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Males unable to sting, won't harm humans
By Bob Downing
Beacon Journal staff writer
Beacon Journal
Published on Thursday, Jun 12, 2008
Aggressive bees are buzzing around homes, porches and decks.
They look like bumblebees, but are actually male carpenter bees in the midst of the almost-over mating process.
''It's that time of year,'' said Denise Ellsworth, of the Ohio State University Extension.
With the weather finally heating up, she said, the bees have become more active in the Akron-Canton area and that has produced the usual inquiries.
Carpenter bee numbers are up in Ohio from last year, when a great many were killed in an April freeze, said David Shetlar, an entomologist with Ohio State University Extension in Columbus.
People typically encounter the nearsighted males, which are often aggressive in defending their territory. They are attracted by motion, like waving your arms at the insect, he said.
The males, which cannot sting, often buzz and come close to you, but back off once they realize you are not another carpenter bee, he said.
The insects get their name because they excavate wood and create galleries in wood as nest sites. And they are likely to return to that nesting site in subsequent years, he said.
Dead red cedar trees are the preferred nesting site in Ohio for carpenter bees, Shetlar said. They also like weathered pine and spruce — woods typically used on modern homes, yards and decks. Fresh pine and spruce contain resins that drive the bees away, but weathered pine and spruce lose those volatile chemicals.
The bees might burrow into structural timbers, utility poles, fence posts, firewood, arbors, lawn furniture, decks, railings, siding, shingles and shutters. They frequently nest near roof eaves and gables.
They tend to avoid wood that is well-painted or covered with bark.
Shetlar said generally the damage caused by two bees is slight, but it can grow over the years as the bees return to the same site.
The female bees bore an entrance hole that is typically clean-cut, circular and less than a half-inch wide. The female bores in 1 to 2 inches and then makes a 90-degree turn and excavates along the wood grain for another 4 to 6 inches to create the gallery or tunnel. She excavates the gallery at the rate of 1 inch in six days, according to an Ohio State University Extension fact sheet.
The tunnels can be up to 10 feet in length if multiple bees are using the same entrance hole.
The female forms food balls of pollen and regurgitated nectar. She lays an egg atop the food ball and then seals off the eggs and balls with plugs of chewed wood. From six to 10 eggs/food balls line the gallery.
The female dies a short time later. The male dies shortly after mating.
The larvae feed on the nectar balls until they are adults. They remain in the gallery until late August. They emerge for a time but return to the galleries for their winter hibernation. They come out again the following April to early May.
Bob Downing can be reached at 330-996-3745 or bdowning@thebeaconjournal.com.
Aggressive bees are buzzing around homes, porches and decks.
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