Are Carpenter Bees Dangerous?

With the weather starting to warm up soon, one of the most visible signs of spring approaching is seeing bees around. The buzz of a carpenter bee can be loud enough to be heard from several feet away. But, are carpenter bees dangerous to humans and property?

Today we’ll discuss what carpenter bees look like, why they are dangerous, and how they can cause property damage. We’ll also give you some tips for preventing them from taking up residence on your property and guide you on what to do if you spot them.

One of the most common questions we get when people find carpenter bees on their property is if these pests are dangerous. Overall, carpenter bees aren’t overly dangerous in and of themselves. 

Do Carpenter Bees Sting?

Yes, carpenter bees do sting. However, only female carpenter bees possess a stinger—and they’ll likely only use it if their nest is threatened. 

Carpenter bee stings can be quite painful and cause a red, inflamed welt around the site of the sting. For those who have an allergy to bee stings, a carpenter bee attack can be life-threatening. 

Ironically, male carpenter bees are the “protectors” of the nest and are most likely to interact directly and aggressively with humans and animals. That being said, they aren’t able to cause much harm to humans due to their lack of stinger.

Unlike many other insects, carpenter bees don’t build hives in the traditional sense. Instead, these solitary insects choose to live in small familial groups often consisting of several generations of females. Female carpenter bees are the homemakers of the species and will begin building a nest as soon as they wake from hibernation and find a mate in the spring.

Because female carpenter bees prefer to build nests in semi-protected softwood, they often gravitate toward wooden structures like homes and barns and bore holes under roofs and eaves to prevent wind and rain from entering their homes. Unlike termites and carpenter ants, carpenter bees won’t colonize the bare wood and live inside the hole long after larvae reach maturity. However, these holes can gradually degrade the structural integrity of a home if the bees are left unchecked.

Once a wooden structure is riddled with visible carpenter bee nests, predators are sure to follow. Woodpeckers drill for wood-boring insects like carpenter bees and their larvae. The resulting holes can be the same size as carpenter bees’ holes or as large as two inches in diameter, causing additional and possibly more significant structural damage.

If you find large numbers of carpenter bees around your property, you probably want them gone as soon as possible. However, a carpenter bee infestation can be tricky to deal with since these pollinators are invaluable to a healthy ecosystem. Prevention is the best way to stop carpenter bees from damaging your property:

If you’re already dealing with an infestation, store-bought and DIY pest control can effectively kill carpenter bees and other unwanted flying pests. However, humanely removing bees and bees’ nests helps protect the local food chain and the environment. 

If you find that bees are gathering near your home in large numbers, don’t try to handle the situation yourself. Contact a pest control company to remove them for you, as removing bees and their nests can be highly dangerous to anyone besides a professional.