I have these little blackish bees in the outside of the house, I guess maybe
6mm long or so. I think they must be pretty common because I've seen them so
many places before. They get into the little squarish holes between panels
in the wood siding. They seem indifferent to my presence & pretty much just
go about their business. Do the bees make the holes themselves or do they
just exploit the flaws? Seems like a bee would chew a rounder shape. Are
they very damaging?

On Thu, 24 Jun 2010 13:42:36 -0500, "Nelly Wensdow"
wrote:

I have these little blackish bees in the outside of the house, I guess maybe
6mm long or so. I think they must be pretty common because I've seen them so
many places before. They get into the little squarish holes between panels
in the wood siding. They seem indifferent to my presence & pretty much just
go about their business. Do the bees make the holes themselves or do they
just exploit the flaws? Seems like a bee would chew a rounder shape. Are
they very damaging?


Some carpenter bees can't measure?

Nelly Wensdow wrote:
I have these little blackish bees in the outside of the house, I guess maybe
6mm long or so. I think they must be pretty common because I've seen them so
many places before. They get into the little squarish holes between panels
in the wood siding. They seem indifferent to my presence& pretty much just
go about their business. Do the bees make the holes themselves or do they
just exploit the flaws? Seems like a bee would chew a rounder shape. Are
they very damaging?


I have those little black wasp looking things with white rings around
their tail. They find little holes like nail holes or the screw holes in
hedge clippers. They can barely fit, I know they can't turn around.
Looks like the could only one baby in those nests.

--
LSMFT

I haven't spoken to my wife in 18 months.
I don't like to interrupt her.

"Nelly Wensdow" wrote in message
...
I have these little blackish bees in the outside of the house, I guess
maybe
6mm long or so. I think they must be pretty common because I've seen them
so
many places before. They get into the little squarish holes between panels
in the wood siding. They seem indifferent to my presence & pretty much
just
go about their business. Do the bees make the holes themselves or do they
just exploit the flaws? Seems like a bee would chew a rounder shape. Are
they very damaging?

The carpenter bees that I have in Maryland create perfectly round holes
about 1/2" in diameter. The first time I saw the holes, I was sure they
were made by a drill until I saw the bees (they look much like bumblebees)
actually chew their way through the wood. Could be that yours have ingested
some sort of toxin. I know that some chemicals cause spiders to weave very
irregular webs. Just a guess, though.

The bees I have seemed to be most fond of an untreated, unpainted 2x3 brace
I had put up in the front porch overhang. Eventually I'll take it down and
saw it lengthwise to see what they did inside the piece of wood. They made
a number of holes all along the length of the board, which I assume are
internally connected.

They are nowhere near as damaging as termites, which consume wood as food.
Carpenter bees just drill out enough wood to make their nest in.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpenter_bees

--
Bobby G.

"Nelly Wensdow" wrote in message
...
I have these little blackish bees in the outside of the house, I guess
maybe 6mm long or so. I think they must be pretty common because I've seen
them so many places before. They get into the little squarish holes
between panels in the wood siding. They seem indifferent to my presence &
pretty much just go about their business. Do the bees make the holes
themselves or do they just exploit the flaws? Seems like a bee would chew
a rounder shape. Are they very damaging?

Glad you used the PC term of "tiny". They're are actually midget bees, who
are embarrassed to be seen. That is why they hide in the wood.

"LSMFT" wrote in message
...
Nelly Wensdow wrote:
I have these little blackish bees in the outside of the house, I guess
maybe
6mm long or so. I think they must be pretty common because I've seen them
so
many places before. They get into the little squarish holes between
panels
in the wood siding. They seem indifferent to my presence& pretty much
just
go about their business. Do the bees make the holes themselves or do they
just exploit the flaws? Seems like a bee would chew a rounder shape. Are
they very damaging?


I have those little black wasp looking things with white rings around
their tail. They find little holes like nail holes or the screw holes in
hedge clippers. They can barely fit, I know they can't turn around. Looks
like the could only one baby in those nests.

