Bee Carpenters

Does this look familiar? If you live in Georgia and have a wooden deck, I am sure you have seen these holes. This is an entrance to the Carpenter Bee’s (Xylocopa virginica) tunnel.

Carpenter bees are found throughout Georgia and can be seen during the spring and summer. They resemble bumble bees in size and coloration but, but to tell the difference you have to look at their abdomens: carpenter bees have a shiny black abdomen with no hairs on top while the bumble bees have yellowish hairs on top of their abdomens.

Adults overwinter in their wooden tunnels. They emerge in the spring and will mate within a few weeks. During this time you will often find these bees hovering outside of you home and in your garden. Male carpenter bees are quite aggressive, often hovering in front of people who are around their nests, but are quite harmless since they lack stingers. Female carpenter bees, however, have stingers and can inflict a painful sting, but seldom will unless they are handled.

After mating, the female establishes a nest by burrowing into wood and excavating tunnels. They lay their eggs within a series of small cells. In each cell a ball of pollen is left for the larvae to feed upon. These larvae will emerge as adults in late summer.

References:

Clemson Entomology

Gardening in Georgia