The solitary life of the carpenter bee

Hello, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. When I was a student at Clemson, some of the guys liked to show off and capture carpenter bees in their hands. They knew male carpenter bees had a white spot on their heads and can’t sting. Carpenter bees have hairless, shiny abdomens compared to the hairy bumble bees. But they’ll fiercely buzz around you trying to protect the females’ nests. Female carpenter bees are less aggressive than bumble bees which many people mistake them for. Since carpenter bees are solitary bees, they’re less aggressive than bumble bees that nest in underground colonies with a single queen and many sterile female worker bees to guard their homes, only a mated new queen overwinters. Carpenter bees overwinter in the egg chambers from which they hatched.