Carpenter Bee taking its job very seriously

[wwillson]

We have had carpenter bees living in the wood of our deck for years. This one dug this hole in about a day. I've never see such a large pile of sawdust from one hole.

It was taller and rounder, but I accidentally knocked some of it into the crack.

 

[NormanBuntz]

Time to call Terminex.

 

[supton]

Yikes!

Friend of mine does maple syrup. Has a big pile of pine to run the fire. On the warmer days you could hear the bugs munching away on the logs.

 

[wwillson]

Time to call Terminex.

I just keep a small tube of caulk and fill the holes.

 

[Blueshound]

They are interesting critters but annoying and they scare people. I eliminated ours (probably about a dozen) with a badminton racquet. Took about 3 years but they finally don't come back.

 

[andyd]

They were in my house before I was. When I caulked their holes, the plugs were pushed out. The fascia board in the entry way is probably riddled with their tunnels. We've been co-existing under the same roof for 45 yrs. Unlike yellow jackets,they've never stung anybody My water is from a shallow well. I don't use chemicals to deal with pests .

 

[dnewton3]

Deltamethrin.
Spray the wood in late spring and mid-summer.
Will keep all insects out of the wood; bees, termites, ants.

The problem is two fold
- they weaken wood structures
- often wood peckers will seek out the larva and peck at the wood, making it an even more destructive process

 

[mattd]

Drione dust works extremely well. I had a carpenter bee problem for a long time and finally tried this stuff. Worked immediately. They were gone in a couple of days

 

[vwmaniaman]

we have carpenter bees here in Kentucky and we use a Redneck trap.

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse4.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOVP.PYQtzBRLSlVU3R-OIKWd5wHgFo%26pid%3DApi%26h%3D120&f=1&ipt=8ca8d473c9d88af03e3528ef351ca8dc48f99d5b93f05e4f93572efcffd1b13b&ipo=videos

 

[vwmaniaman]

Sorry about that link not working. He is holding one and they work great. Jar is usually half full by mid summer.

 

[spasm3]

Lot of sawdust, because in addition to the hole, there is a tunnel where the larvae reside. It really weakens the wood.

 

[Dave Hess]

I never knew bees could dig a hole in very tough wood.

 

[Lubener]

The carpenter bees generally stay away from painted or stained wood and go for the boards which are bare.What you show is very common and I have dealt with them for many years.

 

[Sierra048]

The carpenter bees generally stay away from painted or stained wood and go for the boards which are bare.What you show is very common and I have dealt with them for many years.

I wish that were true for me. We bought a basically new home in 2015. Built in 2011 and lived in for six months by renters who were building their own home. The house is stained. In 2016 we decided to have the house re-stained hoping that would slow these pesky creatures down. The fresh stain had absolutely no effect on them at all. This year we paid an exterminator to spray the outside for carpenter bees. A three spray regiment spread out over several months. I'm not sure of how well it has worked because our winter extended into what is normally the time of year where they become active here, late April through the first week or so of June. They didn't appear to be extremely active like they usually do. Getting our third and final spraying next week. Fingers are crossed that the spraying will deal with them going forward.

 

[demarpaint]

They seem to like my picnic table on the front porch, they dig holes on the underside of the table top. One decided to tunnel into the porch ceiling. I don't like to kill them, but he met his maker when I downed him with a tennis racket. I did some spraying and haven't seen them in a while. They can certainly do some costly damage.

 

[JTK]

I wish that were true for me. We bought a basically new home in 2015. Built in 2011 and lived in for six months by renters who were building their own home. The house is stained. In 2016 we decided to have the house re-stained hoping that would slow these pesky creatures down. The fresh stain had absolutely no effect on them at all. This year we paid an exterminator to spray the outside for carpenter bees. A three spray regiment spread out over several months. I'm not sure of how well it has worked because our winter extended into what is normally the time of year where they become active here, late April through the first week or so of June. They didn't appear to be extremely active like they usually do. Getting our third and final spraying next week. Fingers are crossed that the spraying will deal with them going forward.

Keep us posted!

I've been battling them for years. We bought our home in 2011 and it was a problem long before that. They set up shop at the roof line under the aluminum fascia, but only on the north facing end of our house. I'm waiting for the fascia to fall off as there can't be much wood left for it to hang onto. The problem is, the area is high up and precarious to reach with an extension ladder.

Like said, painting, plugging, calking, etc does nothing. They'll dig their way out and setup shop out of another hole.

I've used various sprays, powders, hot soapy water and even a badminton racket to kill them. More just come back.

I hang those jar traps nearby and they do collect some of the wood bees, but yet they persevere. I'm told they are attracted to the smell of other wood bees, which seems impossible to remove as time goes on.

 

[64bawagon]

I read that they wont bore into wolmanized wood - ours did
I read they wont bore into painted surfaces - ours did

I know they dont like it when you spray them with vinegar and they dont like it when you spray it into the nests.
After this I take some silicone caulk and fill in the holes. Its a process.

On our front porch I sat out there with the shop vac and got rid of them that way. You just have to figure out how to lead them

 

[Vil_Riker]

I let them make these holes with impunity. It doesn't do any harm and watching them trying to get back home after a long day is hilarious.

 

[Chester11]

Like a big dummy I planted a butterfly bush near a wooden fence. The carpenter bees now have a new home. I did not know about the woodpeckers - that explains the destruction in my fascia.

My solution is a a quick shot of raid up into the hole and followed by a dab of that sticky caulk like rope product.

(As far as I can tell they don't sting.)

 

[SHOZ]

The new pressure treated wood doesn't stop them. I read it's the male that hangs around outside and they have no stinger. I get them in my front porch railing. They drill in then take a 90* turn about a inch up or so.