Also any new matured bees will emerge through the openings and contact the dust placed there. Because of the obvious risks associated with treating carpenter bee holes in eaves or soffits, many homeowners will contract with a licensed pest control company to provide this service.ĭo not plug the holes immediately! The bees should be able to pass freely through the nest entrance where they will contact the dust and distribute it inside the tunnels. Launder any contaminated clothing immediately (do not mix with other household laundry items) and take a shower to remove and insecticidal dust. It is advisable to wear protective clothing, gloves, goggles and a respirator or dust mask because the insecticidal dust will frequently become airborne and may drop down onto you as you dust the tunnel. If you must treat during the daytime, use a pyrethrum spray or wasp and hornet spray to knock down any bees flying about. The bees cannot see the red light, but you should be able to see the openings. Use a flashlight, over which a piece of red cellophane has been taped. To avoid possible stings, treat the area at night. This is best accomplished by using a duster that will puff the dust up into the tunnel and coat the sides. Locate the wood in which the bees are active and apply an insecticidal dust directly into nest openings. Newly developed adult carpenter bees emerge in August, feed on nectar and return to the tunnels to over-winter. The larvae that hatch from the eggs complete their development and pupate. There are typically 6 to 8 chambers created by the female. An egg is deposited on the food supply and each chamber is sealed off. Each chamber is provisioned with a portion of "bee bread", a mixture of pollen and regurgitated nectar, which serves as food for the larvae. They mate in the spring and set about to clean out and enlarge the old tunnels or to excavate new ones as brood chambers for their young. Young adult male and female bees hibernate in the tunnels during the winter. Bees prefer to attack wood that is greater than two inches thick. When the tunnel is about 1 inch deep, the bee turns at right angles to the initial hole and tunnels with the grain of the wood. This hole is usually against the grain of the wood. They usually attack unpainted objects such as doors, windowsills, roof eaves, shingles, railings, telephone poles, and sometimes wooden lawn furniture.Ī carpenter bee begins her nest by drilling a nearly perfectly round entrance hole (about 1/2 inch diameter) into the wood. They excavate the tunnels for shelter and as chambers in which to rear their young. Additionally, they will commonly defecate on the wall or other item directly below the opening causing stains.Ĭarpenter bees do not eat wood. While the damage to wood from the drilling activities of a single bee is slight, the subsequent year's broods will expand the tunnel through branching activities and may cause considerable structural damage. The female however, is capable of stinging but seldom does. The males may even hover a short distance from people causing unnecessary panic. A common behavior of the males is to approach people if they move quickly or wave a hand in the air. ![]() They hover in the vicinity of the nest and will dart after any other flying insect that ventures into their territory. It is the male carpenter bee, which is most often noticed. There is only one species of the large carpenter bees, Xylocopa virginica, which is encountered in Pennsylvania. If you see a number of large bees hovering near the eaves of the house or drilling in wood, you have carpenter bees. By contrast, the abdomen of bumblebees is fully clothed with hairs, many of them yellow in color. ![]() Most of the top of the abdomen of carpenter bees is without hairs and is shiny black in color. They construct their nests in trees or in frame buildings. ![]() Their nests are underground and they spend most of their time traveling between the nest and the flowers from which they obtain food.Ĭarpenter bees resemble bumblebees in both size and appearance, but are not social insects. Bumblebees are large social bees 1/2 to 1 inch long, with black and yellow or, rarely, black and orange body markings. People who complain about bumblebees flying about under the eaves of their homes are probably being annoyed by carpenter bees ( Xylocopa virginica).
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