The carpenter bees that people “come into contact with the most are actually male carpenter bees,” and you can identify them from the bright yellow dot on their forehead, Jacobs says.

But since there are some 500 species in the Xylocopa genus, carpenter bees' appearance can vary greatly. In the West, the male valley carpenter bees are a beautiful golden brown color and are ...

The female carpenter bee is solid black, while the male is commonly known as the “teddy bear bee” because of its fuzzy orange exterior and gold-green eyes. The male does not sting and is ...