, in its second year, the lemons split in the fall before ripening. How do we prevent this?

A. Rind split is the result of tempera- ture and irrigation changes, explains Maricopa County Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Dick Gross. Citrus rinds harden in the hot summer during a period of very little growth. When temperatures abate in October and growth resumes, the fruit tries to grow but can’t due to the hard skins, which cause them to split. This is exacerbated by uneven watering.   

Make sure your tree doesn’t suffer from drought stress in summer. More frequent watering may keep the skins resilient, so that the splitting problem will be reduced or eliminated when growth resumes in fall. “I scratch down 3 inches deep, and if the soil is dry, it’s time to irrigate,” says Gross. Apply water at the tree’s outer canopy edge and be sure it soaks 3 feet deep, through the root zone, for mature trees.

Q. I’m thinning a vast quantity of overgrown aloe vera plants in my yard. Can they be composted?

A. Yes. Aloes (any species) provide a good combination of moisture and plant material, a mix that makes an excellent compost ingredient, states Maricopa County Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Mike Hills. Chopping up the aloes will help them decompose faster, since this exposes more of the inner surface to the microbes in your compost pile.