Everyone knows that bees are great for the environment. What most people don’t know is that they can be destructive to homes. Put aside everything you know about honey bees and bumblebees because today we are talking about carpenter bees. If you are ready to learn about these home-wrecking buzzers, we have some information you are going to want to know.
How To Distinguish Carpenter Bees From Other Stinging Insects
Sometimes it can be hard to tell stinging insects apart. Just wasps alone have over 30,000 species. Bees have less, at 16,000. With so many different species out there, how can you tell carpenter bees from the rest? It’s simple really. Carpenter bees can be identified in one of two ways.
The first is by watching them travel in and out of a hole in a structure of wood. Unlike honey bees, carpenter bees prefer to live alone and will often burrow their nests into the frames, eaves, and other wooden structures of a home.
The second way you can identify carpenter bees is by their appearance. Unlike honey bees which have a distinct furry, yellow and black striped pattern on their abdomen, carpenter bees’ behinds are solid black and shiny. Carpenter bees also have a distinct black spot behind their head on their midsection.
Pros And Cons Of Carpenter Bees
Like honeybees, carpenter bees are great pollinators. If you don’t know what pollination is, it is a process where pollen is picked up and transferred between stigma, ovules, flowers, and plants to allow fertilization. Without pollination, our ecosystem would collapse.
Carpenter bees pose one big downside. They are home wreckers or at least home wrecker enablers. If this confuses you, let us explain. Carpenter bees by themselves cannot cause severe structural damage. The small holes they burrow into wood, however, can invite in more serious wood-destroying pests such as carpenter ants. These holes can also encourage water damage which can lead to fungal growth and other serious problems.
One other problem that comes with carpenter bees is the chance of being stung. If a carpenter bee has established a home near where you commonly travel, they are likely to become aggressive if you get too close. What makes things worse is that, unlike honey bees, carpenter bees stingers are smooth. This means they are capable of stinging multiple times. If you are allergic to bee stings, you could be even more at risk. Make sure to contact your doctor to know how dangerous a carpenter bee sting would be to you.
Carpenter Bee Prevention Tips
If your home does not currently have carpenter bee problems, there are a number of things you can do to keep it that way. Here are some prevention tips for carpenter bees.
Carpenter bees prefer to build their homes into unfinished wood. One great way you can deter carpenter bees is by painting or staining any unfinished wood around your home.
Carpenter bees love chewing into the ends of wood planks. To prevent this, apply metal fastenings and/or wire screening at the ends of planks that are currently hole free.
Sometimes carpenter bees use cracks and gaps already in your home’s exterior to get inside before burrowing. Seal off these openings using a caulking gun.
How To Get Rid Of Carpenter Bees
If you keep seeing holes in your home’s exterior wood, you might have a carpenter bee problem. To know for certain, reach out to the professionals here at Amco Pest Solutions. We can send one of our professionals your way ASAP to take a look at your property and evaluate your risk. If carpenter bees are found, they will quickly put in place a solution to effectively handle the problem.
Don’t wait. Your solution to pests is a phone call away.