What might this bee?
May 7, 2019 3:11 PM Subscribe
I decided to make a solitary bee house that would allow intermittent bee viewing. One day later, I had my first bee tenant! Yay! But now I’m concerned that it may be a carpenter bee that will spawn a legion of house-eating children. Here’s a link to a photo. Any opinions?
Carpenter bees aren’t really a big concern in terms of structural longevity unless you have wooden structures that are already falling apart. Carpenter bees don’t hurt well-maintained and well-designed structures, though they can accelerate the demise of sheds and such that are already on their way out.
Fun tip: if a large carpenter bee is highly aggressive, it is almost always male, their habit is to defend a territory. In that case, they cannot sting. Their buzzes are empty threats, and you can simply swat them out of the air without fear of reprisal.
posted by SaltySalticid at 4:14 PM on May 7, 2019 [11 favorites]
Fun tip: if a large carpenter bee is highly aggressive, it is almost always male, their habit is to defend a territory. In that case, they cannot sting. Their buzzes are empty threats, and you can simply swat them out of the air without fear of reprisal.
posted by SaltySalticid at 4:14 PM on May 7, 2019 [11 favorites]
Likely a carpenter, and if male, you've got hours of fun getting headbutted by a large fuzzy harmless bee this summer. Our neighbours have hundreds of them, and it's hilarious having multiple bees going bop bop bop wee are sooo peeessed on your chest. Almost as much fun as when a Phidippus audax (the bold jumping spider, perhaps the original salty salticid) tries to take you on …
posted by scruss at 4:53 PM on May 7, 2019 [12 favorites]
posted by scruss at 4:53 PM on May 7, 2019 [12 favorites]
Harmless and adorable! Enjoy your new buzzy friend(s)!
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 5:52 PM on May 7, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 5:52 PM on May 7, 2019 [1 favorite]
I want to offer a counterpoint: I'd appreciate your not helping carpenter bees along if you really want solitary bees.
posted by amtho at 6:06 PM on May 7, 2019
posted by amtho at 6:06 PM on May 7, 2019
(unrelated: could you share photos of your bee house? it sounds awesome!)
posted by suedehead at 7:50 PM on May 7, 2019 [7 favorites]
posted by suedehead at 7:50 PM on May 7, 2019 [7 favorites]
I've got bees perforating the wood of our back deck. The deck is otherwise in good shape, pressure treated, about 10 years old, and the bees are putting decent sized holes in it. I don't think its structurally comprised yet but it's something I think about.
posted by exogenous at 5:25 PM on May 8, 2019
posted by exogenous at 5:25 PM on May 8, 2019
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Thorzdad at 3:51 PM on May 7, 2019 [1 favorite]