Carpenter bees get their name from nesting behaviors such as burrowing into hard plant materials like dead wood or bamboo. Primarily, these genus are difficult to tell apart from bumblebees, but most are black with some white-ish pubescence. Males are distinguished by their greenish-yellow fur, which varies from the females. In being able to tell carpenter bees apart from bumblebees, you will notice their shiny abdomen is not covered by dense hair like a bumblebee. Female carpenter bees will have much smaller eyes than the males. Here at Platinum Pest & Lawn, we aim to inspect, eradicate and prevent this pest from causing damage further with our Collinsville Pest Control services.
Female carpenter bees also live alongside the other female daughter and sisters, which provides a small social group. They will utilize the wood scraps to form partitions in between nest cells; while some other species will bore holes in the dwelling. Typically, the structural damage caused by these pests are minimal and superficial, since their tunnels are near the surface. Unfortunately, these carpenter bee nests are quite attractive to woodpeckers, which may lead to further damage being caused since they drill into the wood and feed on the bees or larvae. To have your Carpenter Bees treated, call Platinum Pest & Lawn for Collinsville Pest Control today at 918-376-0857.
The carpenter bee is actually quite important for pollination on some flowers that are shallow, open-faced, and flowers with varying forms of lids. However, they are also known to sneak nectar from deeper flowers, by slitting the side, due to their shorter labia. Because of this, they cannot make contact with the nectar without causing a hole in the long-tubed flowers; they cannot reach the anthers to perform any pollination. With some plants, that means there is a reduction in fruit and seed production, while other’s defense mechanisms are against nectar robbing. Strangely enough, carpenter bees are able to achieve pollination when foraging for pollen by species that have tubular flowers, because the anthers and stigmata are reachable.
Although the carpenter bee may have a preferred group of plants to nest in, they do nest in a variety of plants. They are traditionally considered solitary bees, but there are also some species that nest in social environments with the mothers and daughters. Cohabitating females will divide labor and share duties such as foraging, nest laying, and guarding. This is why they will often build several nests near each other. In the solitary nests, the founding bee will do the foraging, build cells, lay the eggs, and guard. Generally, the nest population consists of only one generation of this species. Do not hesitate scheduling your Collinsville Pest Control service with Platinum Pest & Lawn today!
By tunneling into wood, bamboo and similar materials that are usually dead, this is where the carpenter bee makes their nest. The pest vibrates their body while rasping their mandible along the wood, with one individual entrance point, they may have made adjacent tunnels. This entrance is a perfectly round hole that is approximately three-quarters of an inch under the beam, bench, or tree limb. They do not eat the wood, they discard the bits of wood carved out or it is utilized to form the partitions between cells. A tunnel’s purpose is storage and serves as a nursery also for the pollen/nectar which the brood subsists on. Most eggs are quite large, they resemble the size of a female carpenter bee and have been known as the largest eggs of all insects. If these pests go unnoticed for several years, they will cause significant damage to wood. Collinsville Pest Control will take care of this when you use Platinum Pest & Lawn to combat carpenter bees.
There are two mating methods that the carpenter bees use. First, is when the male patrols for females. Second, is when they hover and wait for passing females to pursue. The male carpenter bee is known to be quite harmless, due to not having a stinger. Females, on the other hand, do have stingers. Since female carpenter bees are docile and only sting when directly provoked or handled, they are rarely known to sting. Common natural predators that eat carpenter bees are woodpeckers, shrikes, bee-eaters, ratels, mantises, and predatory-flies. But what attracts woodpeckers to them specifically? The noise from the bee larvae. Woodpeckers will drill holes alongside the tunnels to feed on them. Fly maggots are also known to live off the bee larvae.
Although carpenter bees are not considered to be dangerous or aggressive, they are quite capable of causing structural damage to the wood that greatly contributes to the integrity of your property. Even though carpenter bees survive for about one year, they work diligently. The new generations hatch in late summer, emerge from their nests in August to September to feed and grow, pollinating flowers along the way before settling for hibernation, the survivors come out in April to May to mate. There is no reason to wait for this serious infestation issue to be postponed, call to schedule your service for Collinsville Pest Control today at 918-376-0857 and our technicians will take care of this for you.
Carpenter bees are the largest native bees within the United States. These gentle giants do not waste time and begin foraging efforts in the early morning hours, like bumblebees. Unlike the honey bee and bumblebee, a nest of carpenter bees does not have a queen or worker castes, just individual males and females. They have a total of six legs, an antennae, oval and robust in shape, and found throughout the United States. Carpenter bees are commonly called “wood bees”, but do not actually consume or eat the wood they are drilling circular holes into. Instead of using an over-the-counter product to try eliminating these pests yourself, please contact a certified professional such as Platinum Pest & Lawn for Collinsville Pest Control services like this. In the state of Oklahoma, we are required to eradicate the infestation when carpenter bees or termites have been discovered by a licensed inspector during the home buying/selling process. Do not regret leaving these pests unresolved or your property and structural value may be affected.
