Wood and insects. WTF is this?

[grampahol]

Carpenter bees.. We have them in spades here in South Carolina. The great thing about them is they don't have stingers so they're harmless. 
A few years ago I had to cut down a bunch of confederate jasmine from a dead tree in the back yard and the carpenter bees were swarming all around me, but not one bite or sting..  It's the fire ants around here you have to look out for. I don't walk barefoot in the back yard here. Those little suckers dig up half the backyard every summer so I'm in constant war with them..
Back to carpenter bees.. You'll find very few houses here with wood siding. Carpenter bees destroy it in no time. Neighbors across the street have replaced the siding on their house twice in the past 3 years.. They never learn..
 I leave them alone since just about all the honey bees are gone. Carpenter bees are also great pollinators. If it weren't for them I'd never grow tomatoes or anything else in the back yard.