Carpenter bees

cowboy joe · #1 05/30/07, 05:31 AM

We've had a bunch of big, black what I thought were bumble bees flying around this year. Live & let live, or so I thought, until I found out that these were actually carpenter bees. They started boring into the framing on the barn so I bought some spray & took care of business before they caused any major damage.

I hate using bee spray so I used as little as possible. The barn was built about 5 years ago & the framing that they were boring into is all pressure treated. Does anyone know if painting or sealing the wood will prevent them from doing this again? Or am I better off just keeping a watchful eye & giving them a squirt of the bee spray whenever I find them? Thanks in advance.

pigeonracer2k · #2 05/30/07, 06:32 AM

I had a real bad problem over the last 2 or 3 years. My barn is so riddled with holes I dont dare put hay up in the top section any more for fear of it collapsing. Also my house is about 100yds from the barn and a few bees began boring into the wood siding.
Dont feel too much for the bees. I mixed a couple of gallons of insecticide, doused all the timber and took care to actually spray into the holes that the bees bored.

GoatsRus · #3 05/30/07, 12:38 PM

Bee borers usually come out twice a year here in TN. Early Spring and Late Summer. We have a log house and spray with stuff we got from the Co-op at the first sign of one bee. If you have holes that need to be plugged, soak cotton balls in the insecticide and push them into the holes (all their holes go up and then make a right turn) as far as you can. Then wood putty over the holes. The reason for the soaked cotton ball is that they have laid their larva in the hole. I've also been told that they go back to the same hole each year unless it's plugged. I can't remember the name of the insecticide from the co-op, but will look when I get home if you want to check for some. If we spray as soon as we see the first bee, we've never had any more holes. BTW, they will bore in stained, varnished or painted wood. They prefer soft wood but will bore into treated if that's all that's available.

pheasantplucker · #4 05/30/07, 01:55 PM

I built a log cabin just over a year ago and last summer and this spring the carpenter bees were making Swiss Cheese out of my logs and timber. Just this past weekend I sprayed with a chemical called Bee Gone. Mix 1.6 oz with a gallon of water and spray on. No harsh smell, no tactile residue...best of all no bees!

bqz · #5 05/30/07, 02:08 PM

Quote:

Does anyone know if painting or sealing the wood will prevent them from doing this again?

Had the same problem with a porch I put on the back of my house,it seems they like raw wood so I painted it and haven't seen a bee since,so I would say seal it with something,If you like the natural color go with some kind of wood sealer ,if not paint it I think it will take care of your problem.At least that's my experience.

MtnGranny · #6 05/30/07, 03:14 PM

WD-40 will kill them too.

Dianol · #7 05/30/07, 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MtnGranny

WD-40 will kill them too.

especially if you light it with a match first !

Dianne

wilderness1989 · #8 05/30/07, 11:14 PM

I used to have problems with the bees......my solution was to keep a caulking gun around and fill the holes with silicon, preferably just after the bee went in. Works great!

suburbanite · #9 05/30/07, 11:36 PM

Paint the wood you don't want them to bore, and then---

Get a big untreated unpainted timber and plunk it down somewhere that you wouldn't mind having bees.

If they're desperate they may still go for your painted stuff, but by providing them with a 'socially acceptable' and more bee-attractive place to homestead, you can have your pollenators and keep your home and outbuildings intact too.

Your structures are sub-optimal habitat. Give them a better alternative and you can live side-by-side.

gobug · #10 05/31/07, 12:29 AM

carpenter bees are interesting critters. They wrap their egg is a piece of leaf and bury it in the hole the drill. They do prefer moist wood. They will drill a hole fairly deep (inches) and fill it with multiple eggs wrapped in leaves. Railroad ties and other treated timbers do not stop them. Surface treatments, which is what nearly every pesticide on the market can be categorized as, will not eliminate the problem.

Solve the moisture content of the wood. If the wood is part of a landscape where one side of the timber is in direct contact with the soil, and the moisture in the ground hits the timber, you will not solve the problem by applying chemicals or pesticides. It was not a good choice to use wood against a moist soil.

These bees do not have colonies. There may be many that drill holes in the same vicinity, but they are all queens, in that those that drill the holes are laying eggs.

