Big Bee on Milkweed Flowers
This carpenter bee feeds on native milkweed flowers. Bumble bees are different, and better to have around as they are great pollinators. Carpenter bees don't have the same amount of 'fuzz' and aren't very good pollinators in comparison, but besides the trouble of them burrowing holes into wood around the house, they aren't too problematic. You see the males hovering near a wooden fence in a backyard, and while they'll follow, chase or even 'bump' you as you pass, its all for show as they can't sting. The females can sting if seriously provoked, but are usually in the burrowed hole and you don't see them much. Newtown, PA-US