Golden Male Valley Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa varipuncta)

This is a male posing to attract a female.

Fascinating. Great footage!

I just saw one of these, very golden, whole body, flying in my backyard, in Albany, CA, hovering, flying in a small circular patttern, for almost an hour now, 4-5pm. . How do you know the species? And why do these do this? No wood around here, except "he" is flying in and around a Cal. buckeye tree, and flowers almost out, but not quite. Any other info? Thanks for putting it here. Will look it up. Ted

Why do such bees live only in California and America, and not in Europe?