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Bumble bee or eastern carpenter bee?

Compare a furry abdomen with a shiny black one, then compare their nests.

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A common eastern bumble bee foraging on a small white aster flower, its fuzzy yellow thorax and dark abdomen visible.
Photo: Common Eastern Bumble Bee (Bombus impatiens) by mefisher · CC0 1.0

Bumble Bee

Bombus spp.

VS
A pinned eastern carpenter bee specimen in side view, showing a fuzzy thorax, glossy dark abdomen, and translucent wings.
Photo: Carpenter Bee - Xylocopa virginica by New York State IPM Program at Cornell University · CC BY 2.0 · Resized and converted to WebP; displayed with a crop.

Eastern Carpenter Bee

Xylocopa virginica

Text-free illustrated comparison for “Bumble bee or eastern carpenter bee?”; the field marks are listed below.
Illustrated field comparisonBumble bee or eastern carpenter bee?In eastern North America, a hairy abdomen supports Bombus; a largely bare, glossy upper abdomen supports X. virginica. The pollen-basket mark reads only on foraging females, so it will not settle the hovering males you are most likely to be shown. Do not export this shortcut to other carpenter-bee species.

Abdomen [1][2][3][4]

Densely hairy, with pattern and color varying by species

Upper abdomen largely bare, black, and glossy

Nest [1][2][3][4]

Social colony, often in an old underground burrow or cavity

Females excavate or reuse round entrances in bare wood; nests are not eusocial colonies

Behavior [1][2][3][4]

Works flowers steadily; many species buzz-pollinate by vibrating

Males often hover conspicuously near eaves and railings

Sting [1][2][3][4]

Females can sting; usually defensive near the nest

Hovering males cannot sting; females can but seldom do

Pollen load [5][6]

Foraging females pack pollen into a bare, concave basket on the hind leg

Females carry pollen in a dense brush of hind-leg hairs, not a basket

Overwintering [2][7]

Colony dies back in fall; only mated queens overwinter, burrowed into the ground

Young adults of both sexes hibernate inside the wood tunnels

Wood signs [7][8]

Uses existing cavities, so no sawdust and no structural damage

Coarse sawdust may collect below the hole; tunneling is sometimes audible

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Source-checked editorial guide. Last updated .