How To Tell If You Have Carpenter Bees

Theyre both large bees with black and yellow hairs which gives them a fat fuzzy appearance.

How to tell if you have carpenter bees. Carpenter bees genus Xylocopa are solitary bees that burrow into wood. You might spot sawdust by the holes where a bee has been boring. You can differentiate the two by examining the dorsal upper side of the abdomen.

If it is furry its a bumblebee but if its bare and shiny then its a carpenter bee. The damage they cause comes from tunneling into wood to create nesting chambers. Their flying patterns also vary because while bumblebees fly straighter than the darting-and-diving flight pattern of the carpenter bee.

They have robust bodies six legs and antennae. The bees bore entry holes about 1 inch deep into their targeted structure. Bumble bees are rounder and hairier while carpenter bees have a black metallic-looking abdomen.

Carpenter bees are either yellow or black but may not have yellow stripes. There are other signs of carpenter bees you can look out for. If its shiny and hairless its a carpenter bee.

Carpenter bees are a type of bee that resemble bumblebees and they visit flowers for nectar but their larvae feed on wood. While bumblebees nest underground carpenter bees build their nests in trees and wood structures such as your house and deck. Signs That You May Have A Carpenter Bee Problem.

You can tell the two kinds apart by a quick look at the abdomen the end zone of the bee home to stinger. They often go unnoticed until homeowners notice sawdust around the home or holes in the siding where these bees have bored into the wood to lay eggs and raise their young. These two bees have many common visual characteristics.