Wood Burrowing Bees

They spit it back out leaving a pile of wood dust below the entrance to the nest.

Wood burrowing bees. While theyre solitary bees they can occur in large numbers Hottel says. They are beneficial insects important to the pollination of many types of plants. Once carpenter bees burrow into the wood theyll lay their eggs in the holes.

Wood bees also known as carpenter bees are a type of bee named for the way they make their home. Carpenter bees occasionally construct nests in exterior structural or decorative wood such as siding fascia boards trim and log homes. If its shiny and hairless its a carpenter bee.

Carpenter bees are so named because they drill into wood to lay their eggs and build their nests. Carpenter bees do not eat the wood that they burrow into. With all of the buzzing and flitting around it is not always easy to differentiate between different types of bees.

This signals the bees that it is time to mate. Untreated wood is mostly preferred by these bees to make their nests. To tell the difference look at the abdomen.

Avoid wood treatment solutions though as the bees dont eat wood and hence might not be affected by it. The female carpenter bee is the one who does the work. Stain or paint outdoor wooden surfaces because these surfaces dont attract carpenter bees.

Carpenter bees which burrow into wood are often confused with bumble bees because of their appearance. Virginica is the most common large carpenter bee in eastern North America and it nests in small groups so nests are fairly commonly encountered. If it is mostly black then it is a carpenter bee.