Xylocopa virginica

It is a large black and yellow bee, about 2 cm (3/4 inch) long.

It resembles a bumble bee, but can be easily told apart by its black, nearly hairless and shiny abdomen.

The eastern carpenter bee is found widely across eastern North America.

Females can nest alone or in small groups, usually of two to five females and occasionally up to eight.

In shared nests, the dominant female takes over both the foraging and the egg-laying.

Adults spend the winter inside the nest where they grew up, and females come out of hibernation in spring.

In populations studied in southern Ontario, most females live about one year.

Nests are often used by successive generations of females, sometimes for decades.

Females choose well-lit spots in wood that is not painted or covered with bark.

In a classic study, newly completed nest tunnels reached about 30 to 45 cm long.

The flower-cutting habit of carpenter bees has been shown to make honey bees better pollinators of rabbiteye blueberries.

Males cannot sting, but they hover near nests and chase intruders.

Researchers suggest it should be investigated whether females that join other nests avoid nests containing their relatives.

Woodpeckers that hunt carpenter bees in wooden structures can add to the damage the bees cause.