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Carpenter bees are a large, black and yellowish-orange species of bee that are active from the early spring through the early fall. Carpenter bees are significantly larger than honey bees and are often mistaken for bumblebees due to their similar size and appearance. These bees like making their nests in wooden structures like houses, causing thousands of dollars worth of damage. In this article, we’ll talk about how you can identify carpenter bees, how they can damage your home, and how you can keep an eye out for them! If you have any questions about carpenter bees or are a Massachusetts resident that would like a free estimate on a carpenter bee control service, please contact our team at Absolut Pest Control today by calling us at (978) 388-4589!

Carpenter Bee Identification

As mentioned above, carpenter bees are relatively large bees that are often mistaken for bumblebees due to their size and appearance. Carpenter bees can be easily differentiated from bumblebees because they have shiny, non-hairy abdomens, while bumblebees have a dense layer of fur that covers almost all of their bodies. Another way to identify carpenter bees is by paying attention to their behavior. Carpenter bees will often hover around the exterior of homes and land on untreated wood, where they like to create holes and tunnels where they can lay their eggs.

How Carpenter Bees Can Damage Your Home

Carpenter bees that survive the winter here in Massachusetts will emerge from hibernation in the spring and begin to mate. Fertilized female carpenter bees will then immediately look to build their nests where they can safely lay their eggs, and oftentimes, they choose to dig their nests in your house’s siding, deck, roof, or other wooden structures. Carpenter bees prefer to excavate their nests in unpainted, untreated softwoods. When your home is repeatedly targeted by carpenter bees, its structural integrity can be damaged and cost you thousands of dollars in repairs, similar to the damage that termites and carpenter ants can cause.

Signs Of A Carpenter Bee Infestation

The easiest way to spot a carpenter bee infestation is to keep a lookout for the damage they cause on the wooden surfaces on and around your home. Carpenter bee damage looks like round, smooth holes that have a diameter about the size of your pinky finger. Once they have accessed the inside of the wood through these holes, carpenter bees will make a sharp turn where they will continue to burrow parallel to the surface, creating damage that is much larger than it may appear to the naked eye. In order to prevent harmful carpenter bee damage, you should regularly inspect the exterior of your home for these smooth, round holes in the spring, summer, and early fall!

Contact Absolut Pest Control!

If you have any questions about identifying, preventing, or treating a carpenter bee infestation in your Massachusetts or Southern New Hampshire home, please contact our team at Absolut Pest Control! We provide various pest removal and extermination services at affordable prices throughout the region! Give us a call today at (978) 388-4589 or fill out the contact form on our website to get a free estimate!