Carpenter Bee Trsp- Another Winter Project!

Re: Carpenter Bee TRAPS?

Kneale Brownson

How do you trap a carpenter bee?

Re: Carpenter Bee TRAPS?

Tom Norton

There a number of homemade traps shown on YouTube. Quite ingenious!

Re: Carpenter Bee TRAPS?

Tom Norton

And a further note. I found yellow Jacket traps that look promising.

Next year bees beware!

Re: Carpenter Bee TRAPS?

Tom Norton

I have repair been an woodpecker damage by stuffing the hole with steel wool the topping it off with non water base caulk. A few days later I stain it. I have been monitoring the repairs for 3 years and they still look great.

My method, with money-back guarantee!

John K Jordan

I came up with a method guaranteed to get rid of the carpenter bees.

For years I've tried caulk and wood plugs and the bees can chew through them next year. Stuffing the holes with steel wool then caulking over will thwart them but the can excavate another hole nearby and get back into tunnels. The best way is to just get rid of the bees.

I read that the bees tend to come back to the same place they were hatched so if nothing is done the populations may increase every year if the nesting site is ideal. If you can kill off one generation bees as they hatch those can't come back!

I pump an insecticide into the tunnels when the queens are active. It will kill any eggs it reaches but better, it coats the inside of the tunnels. Any queens in the holes at the time fall and die when they exit, as will queens who enter the tunnels later. Bees that hatch out and crawl out the tunnels later will fly off and die.

When we moved to this place the timberframe house had cedar siding and trim which the bees loved. There many dozens of bees every year and a lot of damage to the wood. After treating the tunnels one spring the next year I saw maybe 6. The next year I didn't see any. A number of years later they started coming back so I had to treat again.

What I do: mix "liquid" Sevin with water (shake it up then add maybe 3-4 oz per gallon of water) and pump it into each hole with a garden sprayer. I open the nozzle for a stream and put it tight up against the hole. I pump the mixture into the hole until it comes out another entrance or until a dead-end tunnel won't take any more. Since the holes are often near the eves, I made an extension for the brass sprayer rod by cutting it in half and soldering it back together with a 10' piece of copper tubing between the halves. This can be kind of flimsy to hold into the air so I tape it to a sturdy stick. It helps to have a helper lug the tank while I treat the holes.

The fall, after the bees have hatched and gone is the time to plug the holes with steel wool and caulk.

Liquid Sevin concntrate, BTW, is nothing but powdered Sevin well mixed into a liquid, probably water. I bought some from the local farm store years ago and it goes a long way. The water soaks into the wood and coats the inside of the tunnels with a powder coating.

I understand the active ingredient is no longer Carbaryl but changed to Zeta-Cypermethrin. I have no idea if the new chemical is as effective as the old. (Please don't spray it on plants like beans when flowering - it will kill harmful insects but it will also kill the honeybees and other pollinators!)

From Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Sevin-Concentrate-Bug-Killer-Quart/dp/B000RNEYBG

JKJ

Carpenter Bee Traps Work!

Lee Schierer in McKean, PA

A lady from our church purchased 3 carpenter bee traps that were home made and gave them to the church. They were hung near where the bees were active. The first year we caught dozens, this year we caught maybe 18 but there were far fewer flying around. We'll see what happens next year.

Lee

An Aside.....

Barry Irby

I recently replaced the windows in my house. Removed the Western Red Cedar trim on the exterior. Some of it had bees in it. I doused them with lacquer thinner and opened the piece up. There were nineteen bees in there. I was amazed. I thought a single bee went in and laid an egg or two. Who knew there were so many?

Re: Carpenter Bee Trsp- Another Winter Project!

ebd

This spring I had rotator cuff surgery and couldn't climb a ladder to get up close enough to spray in the holes. I took my Chiappa Little Badger single shot 22 and shot shells and had a ball "wing shooting" the bees out of the air.

Re: An Aside.....

John K Jordan

Carpenter bees? Multiple queens can lay eggs in the same tunnels. There can be a LOT of bees growing and hatching.

BTW, if you can get to the bees dowsing with soapy water will terminate their existence.

JKJ

Re: Carpenter Bee Trsp- Another Winter Project!

Barry Irby

I have swatted quite a few with a old tennis racket. Bee tennis is lots of fun, until they catch on and stay away.

I would try the wing shooting but I live in a subdivision. Just be sure to aim away from the house.

smacking and blasting

John K Jordan

Bee swatting and fine shot from a 22 is good exercise and fun, I've done both. It doesn't make a dent.

For one thing, the queens are quiet and go for the wood. The males are the ones that fly around and threaten, drawing attention from and protecting the queens. BTW, only the queens can sting but don't. The males are aggressive but can't sting. I believe I read that the queens are already mated by then. If so, you could kill all the males and the nesting and hatching goes on.

You need to kill the queens and the freshly hatched brood to break the cycle.

JKJ

Re: smacking and blasting

Barry Irby

I have just had the trim on my house covered with aluminum coil stock. It will be interesting to see what happens. Will that break the cycle? In spring will I have a bunch of hatchlings trying to chew their way through the aluminum from the inside?

I suppose I need to thoroughly spray the shed and other areas that did not =get wrapped or they may chewed up by the remaining crew.

Re: smacking and blasting

John K Jordan

I don't think they can chew through metal. Our cedar siding had aluminum foil-faced insulation behind it and they never bored into that. They were happy with the thicker wood in the facia, beams, rafters, etc. I don't know much about them except how to get rid of them.

BTW, we tore off all the cedar this summer and replaced it with a manufactured wood product for lap siding and trim. I was told the bees don't like that. I'll see.

Re: smacking and blasting

ebd

Still, it's fun and sattisfying in a pay back sort of way. This spring I'll be able to get up on the ladder and spray/drench all the holes before they arrive. Then I'll shoot any males and drench any new holes. If I keep that up for a few years maybe I can drive them away.