Carpenter bee
Carpenter bees can be 16 to 22 millimeters or 5/8 to 7/8 inches in size and are characterized by large black bodies with yellow and black bands. You have flaky hair on your head but no hair on your stomach.
Carpenter bees are known to damage homes, fences, decks, and telephone poles by drilling into wood. To control damage to carpenter bees, Adams suggests treating wood with oil or latex paint.
Because carpenter bees are pollinators, Adams does not recommend the use of oil-based insecticides. Instead, residual applications of insecticides such as permethrin and cyfluthrin sprays can be applied to outdoor wooden surfaces to keep carpenter bees from drilling.
For an organic solution, Adams suggests using boric acid and placing the powder in the places carpenter bees have drilled or in the holes they drill.
bumblebee
Bumblebees are slightly smaller than carpenter bees and are around 10 to 19 millimeters in size. They have black bodies covered with thick yellow and black hair. Unlike carpenter bees, bumblebees have flaky hair all over their bodies and belly.
The UGA Extension Forsyth likes to compare carpenter bees with a “Mack truck”, while bumblebees are more like “pickup trucks”.
Honey bee
Honey bees are between 12 and 15 millimeters tall or have a brown or black stripe on their body. You also have golden brown hair on your belly. While honey bees are similar to bumblebees, honey bees are a bit thinner. Honey bees can sting only once.
