Carpenter Bee
( ) - Carpenter bees are large and have a blue-black, green or purple metallic sheen. They often burrow into exposed dry wood of buildings. Infestations are often detected by finding sawdust on the ground below the area being drilled. The galleries are made by the female and usually average 5 inches in length. She then furnishes the nest with "bee bread" (a mixture of pollen and regurgitated nectar) and lays an egg on top of it. The female then closes the cell with chewed wood pulp. There may be a number such sealed cells in a linear row in one gallery.
"Biography"
Carpenter bees resemble bumblebees but they are not social insects, and most of the top part of their abdomen is without hairs. The males lack a sting,and the females posess a potent sting but they rarely use it.\r\n
Treatment
Treat infestations on a case by case basis. Damage to wood from the drilling activity of a pair of carpenter bees is slight, the activities of many bees during a period of years can cause considerable damage.
|
|