--
LSMFT

I haven't spoken to my wife in 18 months.
I don't like to interrupt her.

Sounds like it could very possibly be those, on thinking again they do look
like little wasps of some kind. They don't seem too particular about the
shape of their entry as long as they can cram their little hineys in there.
Until I hear from somebody something like "OMG my wood siding was destroyed
by..." (similar bug), I guess I won't worry too much.
Thanks all & the humor appreciated too.

"Nelly Wensdow" wrote in message
...

"LSMFT" wrote in message
...
Nelly Wensdow wrote:
I have these little blackish bees in the outside of the house, I guess
maybe
6mm long or so. I think they must be pretty common because I've seen
them so
many places before. They get into the little squarish holes between
panels
in the wood siding. They seem indifferent to my presence& pretty much
just
go about their business. Do the bees make the holes themselves or do
they
just exploit the flaws? Seems like a bee would chew a rounder shape. Are
they very damaging?


I have those little black wasp looking things with white rings around
their tail. They find little holes like nail holes or the screw holes in
hedge clippers. They can barely fit, I know they can't turn around. Looks
like the could only one baby in those nests.

--
LSMFT

I haven't spoken to my wife in 18 months.
I don't like to interrupt her.

Sounds like it could very possibly be those, on thinking again they do
look like little wasps of some kind. They don't seem too particular about
the shape of their entry as long as they can cram their little hineys in
there. Until I hear from somebody something like "OMG my wood siding was
destroyed by..." (similar bug), I guess I won't worry too much.
Thanks all & the humor appreciated too.

Umm, there could be HUNDREDS of them in there. This really is a potentially
huge problem. You need to, at the very least, buy some sort of spray poison
and coat every inch of wood you've seen them near with the product. Any sort
of boring insect must be eradicated unless you want your house to be eaten.
Then you need to plug up the holes to prevent future infestation as well as
weather/other pest damage. This is pretty much homeowner 101. ANYTHING which
lives in your house and is not a significant other or a pet ,is a pest.
Children/human larvae qualify as "pests". At least to me. Human larvae do
much worse damage to any home than any "pests"

"h" wrote in message
...

"Nelly Wensdow" wrote in message
...

"LSMFT" wrote in message
...
Nelly Wensdow wrote:
I have these little blackish bees in the outside of the house, I guess
maybe
6mm long or so. I think they must be pretty common because I've seen
them so
many places before. They get into the little squarish holes between
panels
in the wood siding. They seem indifferent to my presence& pretty much
just
go about their business. Do the bees make the holes themselves or do
they
just exploit the flaws? Seems like a bee would chew a rounder shape.
Are
they very damaging?


I have those little black wasp looking things with white rings around
their tail. They find little holes like nail holes or the screw holes in
hedge clippers. They can barely fit, I know they can't turn around.
Looks like the could only one baby in those nests.

--
LSMFT

I haven't spoken to my wife in 18 months.
I don't like to interrupt her.

Sounds like it could very possibly be those, on thinking again they do
look like little wasps of some kind. They don't seem too particular about
the shape of their entry as long as they can cram their little hineys in
there. Until I hear from somebody something like "OMG my wood siding was
destroyed by..." (similar bug), I guess I won't worry too much.
Thanks all & the humor appreciated too.

Umm, there could be HUNDREDS of them in there. This really is a
potentially huge problem. You need to, at the very least, buy some sort of
spray poison and coat every inch of wood you've seen them near with the
product. Any sort of boring insect must be eradicated unless you want your
house to be eaten. Then you need to plug up the holes to prevent future
infestation as well as weather/other pest damage. This is pretty much
homeowner 101. ANYTHING which lives in your house and is not a significant
other or a pet ,is a pest. Children/human larvae qualify as "pests". At
least to me. Human larvae do much worse damage to any home than any
"pests"

Oh my, yes! It is surprising what comes out of the woodwork.

North America has somewhere around 3000 species of bees most of which
have benefits far outeighing any damages.
If you could be a bit more descriptive it might be possible to narrow
your bee down to a few species.