Carpenter Bees
Carpenter bees belong to the family Xylocopa which also includes bumblebees. Carpenter bees are semi-social which makes them very different from honeybees, which are a social insect. Carpenter bees are also considered pests because, as their name suggests, they are builders. They are also pollinating bees and 100 percent native to the United States. Keep reading as we go over many of the details, problems, and positives of carpenter bees.
Why are Carpenter Bees Pests?
The sole reason that carpenter bees are pests is because they drill holes into untreated wood. The holes they drill are nesting sights where the female will deposit both eggs and pollen bread (food for the young.) The problem is that carpenter bees often damage homes, decks, and fencing. That makes them a wood destroying insect and one that homeowners are not fond of.
How Are Carpenter Bees Different from Honeybees?
In the Introduction, we mentioned that carpenter bees are semi-social and that honeybees are social. What those terms mean is that honeybees have a caste system – A queen, drones, workers, etc. Inside a honeybee colony is a society. There is the one queen bee, many worker bees, a few male bees, the younger bees, and the store of honey and honeycombs.
Solitary Bees
Carpenter bees do not have that system. They are, for the most part, solitary. They are considered semi-social because the mother bee may share an entrance to her nest with her daughters. They do not share the nest, just the entrance. Each female carpenter bee will build a gallery inside of wood, where she will lay eggs and deposit food for the young when they hatch. The food they provide is called pollen bread – a mixture of pollen and nectar which will keep fresh until the eggs hatch.
Another difference between honeybees and carpenter bees is that carpenter bees do not swarm. If you disturb their nest, one bee will emerge, the mother bee, and dry to drive you off. If you disturb a honeybee nest or box, the entire hive will empty and defend the nest.
What Are Wood Destroying Insects?
When you sell or buy a property with a building on it, there is a requirement to have an inspection for wood-destroying insects. These are a group of insects that are notorious for damaging homes. They include termites, carpenter bees, carpenter ants, beetles, and a few others. Carpenter bees as pest cause structural issues with decks, foundations, and fences.
Spring and Fall Home Insect Inspections
Spring and fall are two times of the year when home inspections are important. Because those are the times of the year when carpenter bees are most likely to be emerging from nests and working hard to build new nests.
It is important to control carpenter bee populations safely. The method for removing them is to carefully destroy each of their nests along with the eggs inside. Generally, a female carpenter bee lives only for part of the year. Her young are not expected to meet their mother. When destroying carpenter bee nests, you are destroying the eggs and next generation of bees.
Learn more about controlling carpenter bees safely and efficiently by giving us a call.
