![]() How Can I Try to Control Carpenter Bees?Īs pollinators, carpenter bees are very beneficial to the environment, so it’s always best to leave them alone if you can. Because these bees are fairly large, this is usually enough to drive people away. If you get too close, the male may buzz and fly at you aggressively. However, they do hover outside the burrow exit and guard the nest. Male carpenter bees are not equipped with stingers. Female carpenter bees can sting you, although they are very unlikely to do so unless you’re handling them or poking your fingers into their burrows (which is already mentioned above as something you should not do). Carpenter bees are actually considered a key pollinator because they gather pollen and nectar for their larvae, in turn cross pollinating other plants. The bee bread the larvae are fed is made from a combination of pollen and regurgitated nectar. But there’s another reason that carpenter bees help pollinate flowers and crops. Like honey bees and bumble bees, carpenter bees do play a role in pollination. However, carpenter bees eat nectar, while their larvae are fed a special "bee bread" that is made and stored in the wooden burrows. This assumption makes sense as they do live and bore in wood and many insects that do this, like termites, do feed on cellulose. One common misconception is that carpenter bees eat wood. However, unlike a bumble bee, which is fuzzy all over, carpenter bees have hairless, shiny black abdomens. As far as appearance goes, carpenter bees are usually around 1 inch in length and can be solid black or black and yellow. ![]() What Do Carpenter Bees Look Like?Ī lot of people confuse carpenter bees with bumble bees because they’re about the same size and can also be similar in color. (Don’t stick your finger into these holes.) Additionally, carpenter bees may leave piles of sawdust behind as they carve out their tunnels. The entrance to their burrows are perfectly round holes that are just about the size of a finger. You’ll usually know if you have carpenter bees because you’ll likely see them flying around wooden areas of your home or in and out of wood piles or sheds. These insects like to burrow and nest in wood. ![]() Many people call carpenter bees “wood bees,” and with good reason. Do carpenter bees sting? And why are they hanging out around your house? Read on to find the answer to these queries and some other carpenter bee FAQS. ![]()
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