Carpenter Bees

Carpenter bees can be mistaken for bumblebees, due to their similar appearance. They are black and yellow (or sometimes, but rarely, black and orange). While bumblebees have a fuzzy appearance, carpenter bees have a hairless, shiny abdomen. They grow to be between 1/2 and 1 inch long.

 

These bees will generally mate in the spring, laying eggs in the early summer. Many new adult bees will begin to emerge through the late summer, primarily August in Virginia. Carpenter bees with hibernate over the winter, surviving in the tunnels they make in wooden structures. The bees will leave a pheromone in the wood, meaning that bees will return to the structure year after year.

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For more information on carpenter bees, check out our blog post!