Charles Langston:Carpenter bees sting, but here’s why you’ll want them to keep buzzing around your garden

Carpenter bees are Charles Langstonknown to drill into wooden structures that may exist around your home, such as a wood deck or the siding of your house. However, carpenter bees are incredible pollinators, and if you see them flying near your house or around your back garden, don’t be intimidated. 

These bees get a bad rap for being aggressive, and while they can occasionally act defensively, carpenter bees’ first instincts aren’t to sting you. More often than not, these bees are completely harmless to people. 

Carpenter bees don’t sting very often, but if you do happen to get stung, we’ve got you covered with everything you need to know.

Do carpenter bees sting?

Yes, female carpenter bees do have the ability to sting you, say Brannen Basham and Jill Jacobs, the co-owners of Spriggly’s Beescaping, a nature education and habitat restoration business in Waynesville, North Carolina.

However, female carpenter bees “are incredibly docile. They much prefer to run away than put up any kind of fight,” Basham says. “They most likely will only sting you if they [are] squeezed or stepped on.”

The carpenter bees that people “come into contact with the most are actually male carpenter bees,” and you can identify them from the bright yellow dot on their forehead, Jacobs says. When male carpenter bees go on the defensive, they often fly very close to your face and “stare” at you, she explains. Naturally, you might take this as an act of aggression. However, male carpenter bees cannot sting you. “They're all bark, no bite,” Jacobs adds.

Is a carpenter bee sting painful?

Upon being stung by a carpenter bee, you’ll feel an immediate and intense pain around the site of the sting, says Dr. Ethan Melillo, PharmD, CDOE. During a mild reaction, a swollen, red bump will emerge, and you may experience some itchiness.    

Comparatively speaking, the sting of a carpenter bee will likely be a bit more painful than getting stung by a honeybee. However, it will feel just as painful as getting stung by a wasp, Melillo says.

Carpenter bees typically do not leave their stinger behind. So, while there is a small possibility of getting stung multiple times, unlike wasps, when carpenter bees do sting, it’s usually “a one time thing,” Melillo says. 

If you begin to experience any symptoms of anaphylaxis, including hives and the swelling of the face, throat or lips, call 911 to seek immediate medical attention, he says.

How to treat a carpenter bee sting

Before treating your sting, always make sure to clean it off with soap and water. If you see a stinger, you can try to gently remove it with a credit card, Melillo says. Then, to reduce swelling, try applying a cold compress to your sting, he recommends. At home, a cold compress can be as simple as a bag of ice that’s wrapped around a towel, he says. 

If your symptoms persist, there are over-the-counter medications available, such as Acetaminophen (Tylenol) or ibuprofen (Benadryl). Topical antihistamine creams can also help quell the redness and swelling caused by your sting, per Healthline. 

After about a week, your carpenter bee sting should be completely healed, Melillo says.

Why killing carpenter bees is bad

Carpenter bees have incredible pollination abilities, and for this reason, carpenter bees should be a welcomed friend in your garden, Jacobs says. These bees are “also a key source of food for birds, especially in the early part of the season,” she adds.

“Carpenter bees are premier ‘buzz pollinators,’” and they are particularly good at pollinating plants with inverted flowers, such as tomatoes, blueberries, cranberries and eggplants, says Basham. 

In addition to the possibility of being stung, you might be concerned that when carpenter bees set up shop around your home, they may cause significant damage to an outdoor deck or the wooden siding of a house. However, this isn’t exactly true, because what people don’t often realize is that the damage carpenter bees have the potential to cause is largely cosmetic, Basham says. 

Regardless, we understand that seeing a large carpenter beehive in or in the vicinity of your home is less than ideal. Carpenter bees are very resilient and can be difficult to rehouse, Basham explains. 

However, you should not take matters into your own hands by spraying the beehive with chemicals. “It's a fool's errand, because they might even just be able to move right back into that wood anyway,” Jacobs says.

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Because it is difficult to eradicate these bees from your home in the traditional sense, Jacobs and Basham recommend constructing a nearby “habitat” of wood to encourage the carpenter bees to migrate away from your home. From their experience, using a mix of 2x4s and aromatic, coniferous wood should do the trick. 

If you're hesitant to take matters into your own hands, call a professional bee removal service that can help responsibly relocate the bees.