carpenter bees
How to Identify Carpenter Bees
Carpenter bees are most often seen hovering around decks, eaves and siding on homes and businesses. They're large, bulbous insects with a black head and abdomen and a yellow thorax with fine hairs. They also have four large wings, six legs and two antennae. The males lack a stinger, so they can't provide any defense except for swooping in on someone who has entered their territory. The females have stingers but typically remain in a nest that they have created within a wooden chamber.
Do Carpenter Bees Eat Wood?
Carpenter bees are wood-damaging insects; however, they don't consume the wood like termites do. Instead, the bees burrow into it and build chambers in which to lay their eggs and to raise their young. Carpenter bees don't stay hidden from view or cause damage to the wood out of sight. They rise in the early morning hours and go about their day eating nectar and pollen before returning to their territory to burrow into the wood around a structure. It's easy to detect the bees around homes and businesses and to see visual damage in the form of holes in the wood.
Are Carpenter Bees the Same as Bumblebees?
Carpenter bees sometimes get mistaken for bumblebees because of their similar coloring and size. Whereas carpenter bees have a black and shiny abdomen, bumblebees have hairy abdomens with some yellow banding. The bees are roughly the same size and consume nectar and pollen from various plants. However, bumblebees are social insects and live in traditional nests whereas carpenter bees are solitary insects and live in wooden chambers. Both species are considered beneficial insects as they help with pollination. Unfortunately, carpenter bees cause unsightly damage to homes and other wooden structures and require treatment to remedy an infestation.
How to Get Rid of Carpenter Bees
Pedchem has a variety of insecticides in many different form factors for targeting, controlling and eliminating carpenter bees around buildings. Liquid and dust insecticides contain ingredients such as bifenthrin and pyrethrins, which affect the bees' central nervous system and provide quick knockdown and kills. Liquid insecticides can be sprayed with a pump sprayer to the target area or directly on the bees. The dust can be spread with a hand duster or straight from the container. It works on contact and continues to provide residual control. No matter if it's a few carpenter bees or a massive infestation, Pedchem has quality carpenter bee control products for use around homes, businesses and other high-risk areas.
