Nice to look at, not so nice when you get attacked by a swarm of them 
18 stings hurt 
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You must be very unlucky as they’re not aggressive bees. They are solitary bees. We have loads of them here. When we moved in we were advised to have a corner of our garden with a pile of rotting wood. That way, the carpenter bees would lay there grubs there rather than in our beams.
Just like @vero, I love the carpenter bees. They’re so pretty and graceful. Never had an issue with them at all.
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We get them in the ground at the base of bushes, the farmer had warned me about them but after a year I had forgotten about it, I went to pull a willow tree out and they weren’t very happy about it, they give a nasty sting 
We have quite a few blue Boeing 747’s going about at the moment looking for homes, you can see and hear them coming and tend to get out of their bumbling way 
Rain > grass > cows > milk > Camembert & Pont L’Eveque.
I didn’t mow my ‘lawn’ once last year. The estate agent made the vendors keep it mowed and indeed it was a well trimmed 45m x 25m green rectangle when I bought the house. I offered to buy the petrol engined mower but they took that and left me with an electric rotary blade jobbie. I don’t know if it works at all but the state of this useless rectangle now is thick, bouncy tussocky, paddock-like, ideal for 3-4 sheep. That isn’t going to happen.
This patch is on a pretty steep slope, behind the house. The lowest part of the ‘lawn’ is higher than the roof of the house. The back of the patch is likewise as elevated as the front, that is to say if my house was double the height I could see clear over it from the back of the lawn.
I’ve never been any sort of a gardner. The only thing I can think of to do with this patch of ground is to plant a few fruit trees - Jean-Luc says “who will dig the holes?” - and let the grass revert to whatever. It faces due south. The 4 meter stone wall across top end might do well with some grape vines up it.
It can serve no recreational function. It’s too steep for garden furniture without digging a terrace. My neighbour was horrified when he saw it. “Why did you buy a property with all this useless ground?” A] Price. B] The view from the house. C] Nobody can make me mow the grass.
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May I have the cheek to say are you sure? I have NEVER seen carpenter bees in a swarm and we have lots. They are always solitary and can be very close then just swerve past - daunting when seen for the first time, but thereafter a joy.
They LOVE our wisteria flowers. In the evening we can have a twenty or so bustling around our creeper which goes the length of our house - so still not in a swarm. In fact they can grumble with each other if they get too close.
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The farmer said one of the types of carpenter bees live underground and they were definitely one of the smaller carpenter bees as we have them all over the farm including the bigger ones.
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I’m finishing up no-mow April. The flowers (primulas, violets and a bunch of other stuff) are pretty much done now. If I mow now, the dandelions will keep flowering, but if left they will go to seed in a week or 2.
This is what I call a Carpenter… and it is mostly solitary… maybe with just one pal … but not seen socialising… not here anyway…
It goes sniffing around holes in the stone walls and wooden bits and bobs… makes a ruckus (sounds like a motor…) and is not unpleasant in any way.
The sunlight on the irridescent wings is really beautiful to see…
It’s a big beggar and loves snuffling into the clematis flowers which are winter-to-spring blooms…
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I think there around 12 different species of carpenter bees in France, ranging from quite small to the big bumbling ones, we have 3 different ones that I know of.
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My go-to authority on all wildlife in France is Chris of Planete Passion. This is what he says - interesting Griffin. I always assumed there was only one carpenter beetle - the great big 747 dark blue bee.
Sorry @JaneJones just seen above you’ve already posted this. Worth posting again. 
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So there are 10 different kinds in France, we have quite a few of the smaller ones, but they look black not blue unless the sun is shining directly on them.
You see them on the outside of the hives occasionally here, but the other bee’s don’t bother about them at all, they obviously don’t see them as a threat, the hives have not overwintered very well this year unfortunately 
I’m feeling quite chuffed with my wild patches… seems I’m doing the right things (well, some of 'em…)
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I have 1/2 an acre of wild patch, thats the problem 
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Mow once every two or three months!!! Do these people live in the real world?
We are fortunate - we have a field and we are rewilding it - with paths cut through. We don’t mow at all in the field except the paths.
If we mowed every 2-3 months round the house / cottage you wouldn’t see them! At the moment I’m holding off mowing our orchid lawn - photo to follow. But for the rest, we’re mowing twice a week and still not winning. Come July / August (with luck) we won’t mow at all.
Bear in mind long grass is not necessarily a friendly place to walk through - beware ticks and aoûtats. One year, I left long grass in proximity to the washing line and one of our guests was really badly bitten by the latter and had an appalling reaction - ruined the final days of his holiday. I now scalp that part of the garden.
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Of course, not everyone can let things run wild…
This “poster” is encouraging folk to think about it and (if they can) relax the mowing…
eg: Signs saying Fauchage Tardive are often seen along roadsides, to explain why things might look a little untidy… and folk understand it’s for the benefit of the environment in general…
but on dangerous bends etc grass/whatever is kept short specifically for Safety Reasons… which makes good sense.
benefit of the budget first environment second !
Since our garden attracts deer, I suppose that’s why we’ve had ticks in it. I got one and the cat’s always coming in with them! Unfortunately, with my being hors de combat for so long, we haven’t kept on top of the grass mowing, so we are being extra careful…
You have my sympathy. I was like that for much of the first half of last year - terrible time not to be able to garden!
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Isn’t it just! And our garden wasn’t in such a good state to start with 
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