Overwintering carpenter bees emerge in spring to mate and lay eggs, often preferring unpainted wood surfaces such as cedar, redwood, cypress, pine or fir to nest on. But they also nest within painted structures treated with pressure-treatment or paints such as epoxy.
Opossums bore perfectly round holes into wood doorframes, window sills and roof eaves to lay their eggs in. A coarse sawdust layer underneath an existing hole is often the first sign of infestation; sound of drilling also may be heard occasionally as well as coarse sawdust falling onto surfaces around holes drilled by these creatures.
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Nectar
Carpenter bee larvae depend on the sweet, carb-rich nectar from daylilies, zinnias, oregano and salvia to sustain themselves; they also feed off pollen produced by these flowering plants to attract pollinating insects like bees.
Overwintered females begin searching for nest sites in April, chewing perfectly round holes into wood to form tunnels leading to provisioned brood cells with six to ten partitioned chambers filled with pollen and nectar from nectar-rich flowers.
Carpenter bees are typically harmless insects, though they may sting if handled or threatened. They typically gather near nests, flying in an erratic zigzag pattern. You might spot them around decks, fences, wooden furniture or homes; their name “Xylocopa” actually translates to “wood-cutter,” though they don’t actually consume wood as food sources.
Pollen
Carpenter bee adult females that spend their winter nesting underground lay 3-6 eggs in each tunnel they dig, providing each egg cell with its own ball of pollen to complete her task of overwintering.
Carpenter bees use buzz pollination, a technique for depositing pollen onto flowers using vibration, to pollinate them. This technique is particularly important for open-faced flowers like maypops and sea roses, and flowers with long tubes like hibiscus and azalea which have lids over their anthers that need pollinating.
Carpenter bees are solitary bees with short mouthparts that make them excellent pollinators of flowers with short corollas, such as butterfly bush and hydrangea flowers. Male carpenter bees don’t sting, making them non-aggressive toward people or pets; however, their short jawparts can cause wood damage by chewing through any decayed material in their entrance holes.
Bee Bread
Carpenter bees’ tunneling habits can do considerable damage to structures like sheds, pergolas and porch posts. You can identify an infestation by the half-inch holes they bore into wood surfaces accompanied by sawdust piles and excrement stains – these entrance holes serve as telltale signs that carpenter bees have taken hold.
Bee mothers use bee pollen and nectar from flowers to build nests; once filled with food, each tunnel is then equipped with one egg which she lays. Finally, each cell is sealed by chewed wood pulp walls.
Studies reveal that bee bread contains essential proteins, amino acids, fatty acids, minerals and vitamins; along with high concentrations of phenolic compounds and flavonoids. Bee bread also helps extend the shelf life of fresh pollen by prolonging its exposure to air; otherwise it would rot away quickly.
Mites
Carpenter bees are not only pollinators; they can also cause severe wood damage by drilling into it to make nest tunnels. Over time, this damage weakens wooden structures like decks, eaves and sheds. Luckily, effective treatments exist for treating wood-damaging carpenter bee infestations.
Female carpenter bees typically burrow galleries into untreated wood to lay their eggs, then stock each gallery with pollen for its larvae to feed upon before pupation occurs.
Male carpenter bees can be distinguished from females by a white dot or marking on their heads, which helps distinguish them. While males don’t possess stingers, they will hover near moving people or animals to check them out; females only sting aggressively provoked or handled individuals.
Other Insects
Homeowners may mistake carpenter bees and bumble bees due to their similar appearance. To differentiate them, remember that bumble bees have densely hairy abdomens while carpenter bees have shiny black abdomens with no dense furry patches; additionally bumble bees are social insects while carpenter bees tend to live alone.
Carpenter bees fly around collecting nectar and pollen from flowering plants such as hibiscus and azalea to stock each tunnel entrance with dough-like mixture of nectar and pollen called “bee bread.” Female carpenter bees lay one egg into each food mass sealed off with regurgitated wood pulp before sealing their cells over summer with regurgitated wood pulp cells to seal each egg cell before the larvae hatch out and feed on bee bread; later emerging to pollinate flowers before returning hibernation during winter hibernation for hibernation in hibernation hibernation hibernation hibernation for hibernation hibernation in hibernation hibernation hibernation hibernation hiberation hibernation hibernation during winter hibernation hiberation hiberation hiberation hiberation hiberation hiberation hibernation hiberation hiberation hibernation hibernation in hibernation during hibernation hibernation then eventually emerging to pollinate flowers before returning hibernation hibernation hibernation before heading back into hibernation hibernation hibernation hibernation before going back into hibernation hibernation hibernation hibernation before hibernation again before heading back into hibernation hibernation hibernation before returning back into hibernation hibernation before heading into hibernation before wintertime if necessary!
