On all buildings, fill depressions and cracks in wood surfaces so they are less attractive. If possible, susceptible exterior parts of a building should be constructed out of hardwoods, which are not normally attacked by the bees for nest building. Prevention is the main approach to managing carpenter bees. The presence of carpenter bees around buildings and wooden structures can be annoying or even frightening however, males cannot sting and females sting only when provoked or handled roughly. Carpenter bees also frequently attack dead wood on trees or lumber from southern yellow pine, white pine, California redwood, cedar, Douglas fir, cypress, mimosa, mulberry, ash, and pecan trees. Sound, undecayed wood without paint or bark is usually selected for nests. The nests weaken structural wood and leave unsightly holes and stains on building surfaces. There is only one generation a year.Ĭarpenter bees cause damage to wooden structures by boring into timbers and siding to construct nests. They emerge in spring to mate, create and provision nests, and lay eggs. New adults emerge in late summer, feed on nectar and pollen and overwinter, often in old tunnels they have provisioned with pollen. Development from egg to adult may take about 3 months. Tunnels are vacated after the brood’s larval and pupal stages complete their development. Over a period of time, tunnels may extend as far as 10 feet into wood timbers. Carpenter bees may use old tunnels for their nests, which they occasionally enlarge several bees may use a common entry hole connecting to different tunnels. Nests usually consist of tunnels 1/2 inch in diameter and 6 to 10 inches deep that are partitioned into several chambers, each containing an egg and a supply of food (pollen). Males usually have pale hair on the thorax and the male valley carpenter bee is golden brown.įemale carpenter bees bore into sound wood, and sometimes decaying wood, to make nests. Their abdomens are shinier than those of bumblebees with fringes of hairs on some segments. Females range from about 5/8 to 1 inch long and are shiny black or with metallic blue reflections. Most carpenter bees, Xylocopa spp., are large and robust insects resembling bumblebees. People may be frightened by carpenter bees because of their large size, their similarity to bumble bees, and their annoying noise. Carpenter bee nest in redwood beam showing immature stages.Ĭarpenter bees build nests in wood, creating galleries that can weaken structures however, they rarely cause severe damage.
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