Bees are an integral part of Mother Nature’s great circle of life, without them, those beautiful views of prairies and fields dotted with flowers of every color and shade would not be possible. But as man moved into modern homes and lived within the territories of these complex animals, these bees, particularly the carpenter bees also changed their nesting behaviors to adapt to and take advantage of the unique opportunity that the situation presents. This is where the problems with how carpenter bees damage wooden parts of homes came to be.
This species of bees earned their name because of their unique nesting habits, they choose to build their homes in trunks and branches of different trees, making a labyrinth of burrows within the wood in order to create a safe haven where they can hide and lay their eggs.
carpenter bee damage
This is the reason why some carpenter bees damage houses when they choose to build a nest among the wooden beams of a human dwelling instead of a tree’s trunk or branch. You can only imagine how the wooden supports of homes can be severely weakened by these bees’ nesting habits, the beam may look solid and normal on the outside, but you will be surprised as to how fast these carpenter bees can create a network of tunnels inside the wood. The once solid and compact state of wooden beams can turn into weak and hollow support within a short period of time; this can result in the beams collapsing under the weight that they were supposed to carry.
Although carpenter bees damage wooden parts of houses, they are not as aggressive as the dreaded killer bees, these carpenter bees will not sting you unless you purposely and carelessly handle them and even then, only the female carpenter bees can hurt you because male carpenter bees do not have any stingers. It is also a good thing that these bees do not live in colonies; the thought of having a swarm of these bees making their burrows in your home can be the stuff of nightmares for most homeowners.
A number of things can be done to prevent carpenter bees damage in your homes, these range from thick protective paints to plastic or steel sidings over the wood to discourage any bee from burrowing into in, these products are available in most home finishing outlets, you just have to choose the one most applicable to your home.