Carpenter bees

There are numerous pests we have discovered here in North Carolina: no-see-ums, deer, walking canes, corn snakes etc

Now we can add another species to the list - carpenter bees.

Andrew noticed some sawdust on his wood pile. Upon investigation we could hear buzzing in a piece of untreated pine. Andrew thought it was borers as there was a perfect hole 'drilled' into the wood. I thought it sounded like a wasp.

He poured some water into the hole and out came a large bee. Still more buzzing in the hole. More water extracted a second bee.

It turns out that they are carpenter bees, known for destroying wood. Not much you can do about it except treat all wood. They bore a hole, lay eggs and fly off leaving you a problem to deal with next year.