I am crossing over from the Cooks Talk Forum for some advice. We have a new home we built a year ago. We live in South Carolina and it’s bumblebee season. I have been astounded to see these creatures boring perfect round holes in the screen porch, the wood deck supports, etc. I’ve stood and watched them drilling these holes with sawdust pouring out of the hole as if I were using a drill bit! Although I admire their ability, this must stop, any suggestions? Also, any thoughts on how to deter the hornets making nests in the eaves?
Maybe I should have put this under “General Discussions?”
Edited 5/13/2003 10:30:43 AM ET by CBIRCK
Replies
If you find out about the hornets, let me know too, but this has worked to some degree: Grab some of the hornet spray, and spray your eaves, gutters, and lower roof. They don't like to hang out in areas that have been sprayed, so they will not build nests there. Repeat after rain as necessary. Getting rid of existing nests requires er...more direct measures.
Not saying this works, just that it helps.
Tom
The bees that you see are probably carpenter bees which are drawn to
unpainted wood. I use a termite poison in the holes which are for nests, fill the hole with a wood filler or caulk and paint over it.
These creatures are crafty, sometimes they will bore out of the sealed hole at another spot. Paint is your best defense because they
do not like to bore thru it. I now pre-prime all exterior trim on all 4 sides before installing it and I no longer have a bee problem.
Stan
Badminton racket for the bees, the black ones are the males with no sting. The yellow ones are female & nasty too.
Joe H
We always just sprayed the suckers in their hole and did the putty and paint trick... couple of times we would put duck tape over the hole and wait em out(hey you gotta do something when you run out of the juice).. I dont think they really care about paint, at least they never did on my parents house... they do like certain types of wood.. my parents home is redwood(been painted in recent years and the carpenter bees are still around and causing havoc).
yuo can watch your house like a hawk, or just deal.. we always just dealt with em...
I wait for them to go into the hole and then use some of Alex Plus latex caulk to backfill the hole. I used to have a 5-6 holes.
I'm not very friendly to anything that large that buzzes around and I'm not going to check for a stinger ;-)
Thanx for all good tips so far. You folks are as helpful as the people over on CT! I thought I'd heard someone mention some sort of hanging trap. Ever heard of this?
" You folks are as helpful as the people over on CT!"
Well you can return the favor.
What does best with carpenter bees, red or white wine?
Depends on the age of the carpenter bee. A tough old bee would call for red, a young'n would go well with a nice, white, crisp Pouilly Fousse.
Actually, I find drinking either white or red calms me when I see one.
I have some of the hanging traps in my yard. One has a sort of plastic top with goo-like bait you put inside it to attract the bees. I have a similar one that I use beer with, that seems to work better. Both have holes in the bottom so the bugs fly in through the bottom, and then can't find their way out, and die. They work okay, but my uncle claims they attract more bees than they kill. I'm not yet convinced either way.
Tom
Can't tell you how to deter them, but if you have living nests uner the eaves, we always had good luck at night ...
Set up a ladder under the nest durnig the day. While they're catching some z's at night, go up with a grocery bag and a wide putty knife, a butcher knife, or whatever tool looks appropriate to quickly sever the nest from the building. Slide the bag up around the nest, cut the nest off quickly, and close the bag. Voila!
We used to live in an area where we could build large open fires, so we took great sadistic satisfaction (young boys at the time) in tossing the bag into a roaring fire. As of late, we've taken to spraying a sizable dose of hornet spray in thru a hole in the bag.
Formerly BEMW at The High Desert Group LLC
Go to this thread from several days ago. the second post has a link to NCSU with lots of info on carp. bees. http://forums.taunton.com/tp-breaktime/messages?msg=30498.1
Another post recommends 1/4 cup dishwashing soap to 1/2 gal water in pump sprayer. Cheap solution! No pun intended.
Carpenter bees can be a nuisance around the house, but are super pollinators for the garden.
Any big "bumble looking" bee in early spring is almost assuredly a carpenter bee. I have heard they do not sting and I have not ever been stung by one.
A method to get them off the house, but keep them around, is to get short lengths of soft wood (cedar, redwood) and make some starter holes for them with a 3/8" bit. Hang the scraps on a fence in the garden.
I sliced open one of these open and its pretty fascinating looking at each chamber and the store of food sealed up with each egg.
Have same problem in charleston
I lived in California for many years, and watched as the Carpenter Bees ate away at my redwood fascias. What I learned about them over 20 years is that they prefer the sunny side of the house, and that they love unpainted wood, especially redwood. In the Spring when they are swarming, have some fun with a canoe paddle and just kill as many as you can, but over the long run, you must keep the wood well painted. They do not like paint, and will not bore though it. If you do have active bore hole, do as others have suggested and fill them with poison and them back fill with sood filler followed by a good primer and paint. I have encountered many many Carpenter Bees, and have never been stung. I don't think they can. Inspector. PS. I now live in SC.
I have found two exceptions to your discoveries about carpenter bees. 1. the bees that are slowly eating my house prefer the shady side of the house and 2. the redwood they are eating is painted - one coat oil primer w/ mildewcide/algacide and two coats latex. I tried inserting broken-up mothballs into the hole and plugging it with cauld, but that just gave them a hangover and they tunneled out elsewhere. Swatting them has proven to be the most effective so far, but who can afford to be or hire a full-time bee-swatter? I think I'll go down the pyrethrin poison path this spring.