Carpenter Bee Control

[JHZR2]

First off, I want to avoid killing any honeybees or other beneficial bees. So I don’t want to slather poisons everywhere.

A set of garages that I own have had an influx of carpenter bees burrowing into the exposed roof sheathing. I guess it’s soft wood that’s not treated?

I don’t want this to get worse. It only seems to be in the exposed roof sheathing that makes the eaves… at least right now.

I plan to either epoxy or caulk up the holes, but what else should I do?

 

[JTK]

Sometimes you can track the bulk of the carpenter ant colony to an old rotted tree stump, etc. Dig out the stump and the ants will move on. Other than that, if you have wood that gets damp, that attracts these ants. Typically a bad sign in the house as you may have wet wood somewhere (roof leak, etc).

I get them in the spring from time to time. I know you don't want insecticides, but this is the product that works every time for me: https://bonide.com/product/termite-carpenter-ant-killer-rtu/

I try to spray the nooks and crannies where I see lots of ant movement, or spray the perimeter base. I too hate to use chemicals, but in my case where I'm surrounded by woods and don't have obvious wet wood, I don't know of another way.

 

[Warstud]

Sometimes you can track the bulk of the carpenter ant

Carpenter Bees

 

[JTK]

Carpenter Bees

Ugh! WOW I gotta clean my glasses!

I get carpenter bees as well on the north face of my home. I've tried everything. Resorted to carpenter bee traps over the years that trap the bulk of them. I have a thread on my carpenter bee issue here somewhere.

 

[spasm3]

That's going to be tough to target. They don't eat the wood like termites, they tear it, so Bora care won't help.
I'd call Do My Own Pest Control on the phone and see what they say.

www.domyown.com

 

[roger dodger]

Here are some pictures of traps I have hanging on my 2nd story patio frame that are VERY effective capturing carpenter bees. If you look closely, one of the traps actually has a dead bee laying on the bottom that I haven't cleaned out yet. I learned about them watching some videos on YouTube last year I think it was. Anyway all you do is drill some 1/2 holes at 45 degree angles up into a small block of wood. Drill until you reach roughly the center of the block. Then drill a larger hole up from the bottom to those 1/2 holes that is also wide enough for an empty water bottle to screw into so it doesn't' fall off. The 1/2 hole is so close to the actual size of the holes the carpenter bees dig into the wood that when they go into it, they think they are entering an existing bee hole. Then they climb down the center hole to the water bottle ... and just stay in the bottle forever. They never climb out, and eventually die in the water bottle. I captured about 2 dozen late last summer when I first hung them on the wood frame. And I've caught almost that same amount swarming around my house again this spring.

 

[roger dodger]

Here is another variation of the same sort of trap. Works just as good as the others I posted.

as well.

 

[BlueOvalFitter]

https://www.doyourownpestcontrol.com/Carpenter_Bees.htm

 

[roger dodger]

First off, I want to avoid killing any honeybees or other beneficial bees. So I don’t want to slather poisons everywhere.

A set of garages that I own have had an influx of carpenter bees burrowing into the exposed roof sheathing. I guess it’s soft wood that’s not treated?

I plan to either epoxy or caulk up the holes, but what else should I do?

You need to plug or caulk the holes to find out if these are active nests. If the bees have nests inside the wood, and you can not see the bees by looking in the hole, they will burl out of your caulked hole overnight, or within a day or two. In that case an carpenter bee killer that you spray into the hole may kill the bees on contact that are nesting inside. When I have sprayed holes like this before re-caulking them, the bees do not re-use that hole again. Other than this I have not found carpenter bee foam and/or killer sprays effective at all. I have literally watched carpenter bees return to a hole I previously saturated with insecticide and reuse it when I failed to caulk and paint over that old hole after spraying. Additionally if they are still active in your area, they will probably dig new holes in the area around the ones you repaired and caulked. That way you can tell that your job is not done yet. Treated wood is no defense. They LOVE treated wood. The other problem is that the bee hatch lings will return the following year and reuse to the old nests, or dig new holes. Kinda like salmon returning to the same river to spawn. It has taken me two years to catch probably 30+ carpenter bees around my house with the traps I showed in my previous post. But aside from the stray bee I still happen to trap every week or two, I never see them anymore. And I have had no new bee holes dug since late March. I am very pleased with the results.

