I am about to replace a redwood deck with cedar. The HO is concerned about bees that were boring into the underside of the redwood. (i noticed during demo that they stayed away from the painted fir joists).
Is there any kind of treatment i can use to protect the new deck boards?
If i apply a preservative like cabots to the underside would that deter them?
Thanks for any light that can be shed on this.
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Replies
i've never seen a wood species, a stain, or a paint that carpenter bees won't inhabit if that's what they want to do
the only thing my exterminators have told me is to get a puff sprayer and spray the powder into the tunnel.. as they go in and out they pick it up and die
caulk the holes and paint when they're gone...
but they'll be back
That powder would be Sevin, the most toxic chem to apiaries other than Chlordane, and should not be used without discretion.
Bee-n theer, dun that.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"Success is not spontaneous combustion, you have to set yourself on Fire"
almost any powder will do... any of the Raid products, boric acid, etc
also..... if you just caulk the hole.. they won't come out.. they'll just die in the burrowMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
True.
I have seen them eat their way out too.
They are a PCO's nightmare.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"Success is not spontaneous combustion, you have to set yourself on Fire"
PCO..?.... ok, you got meMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Pest Control Officer , AKA Bug man.
Carpenter bees are the most commonaly made "call backs" for eradication, they are hell. At least in some locales.
Badminton racqet is more effective than most field applied cures. hit the breeders, and the problem is gone.
Chem apps will affect non target species, such as the honey bees, due to transferrence and wind drift.
ED: sorry I misspoke, operater.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"Success is not spontaneous combustion, you have to set yourself on Fire"
Edited 1/24/2008 10:26 pm ET by Sphere
Have used a badminton racket - they work especially well if you can hit something solid with them like a tree ;o)Jeff
I hate to say it, but prior to getting "certified" and smart, thats what we did for bat control...yeah, I know..but I had to get licensed and then I found the benefits of of them.
I bought the existing PC company with a customer list, and a truck, and bunch of B&G sprayers..and no clue what or how to be a pro. I went to PSU in Allentown Campus to get my bug know how..and chem cert.
After I Fu'ed a bunch.
Live an learn, or in my case, just kill em and get paid.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"Success is not spontaneous combustion, you have to set yourself on Fire"
good point about non target species. I think i'll offer up the badminton racqet solution to the HO. Seems like the safest option.
It is not a one hit, one kill.
the guard bees ( males) will dart you, they are a cinch. The queen will be in the socket laying eggs..sometimes WAYYYY back, where chems ( certain stuff, like boron won't be effective) can't reach nor be transferred by the leggins that the guards have for saddle bags ( ever see a carp bee under a micro scope?)
sevin is a poison that bees are more susepticle than most other orthophosphates, it is highly potent.
It's been awhile since I have been in the field full time, I sold the Co. and relished the fact that I'd be away from the chems.
So bear with my limited , albeit good at the time, knowledge.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"Success is not spontaneous combustion, you have to set yourself on Fire"
This list on preventive, but needs to be professionally applied."A chemical treatment using an appropriately labeled insecticide can protect wood for short periods, especially in the spring and summer when carpenter bee nesting activity is apparent. Dust formulations typically provide residual effects and are effective due to the nature of carpenter bee gallery construction. Precisely inject the dust directly into each nest entrance hole and as deep into the tunnel as possible and also apply it to the adjacent wood surface. Wait for a few days before plugging entrance holes since adult bees should be allowed to pass freely to distribute the insecticide within the galleries. Newly emerged bees also will contact the dust when attempting to leave their gallery.For use as a preventive, an insecticide should be applied to wood in early spring before carpenter bees begin excavating nests. The insecticide kills the bees that contact it on the wood’s surface. However, a preventive approach has limitations because of the difficulty in applying a chemical to all exposed wood on the house where bees could nest. Furthermore, such insecticides usually degrade in a matter of weeks or months so repeated applications are needed to maintain a lethal dose of the insecticide. Some pest management companies report good results against carpenter bees by spraying wood with a