What Are Carpenter Bees?

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Feb 28, 2020

It's human nature to fear the buzz of a bee, knowing the creature could fly toward you ready to sting at any time. The good news is only female Carpenter Bees can sting, and only when extremely provoked. In North Carolina, Carpenter Bees in particular are a huge nuisance around homes in the Springtime. Unlucky for us, those just happen to be the largest native bee in the United States. They are often confused with bumblebees. The two look fairly similar, in that they're black and yellow, fuzzy, and have antennae. Carpenter Bees have a black shiny tail section that bumblebees lack, are a bit larger, and don't have hair on their back end.

They get their name from their habit of chewing perfectly rounded, half-inch holes into dead tree limbs, leaving behind expert work worthy of a carpenter's praise. In the Eastern U.S. though, they have moved away from their traditional fallen tree habitat, and started making their way into fence posts, and even inside the structural boards inside homes. The holes they chew are called “galleries,” and inside, they build up pollen and lay eggs inside. This particular type of buzzing bug can live for up to three years, building up entire families with generations inside their nests. The elder generations can become extremely defensive protecting the family. If one does sting you, it can leave an extremely painful welt. Some people are allergic to the venom in the bee's stinger, and can wind up in the hospital.

Though Carpenter Bees prefer wood they can chew through easily, not a single type of wood is safe from them. Guess what? The wood used to build your home, deck, porch, or shed is all dead, and fair game. The insects have even been known to make their way through wood that's been pressure treated and painted. There are some woods that have a reputation for being impervious to bugs, such as cedar, cypress, and redwood, but the "pest-resistant" label doesn't seem to stop Carpenter Bees. If you notice a hole in a wooden item and aren't sure whether a Carpenter Bee is to blame, the next step is to look for sawdust just below the hole.

After a while, the holes they dig start to damage the structural integrity of the wood they're burrowing through. If those holes are on the outside of a home, they may attract other nuisance wildlife, too. Woodpeckers will often peck through Carpenter Bees' galleries, hoping to find larvae. The birds' pounding on the wood is not only annoying, it also deepens the damage to your property. The problem is so bad; the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has deemed Carpenter Bees a wood-destroying insect and classifies it as a consumer risk.

Bees do serve an important purpose, pollinating crops and flowers. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says the 4,000 native bee species in the country are responsible for pollinating about 75% of all the fruits, nuts, and vegetables we eat each day. Pollinators are responsible for $15 billion in crop value. The eco-friendly treatments we perform are designed to target Carpenter Bees, hornets and wasps, and other stinging insects, and protect the ever important pollinators.

Getting rid of Carpenter Bees without the help of an expert is a challenging task. North Carolina State University says some people try to spray insecticide to attack the bees, but that route is ineffective, since the bugs only chew the wood, and don't actually eat it. Other treatments seem effective, but then only last about a week.

If you have a problem with Carpenter Bees at your home or business, the professionals at At Ease Pest will calm things down right away. We offer a Yard Plus Service plan starting at just $79 a month, which will address not only Carpenter Bees, but other pests as well. We'll go out monthly, February through October, and attack nuisance bugs – crawling or flying, biting or stinging – and rodents, and lay down a barrier against fleas and ticks. The service applies not only to your home, but also any detached structures like sheds, and includes treatment of your lawn and yard.

The veterans who own and operate At Ease Pest bring the skills we learned in the military to every property we serve and treat each job like a mission: we organize, form a plan of attack, execute it flawlessly, and make sure the problem is gone for good. We treat every customer with respect and candor and take on every job with a sense of duty and integrity. We've served our country, now let us serve you, our neighbors here in North Carolina.

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