I would appreciate help in solving a bit of a puzzle regarding blossom damage to highbush blueberry. Last week I received a call from a grower who had noticed that honey bees were foraging from holes near the base of the corolla. What he described sounded a lot like carpenter bee damage. However, I felt that Xylocopa probably wasn't present in Nova Scotia, so there must be some other explanation. An alternative was that bumble bees were chewing holes in the bloom. I went out to the field and found that indeed the damage looked like carpenter bee damage. There were two small slits at the base of the corolla in all of the ones I looked at. Damage was fairly sporadic and no carpenter bees were seen. Yet, no other entomologists here have seen carpenter bees. My questions are: Has anyone seen carpenter bees in the Atlantic Provinces? Does anyone know what bumble bee blossom damage looks like? The literature says they chew holes in the bloom. I see nothing in the blossoms I examined that suggest chewing of any sort. Any other suggestions of what could be causing this type of damage? The grower wondered if it might be caused by vespid wasps. Thanks. Kenna MacKenzie Agriculture Canada Research Station Phone: 902-679-5731 Kentville, Nova Scotia FAX: 902-679-2311 B4N 1J5 Canada E-mail: [log in to unmask]