Bees
Honey Bees
Info
Adults consist of three castes: queens (3/5- to 3/4- inches long) are fully developed egg layers with only one in each colony; drones (3/4- to 5/8 - inches long) are functional males; and workers (2/5- to 3/5 - inches long) are undeveloped females. Honey bees have a lifespan of up to 5 years. Queen lays eggs producing a colony of 60,000 – 80,000. Honey bees have a barbed stinger and sting only once.
Carpenter Bees
Info
Carpenter bees are wood boring and resemble bumble bees. They are large, 3/4 to 1 inch long, heavy-bodied, blue-black to black colored with a green or purplish metallic sheen. The thorax is covered with bright yellow, orange or white hairs and the abdomen, especially on the top side, is black, shiny and bare without hairs. It is the males, with white markings on their head, that fly around aggressively, but they are harmless since they lack a stinger. Females have black heads, are docile and rarely sting. They have a dense brush of hairs on the hind legs whereas bumble bees have large pollen baskets and numerous, yellow hairs on the abdomen. Larvae are saclike, white and legless with brown, globular heads that bear small mouthparts. The pupal stage is passed in a silent cocoon.
Carpenter bees are found in decks, sheds and other wood surfaces of the home.
