What are Carpenter Bees?

Carpenter Bees can look like Bumble Bees; large, with yellow and black patterns. They are about one inch and may have some metallic reflections ranging from dark blue, yellow, green or purple tints. Their abdomens are shiny, which are different from Bumble Bees, which have more hair. They are commonly sighted in the spring hovering like a helicopter around eaves, porch rails, and under decks. Some times carpenter bees are called “wood bees”, because they bore into wood. Carpenter Bees do not eat the wood for nutrition. Carpenter bees, as pollinators eat nectar and pollen from flowering plants.

The female carpenter bee bores a channel or main corridor in wood from 6 ” to as long as 4 feet to lay their eggs in “galleries”. She deposits an egg into the gallery, brings in a mass of pollen for the newly hatched larvae to feed on, and then seals it all off to ensure it’s development before she repeats the process for the next egg.

Although, they are a wood boring insect, they are not considered a true structural pest. They do not spread through out the entire structure, but prefer unpainted or finished wood.