The bees are a clue that you have either too much moisture in the adjacent soil, or that you should eliminate the wood and replace it with something else. There are boric acid products that are glycol based and will be absorbed by capillary action into the wood. If you cannot alter the moisture in the wood consider the BoraCare approach.

Good Luck
Gary

cowboy joe · #11 05/31/07, 05:24 AM

Thanks for all the suggestions. I like the flaming WD-40 solution but with no rain over the past few weeks I think that may not be the best idea.

Bees & wasps are interesting insects. I found a spot last year where the wasp were beginning to chew into the house so I caulked the opening. They waited until the caulk dried then started digging over. I ended up stuffing the hole with a piece of insulation soaked in insecticide, then recaulking the opening. They started to dig again but stopped once they hit the bug juice.

I haven't seen anymore carpenter bees but I think that I'll take GoatsRus' advice & stuff the holes with insecticide soaked cotton balls then seal with wood putty. There's plenty of natural wood around seeing that the wood pile is close by. With any luck, they'll decide to move on to a different location.

fixer1958 · #12 05/31/07, 05:48 AM

I prefer a badmitton racket. It improves my backhand.
My best score is 10 in an hour.

okiemom · #13 05/31/07, 10:09 AM

metal buildings also help.

We also have one wood barn and there are so many holes I just know it is going to fall down any day. Also walking in and getting dive bombed is not fun. I was stung w/ a wasp in my neck from a bombing run so anything coming at me makes me cringe.

they are a pest but not agressive luckily. I have heard about covering the wood w/ paint but there is no way I would try to paint all the trusses.

We have termites badly here in OK so metal building really is a better way to go.

cowboy joe · #14 05/31/07, 10:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by okiemom

metal buildings also help.

Good point. The shell is metal but the trusses, poles, etc are wood.

Quote:

Originally Posted by fixer1958

I prefer a badmitton racket. It improves my backhand.
My best score is 10 in an hour.

Is that one of those bug zapping racquets? I was thinking of getting one of those for the flies when they get bad...

12vman · #15 05/31/07, 11:01 AM

A "Super Soaker" filled with a half/half mixture of water and Mean Green cleaner is lots of fun! Kills 'um dead if ya soak 'um down real good..

Dianol · #16 05/31/07, 02:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fixer1958

I prefer a badmitton racket. It improves my backhand.
My best score is 10 in an hour.

I love it ! I have watched DH use a boat paddle. I should video it for America's funniest .....

d

clsmith15 · #17 05/31/07, 02:30 PM

My sister uses a tennis racket and told me I need to go to a second hand sporting goods store and get one.

suburbanite · #18 05/31/07, 02:30 PM

Gobug do you agree that deliberately providing them with preferable habitat would get most of them to leave buildings alone? Why put your eggs in a suboptimal location when there's a really great one just a few yards away?

gobug · #19 05/31/07, 11:39 PM

Suburbanite,
Providing an alternate habitat can be good, but unless the moisture content of the problem areas is reduced, it will not get them all to go to your alternative. Fortunately, these are not pests with large colonies. The tennis racket suggestion might work in reducing the population attacking your wooden concerns, but it will take time. The biggest issue with providing an alternative habitat for them to lay eggs is having a good understanding of what will actually attract them more than your special wood. If the moisture content is high enough to attract them, you have other issues of concern, regardless of what you do with the bees.
Good luck.
Gary

Jolly · #20 06/01/07, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cowboy joe

Thanks for all the suggestions. I like the flaming WD-40 solution but with no rain over the past few weeks I think that may not be the best idea.

Bees & wasps are interesting insects. I found a spot last year where the wasp were beginning to chew into the house so I caulked the opening. They waited until the caulk dried then started digging over. I ended up stuffing the hole with a piece of insulation soaked in insecticide, then recaulking the opening. They started to dig again but stopped once they hit the bug juice.

I haven't seen anymore carpenter bees but I think that I'll take GoatsRus' advice & stuff the holes with insecticide soaked cotton balls then seal with wood putty. There's plenty of natural wood around seeing that the wood pile is close by. With any luck, they'll decide to move on to a different location.

I've killed a many a carpenter bee with wd-40..and no, you don't have to light it....