 

[Leo99]

Tennis racket? I've seen one or two and they didn't swarm. My old Prince tennis racket took care of them when they made a home in my mailbox post and went to guarding it.

 

[SHOZ]

Saw my first one this year in treated wood.

A lot of dead ash trees around me right now.

 

[Lubener]

First off, I want to avoid killing any honeybees or other beneficial bees. So I don’t want to slather poisons everywhere.

A set of garages that I own have had an influx of carpenter bees burrowing into the exposed roof sheathing. I guess it’s soft wood that’s not treated?

View attachment 62946

I don’t want this to get worse. It only seems to be in the exposed roof sheathing that makes the eaves… at least right now.

I plan to either epoxy or caulk up the holes, but what else should I do?

Bondo the holes and put fresh paint on the wood. Carpenter bees won't drill into freshly painted wood.

 

[alarmguy]

Siple stuff, spray all the wood with this, let dry your all set.
Dont worry about killing "everything" there are plenty of insects in the world that dont rely on your building.
Bottom line is, once its dry, it wont kill anything that doesnt borrow into the wood. IN the fall a fresh cast of paint will help too.


Any termite killer will do, for some reason I like this brand for years. https://www.lowes.com/pd/BAYER-ADVA...5573f8ee9e811691f1589804478ccade&gclsrc=3p.ds

 

[JHZR2]

You need to plug or caulk the holes to find out if these are active nests. If the bees have nests inside the wood, and you can not see the bees by looking in the hole, they will burl out of your caulked hole overnight, or within a day or two. In that case an carpenter bee killer that you spray into the hole may kill the bees on contact that are nesting inside. When I have sprayed holes like this before re-caulking them, the bees do not re-use that hole again. Other than this I have not found carpenter bee foam and/or killer sprays effective at all. I have literally watched carpenter bees return to a hole I previously saturated with insecticide and reuse it when I failed to caulk and paint over that old hole after spraying. Additionally if they are still active in your area, they will probably dig new holes in the area around the ones you repaired and caulked. That way you can tell that your job is not done yet. Treated wood is no defense. They LOVE treated wood. The other problem is that the bee hatch lings will return the following year and reuse to the old nests, or dig new holes. Kinda like salmon returning to the same river to spawn. It has taken me two years to catch probably 30+ carpenter bees around my house with the traps I showed in my previous post. But aside from the stray bee I still happen to trap every week or two, I never see them anymore. And I have had no new bee holes dug since late March. I am very pleased with the results.

These are active as of the last few months. The wave underside was painted at the start of the spring, and these came right through.

 

[JTK]

Siple stuff, spray all the wood with this, let dry your all set.
Dont worry about killing "everything" there are plenty of insects in the world that dont rely on your building.
Bottom line is, once its dry, it wont kill anything that doesnt borrow into the wood. IN the fall a fresh cast of paint will help too.


Any termite killer will do, for some reason I like this brand for years. https://www.lowes.com/pd/BAYER-ADVA...5573f8ee9e811691f1589804478ccade&gclsrc=3p.ds

I'll have to try this one. I've tried every liquid spray and dry powder product I could find locally over the past 12yrs. I've absolutely saturated the areas and have spot treated the holes. They still come back the next year. I've batted them dead with badminton rackets and have used non flamible brake cleaner down the holes which kills them on contact. You can't keep up with any of those methods.

I see plugging holes mentioned by others. Plugging the holes will do nothing. They will chew their way out. On my home, they access the wood that the aluminum soffet cladding doesn't cover. I don't think I have much wood left behind the aluminum. Access isn't easy on mine. It's in a spot that requires my 32ft extension ladder.

I bought a pair of hanging bee traps as pictured above about 4yrs ago. Every year I fill both jars about half full with dead bees, but they're still chewing away up there. These traps work best if you leave some dead bees in the jars. I have read that they are attracted to the smell of the other bees.