What are the HUGE black bee-like insects that show up in the Spring?

They go flower to flower like honey bees but they are BIG and BLACK

What are the HUGE black bee-like insects that show up in the Spring?
Those are carpenter bees, which do bore holes into wood. Contrary to what has been answered, they can sting, but like all hymenopterans (the order to which bees, wasps and ants among a select few others belong) only the females sting. The easiest way to tell the difference between males and females is the very obvious yellow markings on the males' snoots, where as the female head is entirely black. An interesting trick to do to fool people is to calmly (and slowly) creep from underneath a male and catch it, as they generally only pay attention to anything that looks like another one of them, whether to chase a male out of his territory or attract a female to it. Most people will think you're stupid, but in reality, they're the uninformed.
Reply:not sure what you have, but I have a type of bee called a borer bee. they eat their way into wood leaving a 1/4" dia hole and plenty of sawdust.
Reply:I don't know what they are called... but... was once attacked (no biting tho)... and another time watched one try to fight off a hummingbird... equal match... they both gave up and moved on to different flowers after about 15 minutes...
Reply:if you live in the northeast, these are horseflys. and they bite too!
Reply:You have those too?!? Oh those things are HUGE and scary. I wish I knew what those were myself, they dive bomb you in your yard. Ugh, I hate those things.
Reply:We used to catch them in jars.

They buzz a lot but I've never known one to sting.

They will bore a tunnerl into a wood fence.



They like pittisporrum.

Nasty looking back then but now it reminds me of spring.

Don't worry about these, it is the little honey bees that will sting!
Reply:it sounds like the carpenter bees we have in Virginia. they buzz alot but don't sting. they do bore holes in wood around the house but don't seem to be otherwise destructive or harmful. I patched up a hole on my front porch with spackle. the next day, the hole was right back and I could hear him buzzing inside.

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