How Long Do Carpenter Bees Live

Emptying a trap with live carpenter bees can be scary.

How long do carpenter bees live. If the same tunnel is used by multiple carpenter bees over multiple years it can stretch up to 10 feet long severely weakening the wood. The female carpenter bee the lead nest engineer is identifiable by her solid black head. Carpenter bees though they may be a nuisance are vital pollinators.

And here are a final 10 fun facts about Carpenter Bees. These insects earn their name because they bore one-half inch wide holes that appear to be perfectly round on exterior wooden surfaces. When the carpenter bees first emerge in the spring they have about 2-3 weeks to find a mate.

Here is the expected life cycle from start to finish. Woodpeckers also like to feed on carpenter bee larvae and will cause further damage by tearing into the wood to get at the nests. Some hole-nesting bees like to drill their own holes and these are called carpenter bees.

Since it only takes a couple of hours for a carpenter bee to drill a hole a few inches deep lots of holes can appear over a fairly short period of time. The only time wood bees live together is when they have recently mated or a female is raising offspring. Below are three safe methods to dispose of your live carpenter bee trap catches.

This pollen is mixed with nectar to create pollen loaves. The female bee dies not long after laying larvae in the separate chambers of the soft-wood tunnel. The male bees die after mating with the female.

The pollen that carpenter bees collect is used as food for their offspring while they are young. In New Jersey Pennsylvania Maryland and Delaware carpenter bees can show up at your home or business in the spring and stay active throughout the summer. Carpenter bees are very active from early spring through summer around houses and other wooden structures.