Carpenter Bees

These resemble bumblebees and are a solitary bee, but house adjacent to one another. You can tell mating season by the bigger black drones, or males, flying around chasing pretty much everything that flies by them.

When I was just about 7 or 8 years old, I used to tie a leg with a thread to the drones and fly them around school. I was in 2nd or third grade. You can tell the drones from the females by the white on their faces. My boyhood friends and I used to call them "whitefaces". The whitefaces don't have a stinger.

One time, my family and I were out in the backyard eating on a picnic table and I saw one fly around some flowers. It landed on a flower and I grabbed it and it stung the heck out of my hand. It wasn't a whiteface, but a female with pollen all over its face. I should've known that the drones don't like to work and gather pollen ..they're just hanging around to pick up some females. They are only alive for a month... if that.

The drones do not have a stinger, but the females do. They are not that aggressive but will sting if persistence occurs from intrusion or if you grab one like I did.They are classified as a wood-destroying insect.

Extermination cost: $89.95 to $200.00.

Nature King Pest Management

Carpenter Bees