Carpenter bees in New Jersey are an imposing figure that can send both young and old folks running for cover. Most people cannot tell the difference upon first glance between a carpenter bee and a bumble bee, and their large size doesn’t make them very endearing. In the bee world however, they are relatively harmless to humans for the most part.
Despite their curious and sometimes aggressive behavior, male carpenter bees have no means of stinging or defending themselves which is likely why they flex their muscle by buzzing around human heads. Female carpenter bees are a bit more docile and are more interested in building their nesting site, which is where they will eventually lay their eggs within. They do have the capability of stinging humans or pets but rarely do so unless they are swatted at or held for some reason.
Carpenter bees are solitary bees that do not live in a colony. Carpenter bees do not eat wood like termites do but the females do damage wood by excavating it when they create their galleries for their young. Most times, each subsequent carpenter bee generation will return to their birth site and clean up and expand the nest that was provided by the generations of carpenter bees before them. As the years pass and generations of carpenter bees take up residence within the existing structure and expand it to fit their needs, it is not surprising that structural damage will occur.
The eventual damage caused by carpenter bees can be substantial. A Monmouth County, NJ exterminator will be able to identify where carpenter bee problem areas are within a home or business and recommend the best course of action to eliminate the buzzing pests.