LOL!!! that is so funny because it is exactly what I go through every time I go outside.

We have a very old shed that the carpenter bees have just multiplied around over the years. There is no safe place in our yard or garden.

I don't wear perfume nor do I use scented deodorant but I swear they purposely follow me around cause they know I'm scared of them, and I'm sure the neighbors get a good laugh at me running and swatting.

I know they are good for pollinating, but I don't think I need as many as I have. So I invested in a tennis racket to carry with me when I garden.

Good Luck with your hunt tomorrow.

With the loss of so many bees we don't need to be killing any. Check the link below. Scroll about halfway done the page.

Here is a link that might be useful: Carpenter bees

Carpenter bees aren't just harmless. They can be beneficial to your tomatoes. I get great fruit set even in very hot weather that usually causes tomato blossoms to drop. I think the key is the carpenter bees that buzz my tomato blossoms, helping the pollen to travel down and pollinate the blossoms.

We need pollinators. Please don't kill bees.

I'm desperately trying to attract bees to my garden. There just don't seem to be any around here this year. Please don't kill those bees......send them to me!

I just got on the internet yesterday to find help with this same problem. Only, I thought I was researching bumblebees. Turns out he is a carpenter bee. Like timberohio said, my bees have been around for several years or more; and I just try to avoid them or run in and out of the shed fast. Well, this year they've nested in the old outhouse eaves right above the new potting table I've set up; so I'm conflicted about what to do. I've read that the female will sting if agitated.
So far, there are two holes in the new lumber that was used to re-roof the outhouse. I bought spray, but don't have the heart to use it; so I'm leaning towards caulking the holes. Sad to think she may be inside when I do but....

On a side note, did you know that one of JK Rowling's characters was named after the carpenter bee? Because an olde English word for the bee had "dore" in it (can't remember right how). So when I walk down that way, I stop and wave at the big male bee and say, "Hello there, Professor Dumbledore!" Boy, he gets mad and races at me! ha.

ronnywil's link has great information. Here's more about carpenter bees:
The Female Carpenter Bee

She's often mistaken for a bumble bee, but is easily distinguished by her shiny black butt, instead of a fuzzy gold and brown butt.

Carpenter bees are much maligned because they bore into wood to make their nests, but they are valuable pollinators and should be protected. Usually the damage they do to wood is just cosmetic.

They pollinate many spring flowers, though they sometimes slit blueberry flowers and steal nectar without pollinating them.

Carpenter bees are solitary bees, with each lady making her own nest. They are most common in early spring.
Drone Carpenter Bee
(Notice white spot on his head)

Some folks are terrified of this buzzer. You won't see him visiting flowers and minding his own business like the female. Rather he'll be looking you over to see if you are sexy. Drones have a territory that they watch, and anything within it that moves, will be investigated.

There is not an ounce of aggression in this harmless fellow's body, except toward other drones. He cannot sting you anyway. So when he comes to buzz around you, look him straight in the eye and dance with him. Toss a pebble and watch him chase it. Look cross eyed, or stick out your tongue at him. See, all he'll do is a friendly buzz game. This is an ideal chance to teach your kids one of the joys of nature, rather than load them up with wasted fear of something completely harmless.

Well, I might disagree with their damage being mostly cosmetic. Eventually, the wood will weaken if it has chambers dug into it. According to what I've read the tunnel the female bores can go a ways into the board. There in lies the dilemma.

Carpenter bees can do a lot of damage. A soffit on my house was riddled with large holes which went all the way through.

I am very aware of the ongoing loss of pollinating bees, and so I did not reach the decision to kill the bee easily. But we are still weeks away from garden pollination and that danged bee was getting under my skin, especially when he brushed against my hand and I felt his wind across my face. However, I'm going to take seriously the comments of the other posters and try to give the rest of the bees a pass. Meanwhile, I taped on the wall instructions on how to treat bee stings.

Thank you for this thread. We have several bees patrolling our backyard. Thanks to this thread, I was able to identify them as drone carpenter bees. My 3-yr-old son and I sat down at the computer and identified and read about them together. Now instead of screaming and running away, we have fun watching them chase away other bugs.

It wasn't so much the carpenter bees that damaged my log cabin, it was the pileated woodpecker that came along and drilled them out of the wood after they'd bored in.

Ed

"He brushed across my hand and I felt his wind across my face." How lovely. Would you have felt as threatened if it had been a hummingbird, which is much more aggressive? Thank you for giving the rest of the bees a pass. I hope they pollinate your garden well, and that you enjoy the fruits of their labors.

marlingardener

Hummers certainly are much more aggressive. I've had them land on my arms, hands, and shoulders when I took their refilled feeder back outside to be hung.

And once I saw a male hummer kill a young one near a feeder -- one of the most shocking things I ever have witnessed. They dive-bomb and try to impale each other, and their beaks are like swords. That's what happened. I thought at first that the young one had just been stunned, but it was dead in the grass a few hours later. They're cute and they're beautiful, hummers are, but they aren't peaceable birds.

I always have fun with the white-faces, slowly moving my finger toward them as they hover motionless, then trying to catch them with a quick grab but those suckers are fast!
Put a jig fly with white head and black tail on your fishing pole and let it out five feet, sling it around slowly in different orbits, it's almost as much fun as going to your local cafeteria style restaraunt with a big Praying Mantis on your hat.