Carpenter bees are one of the primary wood-damaging insects in the U. While numerous species of these bees are found throughout the country, the eastern states are especially hard hit by Eastern carpenter bees' distinctive damage.
Carpenter bees naturally nest in soft, old trees or even reed-like plants with soft, pithy interiors. But they don't discriminate against inviting wood that happens to be part of your home. Unlike termites , carpenter bees do not eat wood. The damage they cause comes from tunneling into wood to create nesting chambers. The bees bore entry holes about 1 inch deep into their targeted structure. Once inside wood, the tunneling bees branch out to create perpendicular tunnels about 4 to 6 inches long.
A female carpenter bee creates about six to eight of these chambers, where it will lay its eggs. Over many years, carpenter bee galleries can expand from several inches up to 10 feet in length. Eastern carpenter bees are easily distinguished from common honey bees, but they're often confused with bumble bees. Their woolly abdomens have bands of golden yellow to brown. At up to 1 inch long, carpenter bees and bumble bees are two of the largest native bees in the United States.
While both can have black and yellow hairs, Eastern carpenter bees have shiny black abdomens. Bumble bee abdomens are covered with yellow and black hairs. These three types of bees are also very different in their habits. When they invade homes, they typically inhabit attics or cavities between walls.
These groups can number in the tens of thousands. Bumble bees are also social bees, but they live in small colonies and nest in the ground. Typically nonaggressive, they stay focused on flowers, not houses or people. Then spray a pesticide into the hole and seal it up. The same thing should be done on holes found in the fall or winter to kill any bees that may be over-wintering in the holes.
Just remember to plug the holes since they will attract more carpenter bees come spring. Several people told us that although they sprayed a pesticide into the holes, carpenter bees later emerged, in some cases even after the holes were plugged. How can this happen? If we take a look at a cross section diagram of a carpenter bee gallery we can see how. After drilling out a four to five inch long gallery, the female carpenter bee lays an egg in back of the gallery then places a plug of pollen she has gathered to form a chamber A.
She continues doing this until there are four to six egg chambers in place. After a few days the egg hatches and a small white grub emerges B. The grub feeds on the pollen plug for a few weeks C until it is ready to pupate D and change into an adult bee E. If you look at the way the gallery is constructed you can see why spraying a pesticide in the hole may not kill all of the developing bee larvae.
The pollen plugs prevent the pesticide from getting to the rear chambers. So before you spray any pesticide into a carpenter bee hole be sure to run a stiff wire all the way to the back of the gallery to break through any pollen plugs. That way all of the larval chambers will be exposed to the pesticide. Do you have an old stain that doesn't really show the warmth and beauty your home deserves?
Ready to restore it to its natural look? It's easy to start by stripping old finishes using StripIt or S Check Out This Video Things to Know About Carpenter Bees. Prevention Although carpenter bees prefer bare wood or distressed wood, they will attack wood that is stained. Treating Carpenter Bee Holes Any carpenter bee holes you can reach should be treated and plugged since existing holes attract more carpenter bees. Last modified on Friday, 12 March Monthly Special. Subscribe via Email.
Join the Perma-Chink Family! Where To Start? Project Spotlight. Call Us. The male carpenter bees are identifiable by the yellow dot on their forehead. The male carpenter bees sole job is to protect their staked out territory from other carpenter bees and predators.
The female will spend all of her time in the construction of the nest and producing the young -- the nest may be as big as 2 — 4 feet per season! Once the adult female and male have finished their task of creating offspring and protecting them in the nests, they will naturally die inside the nest.
Over time, their nests can house multiple generations and can cause serious damage. Along with that, the holes attract hungry woodpeckers and rotting fungi. Order your bee traps now and experience effective bee control!
Important Side Note: Carpenter bees do play a role in the pollination of plants.
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