A male carpenter bee has been hovering about our back deck for the past week. Though large and intimidating, he is a harmless, solitary creature, unable to sting; his role is to keep potential predators away from the nesting site.
Represented by more than 500 species across the globe, carpenter bees are named for the female's practice of tunneling into dead wood (including untreated wood on human structures) to create nest chambers for her brood; in some species, several females may share the same nest site. Though they do not feed on the wood, they regurgitate pulp to seal each chamber after a fertilized egg is laid and nourishment has been instilled. The process does not go unnoticed by woodpeckers, which feed on both the larvae and the adults; those bees that survive spend the warmer months feeding on nectar and pollinating a wide variety of flowering plants. Come winter, these non-colonial insects hibernate separately in old chambers or other sheltered sites.
While carpenter bees can cause significant structural damage, I have not noted any major problem to date and am inclined to enjoy their presence and pollination services. Females are capable of stinging but tend to avoid conflict unless directly threatened; hopefully, we won't need to pose that threat.
