Carpenter Bee Removal

(Xylocopa Spp.)

Carpenter bees (Family Xylocopa spp.) resemble large bumble bees, but have a different nesting behavior. They bore long tunnels into wood and divide these tunnels into separate chambers. Each chamber or cell will house an individual larvae. While several females may nest in the wood of the same structure, they are nonsocial and act in a solitary fashion. The carpenter bee are black without yellow hair on their abdomen, unlike bumble bees.

The typical carpenter bee gallery has and entrance hole, that looks it was drilled by a 3/8 inch bit. The tunnel goes in for a short distance then takes a sharp angle following the grain of the wood. The female will deposit a ball of pollen, lay an egg on the ball and close the cell with a mass of wood pulp. A tunnel will have a series of cells as the female backs out of the tunnel. They will enlarge existing galleries, use old ones or create new ones. Very complex tunnels can develop over years of use. They can often be found in the wood trim of windows, eaves, siding, deck railings and play sets. Softer woods are preferred, but any wood structure is susceptible.

Their presence can be determined by accumulated saw dust below the tunnel, seeing the bees enter a hole and yellowish or brownish stains from their excrement below the entrance holes to the galleries. They complete one generation per. Eggs are laid in the spring, larvae and pupae develop in the early summer and return to the same tunnels to hibernate for the winter. In the spring the adults mate to continue the cycle.

Carpenter bees are not very aggressive, but their size and loud buzzing as they fly can be intimidating. The burrows can cause structural damage. We have seen wood that looks like Swiss cheese after the woodpeckers have exposed the complex of tunnels. If untreated the number of carpenter bees using an area will continue grow each year. Treatment of carpenter bee tunnels is very effective at reducing the population and damage. It is, however, not possible to effectively treat the entire structure or predict where new holes may develop in the future.

We are specialists in Carpenter Bee removal and the treatment and of other types bees, wasps and hornets.