Cincinnata from Spain answered : That's a Xylocopa violacea Thanks; agnes

Hi, Appreciate this posting maybe too late but have you or anyone tried using natural non-toxic solutions like tea tree oil or orange oil spraying methods? I had a similar issue last year with an infestation of Carpenter bees in one of our outdoor shacks. I didn't want to use harsh chemicals to kill off such a beautiful bee, despite being a pest for us! I did a bit of digging around the 'inter-web' and found me this little website that describes different methods (chemical & non-chemical) to get rid of the carpenter bee. Hope it helps :) Here's the site: http://www.howtogetridofcarpenterbees.com/ Also, here's a useful (viewer friendly - no adverts) video talking more about getting rid of carpenter bees

Here is what I did... I was mad because I didn't know they had a nest there and got 8 stings... Woo.. Nasty. It hurt. Normally I would have poured some gas in their hole but didn't want to waste any gas so I waited until after dark. Boiled a large canning kettle of water. Took that out and poured it on that area. Next day I saw a few flying around their hole and did a rerun that night. That killed them off. They are evil and I wouldn't wait for anything except that evening and do them in.

The choice is to leave them alone or to kill them. They will not be discouraged. They do not negotiate. When fully dark they will be as much at rest as they get, one of the long distance aerosol sprays marked for such insects will kill them. Aim at the nest opening in the bottom. Be close enough for good blast when you start. As you spray, move in closer as the pressure of the spray drops. For European hornets, I use one of the electric bug zappers for a few days to reduce their numbers. They will fly into the zapper all night long. Clean out the zapper each day.