Are these carpenter bees?

Noticed a couple of these bees hovering near (and then crawling underneath) the diagonal fascia board (or wood trim) at gable side of building near roof line. Directed some wasp and hornet bug spray underneath the diagonal piece of wood, but a couple days later these bees were still active there. It does look like some sawdust-like debris is present near the ground...actually noticed the sawdust-like debris last year but didn't notice happen to notice the bees back then. Are the bees in the photos carpenter bees, and should I contact the condo association?

Here are a link to 3 photos:

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bees were near the back of building.

In addition (in a completely different area of same side of building) there are also some ordinary bees nests (such as wasps nests) underneath the diagonal fascia board near, but near the front of the same side of building. (The building is around 40 feet long from front to back) Do I need to be concerned about the ordinary bees nests if there is no activity seen? Right now I'm more concerned about whether or not the bees in the photos are carpenter bees. What do you think?

Thanks,

J.

Reply to
Jay-n-123
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If you live in a Condo you should cqall the maintenance people whether these are carpoenter bees or not. If you have regular honey bees in your walls they can do more damage than carpenter bees. Trust me - I have seen a honeycomb pulled out of a wall before that was 3 feet long.

Reply to
Capt. Courageous

Try not to kill them if you can.

Sometimes you have to though.

Reply to
Steveo

Yes they are. And they'll bore holes into wood to lay eggs. They can also use most any enclosed area to nest in. I had a group build a nest in the three inch gap between the floor of a dog house and the ground. After we turned over the dog house (and ran like crazy) the air became literally black with carpenter bees.

Reply to
Kevin

Agreed, Pictures are typical of carpenter bees.

Disagree. Carpenter bees are solitary except for the male hanging around at breeding time. They have one female to a nest.

What you describe are bumble bees, which live in colonies. They look very much alike at a glance. The difference is the carpenter bee is about half yellow and half black where the bumble bee is predominantly black with a much smaller amount of white/yellow.

Red

Reply to
Red
[...]

Horsehockey. Color has nothing to do with it. There are five species of carpenter bees in the US, and they vary in color schemes by species, as well as by sex. A carpenter bee has a shiny abdomen. A bumble bee's is covered in hair.

Stubby?

Reply to
Eggs Zachtly

Yep, Carpenter bees are shiny and generally have less yellow in their behinds.

Reply to
Capt. Courageous

Then tell the entomoligist his web site is showing wrong color.

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Reply to
Red

The site is just showing a species of carpenter bee that happens to have more yellow than some other species. The key is the abdomen being hairless.

Lar

Reply to
Lar

paragraph:

"Carpenter bees resemble bumble bees, but the upper surface of their abdomen is bare and shiny black; bumble bees have a hairy abdomen with at least some yellow markings."

Reply to
Eggs Zachtly

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