Best Bee Brothers Bee Blog

If you’ve ever been the victim of a surprise bee sting (or worse yet, a wasp sting), you know just how unpleasant the experience can be. However, while bees and wasps may at first glance appear similar (read about how to identify different types of wasps and carpenter bees vs. bumble bees), the two species’ ability to sting, their venom and even the pain index of their stings can differ significantly. What to Do for a Wasp Sting Before we can talk about how to approach wasp sting treatment, it’s important to know the  behaviors of two commonly misidentified stinging...

While nature rarely bestows a vengeful disposition on any of its creatures, you might be surprised to find that there are a few natural predators of the carpenter bee, if not exactly outright enemies.  Carpenter Bee Predators  If you thought carpenter bee damage was limited to the proportion of how much chomping they can do boring their tunnels and nests into the wood siding of your home (among other places), think again! Though not necessarily their fault, carpenter bees invite even more structural damage to your home by their mere presence.  Let’s explore why... Carpenter bees attract pesky woodpeckers which...

It's finally fall! The air is crisp and the leaves are changing. Carpenter bee season is coming to an end, but that doesn't mean the end of carpenter bee maintenance. Fall is the absolute best time to plug any carpenter bee nests, in order to prevent young carpenter bees from emerging and continuing their wood burrowing ways. There is a bit of a debate on how to successfully plug up a carpenter bee nest. One known method is applying wood putty at a nest's entrance hole. This method can be satisfactory when time is short and you need to keep...

Despite their imposing size and capacity for swift, repeated stings, hornets and other wasps are not the top predators in their ecosystem. While these winged defenders of the nest are not to be taken lightly, there are myriad insects and animals that will gladly make a meal out of them given the chance. Let’s take a closer look at the hidden helpers keeping your backyard free of hornets and other wasps.  What Eats Hornets and Other Wasps? You might be surprised to find that despite the creatures’ fierce reputation, the list of natural predators for wasps is actually quite long....

The Queen Carpenter Bee: Mating and lifestyle differences between honeybees and carpenter bees. When someone mentions bees, the image of a large honeycomb bee hive with a big queen bee probably comes to mind. It’s no wonder then that honey bees are probably the most talked about and most popular of all the bee species. And for good reason - we love the honey and wax they produce and have been studying their intricate colonies for ages. In recent years, the growing research validating the vast importance of the honey bee in pollinating our crops to make more food has...