microencapsulated pyrethroid, Demand¯ CS insecticide (registered for use only by licensed professional applicators), which contains the active ingredient lambda-cyhalothrin. A number of other pyrethroids (bifenthrin, cyfluthrin, deltamethrin, permethrin, etc.) also are labeled for use against carpenter bees.Insecticides that act as stomach poisons, such as borates, typically are ineffective against carpenter bees, which do not ingest the wood that they excavate."http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2074.html"ControlCarpenter bees prefer to attack wood which is bare, weathered and unpainted. Therefore, the best way to deter the bees is to paint all exposed wood surfaces, especially those which have a history of being attacked. Wood stains and preservatives are less reliable than painting, but will provide some degree of repellancy versus bare wood. To further discourage nesting, garages and outbuildings should be kept closed when carpenter bees are actively searching for nesting sites.Liquid sprays of carbaryl (Sevin), chlorpyrifos (Dursban), or a synthetic pyrethroid (e.g., permethrin or cyfluthrin) can be applied as a preventive to wood surfaces which are attracting bees. Residual effectiveness of these insecticides is often only 1-2 weeks, however, and the treatment may need to be repeated. Tunnels which have already been excavated are best treated by puffing an insecticidal dust (e.g., 5 percent carbaryl) into the nest opening. Aerosol sprays labeled for wasp or bee control also are effective. Leave the hole open for a few days after treatment to allow the bees to contact and distribute the insecticide throughout the nest galleries. Then plug the entrance hole with a piece of wooden dowel coated with carpenter's glue, or wood putty. This will protect against future utilization of the old nesting tunnels and reduce the chances of wood decay.
"http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef611.asp
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
PC is like the HVAC trade, yeah we can, no you can't.
The effective carbaryls, in the strength available to PCO's is what makes them in demand, and exposure to those , are what makes them scarce.
I would never allow a home use of a product that is under control, to be available to an end user, without a certified administrater present.
Mis-application of these chems can cause every nightmare to pregnant women that you can imagine. Think what it can do to the "boys".
Malathion, Dursban, Ficam, Sevin are sold in big boxes, inamuch diluted form ( I think Malathion is still potent) from what a licensed applicator can purchase. And hopefully , that applicater, follows a few guidlines, or better yet, the actual law.
Central Nervous systemitic dis order is the sign that the exposure has reached the max..lucky that the PCO realizes the symptomns before the Warfarin rat bait makes him bleed out and dessicate from the anus and eyeballs.
Yeah, just something to try on a Saturday morning.
Thanks for the paste Bill, I hope someone regaurds it.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"Success is not spontaneous combustion, you have to set yourself on Fire"
Wow! Thanks for all the help.. the amount of knowledge in breaktime never ceases to amaze me! Another thought...i have removed all the old decking. Is there any reason to think that the new stuff (untreated) wont be infested almost immediately...Are the bees likely lying dormant in the vicinity of the deck waiting to gorge on the new wood come springtime?
I have sat and watched the little critters drill into pressure treated lumber.
Did have success once with large 2x redwood trim on the south side of a house which had been burrowed extensively in for years until the boards upon removal were exceptional light in weight.
After spraying the tunnels with an over the counter bee spray the redwood boards were removed and replaced with red cedar which had been coated with a transparent oil base product and the bee spray. Also hand killed all I could with a badminton racket as they returned.
All this must have been enough to drive them to another location off the property as they were never seen again.
I also took one of the old redwood boards and left it sitting near the same original location for a few weeks as a sacrificial piece thinking if they returned they might center in on the old haunts and be easier to spot and deal with.
Glad to find it wasn't needed.
Good luck.
Peace full.
They prefer softer woods. Cedar, very attractive. Mostly I use oak and tulip poplar, never touch the oaks.
I've been surprisingly successful putting used diesel motor oil on tulip poplar. No holes yet. Apparently they found more attractive wood elsewhere. BTW, I've had them chew back out a latex caulked hole. Silicone, never.
If the neighbors aren't too close, good BB gun practice.PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
As a kid I used one of those bid fat plastic wiffle baseball bats.
Man was that fun. We seemed to have a ton of those bees around our dairy parlor on the farm. I think I hit 30-40 on a good day