Carpenter bees and bumblebees have emerged from hibernation to start colonies. Resembles bumblebee but shinier on the top of the abdomen. Carpenter bees drill through wood and nest in it. Both male and female carpenter bees overwinter as adults in their old nest tunnels and emerge in the spring to mate. Has a fuzzy abdomen and black and yellow or orange body markings.
Bumblebees are valuable in Massachusetts for pollinating cranberries.
Colonies die out each autumn, leaving young mated queens to survive the winter and start new colonies in the spring. While the queen and worker bumblebees are not destructive, they can be a threat due to their ability to sting many times if a nest is disturbed. Both bumblebees and female carpenter bees rarely sting unless defending a nest, and male carpenter bees lack a stinger. Millions of them. And they're big.