Black Carpenter Bees Pest Control in HoustonĮnviroCon provides pest removal as well as preventive pest control services in Houston for all carpenter bees. They typically become inactive during winter months. Males may continue to be obvious throughout the summer due to their tendency to chase flying insects, animals, and people away from their nests, but otherwise their behavior is mostly limited to pollination. April and May are particularly noticeable times, as that is when new adult bees move out of their brood cells and begin to establish their own nests. The damage done by carpenter bees to residence in a wooden structure is usually quite superficial. Younger bees prefer to move into existing nests to save themselves the work of excavating new tunnels, but the older bees’ long lifespan often prevents that.īlack carpenter bees tend to be most active during the spring and summer months. Unlike more social bees, such as the bumblebee, black carpenter bees have fairly small broods. Many people mistake carpenter bees for black bees for more information on the difference between carpenter bees and bumblebees visit our blog. When Are Black Carpenter Bees Active?Ĭarpenter bees have fairly long lives, often living around three years. The carpenter bee has a bare and shiny black abdomen with some fur above the abdomen and below their head bumblebees have a hairy abdomen with some yellow markings. This includes most of Texas, including Houston and the surrounding areas. A single black carpenter bee’s nest can be six to ten inches long, so they often cause expensive cosmetic damage to decks, wooden siding, and more.īlack carpenter bees have a wide range, but they are particularly prevalent in southern and southwestern states. They like to dig tunnels in wood, particularly weathered and exposed wood. Where Do Black Carpenter Bees Live?Ĭarpenter bees get their name from their preferred nesting area. This leads to growing infestations as more generations build nests in the same area. Females often live in small groups, and carpenter bees also tend to like to nest near others. However, this does not mean that they live totally alone. Like bumblebees, carpenter bees help pollinate plants, particularly flowers and vegetables.Ĭarpenter bees are considered solitary bees, which means they tend to live in small nests without a strict social structure or division of labor. They also have a bare and shiny abdomen instead of a fuzzy one. They represent some of the roughly 800 species of bees. They look fairly similar to bumblebees and are often mistaken for them, but black carpenter bees are almost entirely black. Description Carpenter bees are a group of bees which, as the name suggests, tunnel and nest in wood. What Are Black Carpenter Bees?īlack carpenter bees are one of the largest species of bees in the United States, and are often found within the Greater Houston area. Carpenter bees are solitary insects, meaning that there is only one active bee per nest that is responsible for the variety of tasks needed to maintain the nest. One species of bee, the carpenter bee, may be causing significant damage to your home before you even notice a problem. You could also set up a bee hotel somewhere away from the plants to draw the bees away.When you think of pests that live in wood, you probably think of termites, but there are many others. To stop this, cut away your plants' dead or damaged stems, which can attract leafcutter bees, or try wrapping the plants in cheesecloth to protect them. Stinging isn't much of a risk, but while their habit of cutting holes in foliage may not harm the plants, it can reduce the aesthetic value of some ornamentals. Carpenter bee how to#How to get rid of leafcutter bees: Like most bees, leafcutter bees are beneficial and usually don't need to be removed. While fairly harmless, carpenter bees increase the number of nests over the course of years, causing noticeable damage to wood.They only sting when handled, according to the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, which describes a leafcutter bee sting as "far less painful" than that of a honeybee. Do they sting? They can sting, but these solitary bees do not aggressively defend their nests.They're used by commercial growers to pollinate crops including alfalfa, blueberries, carrots, and onions. Although Carpenter bees tend to nest individually, several bees may build nests near each other. Solitary creatures, the Carpenter bee often lives alone but mother and daughter Carpenter bees may have a simple social nest in which they reside together. Leafcutter bees are important pollinators of many wildflowers, as well as some fruits and vegetables. Carpenter bees inhabit every continent but Antarctica and there are approximately 500 species.
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