Females have a stinger but are not defensive unless being directly provoked. You may also notice a buzzing or burrowing sound coming from within the wood.Ĭarpenter bees are very unlikely to sting people.Unsightly stains caused by falling bee waste around the round-entrance hole.Round and smooth holes, in size of a dime, on exterior wood surface.Coarse sawdust that collects beneath excavated cavities during the spring.They are looking for nesting sites to born in. Carpenter bees hover nearby and around your building and structures.Therefore, if you had carpenter bees last year, you will likely have them again this year.
Usually the gallery will extend about 4 to 6 inches, but with repeated use the galleries can be up to 2 feet long. Gallery construction is a labor-intensive process, so females often prefer to use old galleries for the next generation. The eggs hatch and the larvae (grub stage) develop into adult, which chew through the cell partition and emerge in late summer. In each cell, the female privations a ball of mixed pollen and nectar, lays an egg on the ball, then seals off each cell with chewed wood pulp. Inside each gallery, the female constructs 6 to 14 cells. The female chews a perfectly round entrance hole about the size of a dime, directly into the dry wood about an inch, then turns a 90-degree angle to excavate a tunnel (or gallery), usually along the grain of the wood. In order to lay eggs, females drill into dry wood on in home buildings-such as siding, fascia boards, porch window trim, porch ceilings, fence, decks, outdoor furniture and other wooden surfaces. Additionally, woodpeckers feeding on the developing bee larvae will tear into the galleries, further damaging the wood to the point where it needs replacing.įemale carpenter bees are the one causing the damage. Structural DamagesĬarpenter bees are good pollinators and naturally nest in dead trees and woodpiles, but they have taken up residence in close proximity to human habitation and cause extensive damages to wood structures, including homes, when they repeatedly colonize exposed wood and they are not controlled. They earn their name because they bore 1/2 inch-wide holes that appear to be perfectly round on exterior wood surfaces. They remain very active through the summer. Overwintered adult bees emerge in early spring to mate and search for nest sites. Adult carpenter bees, both female and male, spend the winter hibernating inside old nest tunnels. Residents are often are intimidated and frightened by these pesky yellow and black bees because they may sting.Īmong the flying bees and wasps are the large black and yellow colored carpenter bees. Accompanying the arrival of spring are the various bees and wasps that hover erratically-sometimes in large numbers-around homes and other wooden structures.
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