Carpenter bees

Hovering eye to eye, dive bombing, drilling perfectly round holes in exterior wood — this is the carpenter bee. Distinguished from bumblebees by its large size and shiny “patent leather butt,” Xylancopa virginica does not eat wood. The female chews into wood for about 1 inch, makes a 90 degree turn, and tunnels with the grain for at least 12 inches. Using shavings, she divides the tunnel into cells, each containing one egg plus bee bread (pollen and regurgitated nectar, yum!) In their cell, hatched larva feed and pupate into an adult bee, emerging in August to visit flowers all summer for nectar. Carpenter bees are terrific pollinators, carrying huge amounts of pollen (for a bee). They overwinter in old nesting holes. Intimidating tactics of the males (they have yellow faces) are meant to scare you away, but they cannot sting. The females are too busy to fool with people. For help managing the holes, search carpenter bees on the HGIC website and read publication HG 29: Carpenter Bees.