Carpenter bees look an awful lot like bumblebees, and you’ll often need a second glance to make sure which one you’re looking at.
Since both bees have bodies larger than their wings neither one looks like flying is a viable option for them. Every time one takes to the air it defies physical laws. But the visible difference is in the arrangement of the colors on these bee’s bodies.
Both have bands of black and yellow, the yellow on the carpenter bee is dull compared to the brighter yellow of the bumblebee. You’ll find yellow on the bumblebees abdomen, but the carpenter bee abdomen is black.
Also, the black abdomen of the carpenter bee is smooth and shiny. What Kills Moth Larvae A bumblebee is hairy, giving its abdomen a fuzzy, dull look.
These bees have different nesting habits too. The bumblebee Homemade Bug Spray For Indoor Plants builds its nest in the ground, or often in brush piles.
One late summer day as I mowed the grass I pushed the mower past a brush pile, and suddenly felt slight pain just above my ankle. I thought at first a mosquito bit me, but the pain was a bit more intense than mosquito bites. I didn’t pay it much attention at first, but after a couple more passes (and a couple more pain hits) I looked down and noticed some welts on my legs.
Looking around I noticed a number of small bees flying in and out of that pile of brush. Checking closer I realized they were baby bumblebees.
Studying the brush in the area of their entry and exit point I discovered a nest in the brush pile, which didn’t take long to eliminate once I knew what I dealt with.
Carpenter bees nest inside the wood of your structures, or in fence rails of wooden fences, even inside logs of woodpiles.
Carpenter bees chew their way into the wood from the bottom. They don’t eat the wood, they discard it as they drill a tunnel a few inches upward, then make a 90-degree turn and continue digging their tunnel horizontally inside the rail, or beam, or log.
After they tunnel a while they lay their eggs at the inner end, then use the discarded sawdust from their drilling to build a wall, creating a compartment to protect the eggs until they hatch.
If carpenter bees use your buildings to establish their “nurseries,” and you let this go on too long, you’ll have enough tunnels inside your support beams to weaken your structure. Eventually the building will collapse.
Bumblebee stings, from adult bees, hurt. This is one bee to stay away from.
Here again there’s a difference between the bumblebee and the carpenter bee. Male carpenter bees don’t sting. The female carpenter bee has stinging abilities, but you really gotta make her mad, and that’s tough to do.
But like I said, these bees look a lot alike, and if you get close enough to identify which bee you’re looking at, you’re most likely close enough for the bumblebee to nail you.
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