Hello Nancy,

Carpenter bee females aren't concerned with humans and will go about their business gathering flower resources for her eggs, which she gradually lays in the tunnel she has chewed out of the wood. Males (who have a yellow-white square on the front of their face) hover in the general area they hope to find females for mating and defend their chosen territory from rival males. Since they are so persistent, the males tend to chase or tackle anything flying nearby, and will also investigate people that wander by, though they can't sting and won't otherwise bother a person. (Any close fly-bys are either them being curious or a bluff, since they might bonk into you but can't do anything. If caught and handled, they could bite as self-defense, but otherwise will not hurt anyone.)

While female carpenter bees can be seen throughout most of the season, the males are not present for long, often just encountered in spring while they seek mates and then again in autumn as the generation being laid as eggs now matures into adults and comes out of their nest tunnel in the wood. Therefore, it will only be a few weeks in spring when the males are doing their patrolling and hovering.

Options for discouraging carpenter bees and dealing with nests are included in the first page linked above.

Miri