Carpenter Bees

Recommended Program Total Home Get a Free Quote Description The adults are rather large, between a 1/2 - 1 inch in length. They are robust and resemble a bumblebee. The difference is that the carpenter bee has a shiny black abdomen, while the bumblebee has a hairy abdomen with yellow markings. The male carpenter bee can be distinguished

from the female by a bright yellow spot on his head.

Habitat

Carpenter bees are so named because they excavate galleries in wood to create nest sites. They do not consume wood. Rather, they feed on pollen and nectar. Carpenter bees are important pollinators of flowers and trees.
They do not live in colonies as they are not social insects. Females will nest in a wide variety of woods, but the preferred wood is weathered and unpainted. The male is normally aggressive and will buzz around humans, but since the male has no stinger it is all for show. The female has a stinger, but rarely uses it.
Carpenter bees attack structural timbers and other wood products, including fence posts, utility poles, firewood, arbors, and lawn furniture. In buildings, carpenter bees nest in bare wood near roof eaves and gables, fascia boards, porch ceilings, decks, railings, siding, shingles, shutters, and other weathered wood. These bees avoid wood that is well painted or covered with bark.

Diet

Their main diet consists of pollen and nectar.

Life Cycle & Reproduction

Carpenter bees are solitary insects that do not form colonies. The life cycle (egg, larva, pupa, adult) is completed in approximately seven weeks, although developmental time may vary depending on the temperature. The new adults typically remain in their gallery for several weeks then chew through the cell partitions and venture outside in August. They collect and store pollen in the existing galleries, but also spend much of their time just huddled together inside a gallery. These new adults hibernate in galleries because they require shelter during the winter.
After overwintering, adults emerge in the spring to mate. The females bore holes into wood to create tunnels to lay their eggs and raise their young. Each year they will either create new tunnels or expand on an old one. After the tunnels are prepared, the female lays an egg on a mass of pollen mixed with nectar. She produces 6 - 8 eggs. The development from egg to adult takes about 36 days. There is one generation per year.

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