Homeowners who have carpenter bees, on the other hand, may have to consider treating the house, i.e., sealing the holes, painting the wood, or using chemicals. Based on observations of giant resin bees in Alabama and states eastward, it is common to see them nesting next to carpenter bees. It can be easy to confuse these two, because they can be similar in size, appearance, and habits. Both carpenter bees and giant resin bees nest above ground in wood, but carpenter bees excavate their own tunnels, while the giant resin bee locates and occupies tunnels made by other insects. Both sexes of the giant resin bee are usually much longer and more cylindrical than the carpenter bee and have transparent wings with dark tips.
Carpenter bees have a much rounder body with a hairy thorax and a shiny abdomen.
Giant resin bees do not have this characteristic, and, although the abdomen is not hairy, neither is it shiny like that of a carpenter bee. Carpenter bees can also be mistaken for bumblebees, which they closely resemble. However, bumblebees have a characteristic hairy abdomen and usually nest in the ground. Bees are the most important group of pollinators for agricultural and native plants. In Japan, the main floral resource of giant resin bees is kudzu, but they also feed on crape myrtle and numerous other plants.