As spring arrives in North Carolina, so do those large, buzzing bees that seem particularly interested in your wooden deck and porch. If you’ve noticed these formidable insects hovering around your outdoor spaces, you’re likely dealing with carpenter bees, and they could be doing more than just visiting.
What Are Carpenter Bees?
Carpenter bees are large bees characterized by their shiny black abdomens. Unlike their cousins, the honeybees, carpenter bees don’t live in hives. Instead, they use their powerful jaws to tunnel into wood, creating perfectly round holes about 1/2 inch in diameter. These tunnels serve as their nesting sites where they’ll lay eggs and return year after year.
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While carpenter bees are beneficial pollinators for your garden, they can cause significant damage to the wooden structures around your home. Their tunneling can:
Create unsightly holes in your deck, porch, or wooden furniture
Lead to structural weakness over time
Invite secondary damage from fungi
Attract other pests like carpenter ants
Result in additional damage from woodpeckers hunting for carpenter bee larvae
Signs You Have Carpenter Bees
Not sure if carpenter bees have taken up residence on your property? Here are some telltale signs:
Perfectly round holes in wooden structures
Sawdust piles beneath the holes
Hovering bees inspecting wooden surfaces
Buzzing or chewing sounds coming from wood
Yellow or light brown splatter marks around hole entrances (yes, that’s bee poop!)
Increased woodpecker activity near your home
Are They Dangerous?
Good news: carpenter bees are generally not aggressive toward humans. Here’s what you should know:
Male carpenter bees (the ones you’ll typically see hovering) cannot sting at all
Female carpenter bees can sting but rarely do unless they’re handled or severely threatened
Males may seem aggressive as they dive-bomb people near their nests, but it’s all bluff—they’re just being territorial
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The Rental Investor Toolkit on MoveZen360.com is a comprehensive resource designed to assist property owners and investors in maximizing their rental investments. It offers a variety of tools and information, including:
Rental Rate Estimates: Obtain quick, accurate, and no-obligation rental rate evaluations to understand your property’s potential income.
Lease and Management Forms: Access essential documents such as leases and management agreements to streamline your property management processes.
Investment Return Calculators: Utilize tools like the Rental Profit Calculator and Vacancy Loss Calculator to assess and enhance your property’s financial performance.
Market Analysis Resources: Stay informed with annual renter and owner survey data, state of the market updates, and rental rate trends from leading indexes like the CPI Rent Index, New Tenant Rent Index, and Zillow Rent Index.
Legal and Management Insights: Access a custom-built Rental ChatGPT trained with legal documentation, reports on leading rental websites, and information on legal strategies affecting property management.
These resources are the same tools MoveZen utilized when designing their own build-to-rent community, reflecting their practical value and effectiveness. By leveraging the Rental Investor Toolkit, property owners can make informed decisions, optimize rental income, and navigate the complexities of property management with confidence.
Carpenter bees aren’t targeting your property out of spite. They’re simply looking for suitable nesting sites, and your home offers prime real estate. They particularly love:
Unpainted and untreated wood
Softwoods like pine, cedar, and cypress
Wooden overhangs, eaves, and fascia boards
Wooden deck railings and porch ceilings
Prevention: Keep Them Away From Your Home
The best way to handle carpenter bees is to prevent them from settling in the first place:
Apply a clear polyurethane or varnish to wooden surfaces you don’t want to paint
Install alternative nesting sites – Try suspending a log in a tree with the flat side hanging down to encourage bees to nest there instead of in your home
Regular inspection – Check your property in early spring when bee activity begins
Getting Rid of Carpenter Bees
If prevention wasn’t possible and you’re already dealing with an infestation, here are your options:
DIY Methods
Apply insecticides containing pyrethroids to the entrance holes
Important safety tip: Spray in the evening when bees are less active, and quickly move away after application—angry bees may emerge!
Consider commercial carpenter bee traps, though results can be mixed
Professional Help
For significant infestations, calling a pest control professional is often the safest and most effective solution. They can:
Renting out your home can be a very smart and lucrative decision when done properly. Determining up-front what costs and benefits to renting your home can be expected is crucial. Accurate pricing, knowing state and federal landlord laws, and understanding the future market trends are all pivotal in the success of your rental home.
The exact requirements can vary by state or municipality. Most areas do require a real estate license if you collect rent and deposits on someone else’s behalf. Simply put, your friend that used to work for an apartment complex cannot market your home, lease, or collect rental funds on your behalf unless licensed.
Without being partial, that’s really a preference question. However, here is our list of things to be on the lookout for in a great property manager:
Communication: Are your questions answer quickly, clearly, and kindly?
What do their property manager reviews have to say?
Has the rental process been explained clearly and do you agree with it?
Are their rental home listings clear and descriptive or rushed?
Property management company fees vary widely based on the type of service, season, and property management company you choose. Average monthly fees can be around 10% while some companies may charge a flat monthly rate
Being a landlord can be both fun and easy. With free property, management software available (Apartments.com) do-it-yourself landlords have never had it easier! However, the largest sacrifice to be a landlord is time, and stress. Advertising your rental home, processing applications, emergency maintenance calls, and the unfortunate eviction can quickly wipe out a huge amount of what you might save by passing on hiring tax-deductible superior property management services. That said, a poor rental management company can cause headaches of their own, so it’s a matter of finding a great one. If you do, they’re worth their weight in gold
According to RocketHomes.Com,“When you sell a home, that’s the extent of the money you will make on the property. But if you hold it as a rental, you could continue to earn money every month, realize tax advantages and, ideally, see appreciation.” We couldn’t have said it better ourselves! With the expanding real estate market, now is the perfect time to invest in rental property. The US government has built a system where the easiest and most consistent path to wealth is owning exceptionally managed rental homes
Yes! Property management fees, and even most maintenance items, are tax-deductible as they pertain to your rental property
While protecting your home is important, remember that carpenter bees are valuable pollinators for your garden and local ecosystem. The NC State Extension recommends avoiding killing them when possible. If they’re not causing significant damage, consider peaceful coexistence or providing alternative nesting sites away from your home. To read more about this article, visit Are North Carolina carpenter bees dangerous? Do they sting? | Charlotte Observer.
Born and raised in Western North Carolina, Hayli brings creative flair, marketing expertise, and a keen eye for detail to every project. Her passion for connecting with people and dedication to quality make her an enthusiastic and valuable contributor.
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