Tiny bees

I have these little blackish bees in the outside of the house, I guess maybe

6mm long or so. I think they must be pretty common because I've seen them so many places before. They get into the little squarish holes between panels in the wood siding. They seem indifferent to my presence & pretty much just go about their business. Do the bees make the holes themselves or do they just exploit the flaws? Seems like a bee would chew a rounder shape. Are they very damaging?
Reply to
Nelly Wensdow
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Some carpenter bees can't measure?

Reply to
Oren

I have those little black wasp looking things with white rings around their tail. They find little holes like nail holes or the screw holes in hedge clippers. They can barely fit, I know they can't turn around. Looks like the could only one baby in those nests.

Reply to
LSMFT

The carpenter bees that I have in Maryland create perfectly round holes about 1/2" in diameter. The first time I saw the holes, I was sure they were made by a drill until I saw the bees (they look much like bumblebees) actually chew their way through the wood. Could be that yours have ingested some sort of toxin. I know that some chemicals cause spiders to weave very irregular webs. Just a guess, though.

The bees I have seemed to be most fond of an untreated, unpainted 2x3 brace I had put up in the front porch overhang. Eventually I'll take it down and saw it lengthwise to see what they did inside the piece of wood. They made a number of holes all along the length of the board, which I assume are internally connected.

They are nowhere near as damaging as termites, which consume wood as food. Carpenter bees just drill out enough wood to make their nest in.

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-- Bobby G.

Reply to
Robert Green

Glad you used the PC term of "tiny". They're are actually midget bees, who are embarrassed to be seen. That is why they hide in the wood.

Reply to
Carmen

Sounds like it could very possibly be those, on thinking again they do look like little wasps of some kind. They don't seem too particular about the shape of their entry as long as they can cram their little hineys in there. Until I hear from somebody something like "OMG my wood siding was destroyed by..." (similar bug), I guess I won't worry too much. Thanks all & the humor appreciated too.

Reply to
Nelly Wensdow

Umm, there could be HUNDREDS of them in there. This really is a potentially huge problem. You need to, at the very least, buy some sort of spray poison and coat every inch of wood you've seen them near with the product. Any sort of boring insect must be eradicated unless you want your house to be eaten. Then you need to plug up the holes to prevent future infestation as well as weather/other pest damage. This is pretty much homeowner 101. ANYTHING which lives in your house and is not a significant other or a pet ,is a pest. Children/human larvae qualify as "pests". At least to me. Human larvae do much worse damage to any home than any "pests" :)

Reply to
h

Oh my, yes! It is surprising what comes out of the woodwork.

Reply to
Nelly Wensdow

North America has somewhere around 3000 species of bees most of which have benefits far outeighing any damages. If you could be a bit more descriptive it might be possible to narrow your bee down to a few species.

Reply to
beecrofter

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