Identifying And Contolling Carpenter Bee Damage

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Identifying and Controlling Carpenter Bee Damage

Posted by Amdro

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For homeowners in many parts of the United States, carpenter bees rarely attract attention. When passing near homes, these bees may go unnoticed or be mistaken for other bees. However, homeowners in areas with large carpenter bee populations look at these wood-damaging insects differently. Carpenter bee activities can cause extensive damage to wooden structures, including your home, and threaten their integrity.

Identifying Carpenter Bee Damage

Carpenter bees are one of the primary wood-damaging insects in the U.S. While numerous species of these bees are found throughout the country, the eastern states are especially hard hit by Eastern carpenter bees' distinctive damage.

 

Carpenter bees naturally nest in soft, old trees or even reed-like plants with soft, pithy interiors. But they don't discriminate against inviting wood that happens to be part of your home. Unlike termites, carpenter bees do not eat wood. The damage they cause comes from tunneling into wood to create nesting chambers. The bees bore entry holes about 1 inch deep into their targeted structure.¹ Telltale signs of carpenter bee activity include sawdust piles on the ground and excrement stains on the wood below their holes.

 

Once inside wood, the tunneling bees branch out to create perpendicular tunnels about 4 to 6 inches long. A female carpenter bee creates about six to eight of these chambers, where it will lay its eggs. From the outside, all you see is the hole