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Dark colored, up to 1 1/2 inches long. They are large and resemble bumble bees. They are heavy-bodied, metallic blue-black with green or purplish highlights. Their bodies are covered with bright yellow or orange hairs.
They build their nests in wood siding or other areas where bare or painted wood is exposed. The males and females cut a one-half inch circular hole into the wood and then create a tunnel parallelto the surface of the wood. Within the tunnel the female stores food and lays eggs. The developing carpenter bee larvae are in individual cells in the tunnel and there is usually only one generation per year.
The damage inflicted is holes in wood and the yellow sawdust they create contains waste materials that can leave unsightly stains.
Females are quite docile but can sting. Males are the agressive but cannot sting.
Using a special insecticide dust in the wood holes is the preferred treatment. After treatment we advise caulking the holes closed. Wood should then be painted or varnished which doesn’t guarantee, but usually keeps the carpenter bees from once again attacking the wood.
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