Can Carpenter Bees Sting?

Whether you’ve been stung once or a hundred times before, you likely won’t forget what a bee sting feels like. It’s a quick and uninvited jolt of pain, followed by a white bump that raises in size, heat, and intensity depending on the species of bee.

But did you know that some kinds of bees rarely or never sting? Although only a very small portion of bees worldwide are physically incapable of stinging, there are a few different types of bees that only sting when seriously threatened.

If you’re worried that you have carpenter bees living in your house, you shouldn’t be concerned about them stinging you.

Do Carpenter Bees Sting?

If you’ve noticed tiny holes that look like they’ve been drilled into the wood on your roof, railings, windowsills, or elsewhere – check around for flying insects with shiny black abdomen. Chances are, you have carpenter bees, but you shouldn’t fear being stung. Male carpenter bees are actually incapable of stinging – they don’t have a stinger.

Female carpenter bees will sting, but only in dire circumstances. There’s a chance you will be stung by a carpenter bee if you:

• Swat at it
• Step on it
• Threaten its nest

Males protect their homes most aggressively, but their strategies work best on other insects because they rely on their threatening appearance.




Are Carpenter Bees Dangerous?

Some people wonder if the carpenter bees on their property could be seriously damaging the wood in their house. This shouldn’t be the case, but if you allow a carpenter bee population to grow in your home for a few years, the extent of the damage could exceed a negligible level.

Carpenter bees are also important pollinators. They don’t actually eat the wood that they tunnel through to nest – they sustain themselves on a primarily nectar-based diet, pollinating plants as they go along.

Although they are essential contributors to their local ecosystems, fostering too large of a carpenter bee population could result in your railings, roofs, and porches looking worn down and tattered.

How to Get Rid of Carpenter Bees

If you’re tired of lending your home to unwanted carpenter bees, contact your local bee removal experts. Here at Johnson Pest Control, we train our bee, wasp, and hornet specialists to use updated, humane, and environmentally responsible methods to rid your house of unwanted pests. Contact us today for a free quote!