Until we moved to Virginia, I had never seen the big Carpenter Bees and thought they were all Bumble Bees. Not so, as my deck and several other wooden structures testify to. Who hasn’t been plagued by these destructive insects? Thankfully they are not aggressive unless protecting their nests, but they can tunnel for up to 6ft. in a piece of wood and do much damage in the process. You may find the article from The Lake Channel to help fend off the Carpenter Bee or repair their damage.
If the exterior of your home is made of wood, chances are you are sharing it with carpenter bees. These bees are large, round, and mostly black. You can differentiate them from fuzzy bumblebees by their shiny abdomen. You may notice one or several of these bees hovering around your home. When they are hovering they are either looking for a place to construct a nest or guarding an existing nest. When guarding a nest, they are quite territorial and will try to chase intruders from the area. I have been buzzed many times by these bees. Their size and loudness make them pretty scary.
If you see these bees around your home, take a good look at the wood in the area. Check the eaves, trim, fascia, siding, wooden shakes, deck planks, railings, and even wooden outdoor furniture. You may find one or more perfectly round holes, about half an inch in diameter. Carpenter bees get their name because they drill holes in wood for their nests. These round holes are the entrances to the bees’ nests. I usually look on the ground for sawdust and then look up in a straight line from there to find the holes. I have found that they particularly like to drill behind light fixtures affixed to the wood, and other places where the holes are difficult to detect without the telltale sawdust piles.
