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How do I get rid of carpenter bees?

iBlazed

iBlazed

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Feb 27, 2014
1,594
1,249
New Jersey, United States
These bastards were eating my deck. I located 6 of their tunnels in 6 different railing columns, injected foaming poison into the tunnels, and closed them up with wood filler 2 days later. The bees are still there!! I don't see them eating wood and I haven't seen any new saw dust on the ground, but they still hover on my deck at all hours of the day and never settle down long enough to kill them. What the hell do I do???
 
I have ground dwelling bumblebees which have been hanging around a deteriorating wood fence. I don't know if this is typical, but my dog does a good job hunting them down.
 
Get a professional in who will have the expertise to do what is chemically necessary, feasible, (and presumably) legal, and who will be able to locate the queen. Then, when Her Majesty has been persuaded to take up residence, or seek out an abode elsewhere, her swarm will follow her.

That is what we did some years ago when wasps decided to take up residence in our eaves.
 
I never heard of carpenter bees, carpenter ants yes but bees :eek:

As Scepticalscribe mentioned, your best bet is call an exterminator. I had an infestation of paper wasps once. The nest was too big for me to take on, so I called and they did a great job
 
maflynn said:
I never heard of carpenter bees, carpenter ants yes but bees :eek:

As Scepticalscribe mentioned, your best bet is call an exterminator. I had an infestation of paper wasps once. The nest was too big for me to take on, so I called and they did a great job
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Yeah, we had a carpenter ant problem and our bug service company wound up using a termite based treatment and it totally cleared them out, and they stayed gone. :)

OP, here's a pretty interesting article about carpenter bees:

http://insects.about.com/od/antsbeeswasps/a/How-To-Control-Carpenter-Bees.htm

A nice takeaway from the article regarding any danger:

Most people encounter carpenter bees during April and May, when they've just emerged to mate. During this time, male carpenter bees tend to hover around nest openings, looking for receptive females. It can be rather unnerving being around them, as the males will also hover aggressively around people who approach the nests. They may even fly right into you. Despite this tough act, male carpenter bees cannot sting. They are completely harmless. Female carpenter bees can sting, but almost never do. You would have to provoke a female, perhaps by trying to cup her in your hands, to get her to sting you in self-defense. So carpenter bees pose almost no threat to people at all.
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I just got this mental image of bees flying around with little hammers. :p
 
I've been using Ortho Home Defense MAX Termite & Destructive Bug Killer Concentrate on my Deck for the past couple of years. I still see Carpenter Bees hovering, but I haven't noticed any new burrows. That said, I'd say it works.
 
MacNut said:
I just got this mental image of bees flying around with little hammers. :p
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like this?

21821182-Pudgy-Bee-Worker-Holding-Up-A-Hammer-Stock-Vector.jpg
 
D.T. said:
Yeah, we had a carpenter ant problem and our bug service company wound up using a termite based treatment and it totally cleared them out, and they stayed gone. :)

OP, here's a pretty interesting article about carpenter bees:

http://insects.about.com/od/antsbeeswasps/a/How-To-Control-Carpenter-Bees.htm

A nice takeaway from the article regarding any danger:
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Thats interesting. I recently learned the difference between bumblebees and carpenter bees, as they look very similar. Carpenter bees actually usually do little damage to wood, especially if painted.

I'd still be careful around bees. I friend of mine in college was stung by a bee, didn't know he was allergic, and ended up dying rather tragically. Allergies can also develop at any point in life.

Bumblebees are known to be pretty docile, but do unknowingly become agitated and attack.
 
Sorry I am late to the party, but I have a few things to add. Any time you have questions about insects, plants or agricultural based issues, contact your local Land Grant University Extension Office (in the US at least). These folks are a wealth of information. (I used to be one of them, so I might be biased!)

In New Jersey, the land grant institution is Rutgers University. In Indiana, it would be Purdue University, Michigan is Michigan State, and so on. You can find the list here. It sometimes takes a bit of digging to find a school's Extension Service webpages, so Google is a big help.

Rutgers has a really nice publication on Carpenter Bees. Plugging the holes and painting or treating the wood is often enough to discourage the bees, but they might be back.
 
I've seen a few things on Facebook lately with carpenter bee trap videos. Found these on youtube. One of them has to work. I haven't tried any yet though. We are plagued with them every year, chewing away at our garage.

Unlike other bees, carpenter bees are not harmful to people, only wood. We will frequently stand outside the garage with a plank and whack the bees out of the air. It's as good a way to get rid of them as any. ;)
 
A.Goldberg said:
Thats interesting. I recently learned the difference between bumblebees and carpenter bees, as they look very similar. Carpenter bees actually usually do little damage to wood, especially if painted.

I'd still be careful around bees. I friend of mine in college was stung by a bee, didn't know he was allergic, and ended up dying rather tragically. Allergies can also develop at any point in life.

Bumblebees are known to be pretty docile, but do unknowingly become agitated and attack.
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I always thought that Bumblebees did not sting, but now I see the females are not to be trusted. Still, they're pretty tame creatures.
 
Here in North Georgia carpenter bees appear in good numbers in early spring every year, and explore eaves, railings, and really any wood surface that offers some protection from the weather. In our old house I kept a tennis racquet around, which was 100% effective when used properly, but only a small percentage of these bees ever get within range. We had several tunnel-nests in our house, and spent a lot of time sealing them up. A good recent coat of paint dissuades them, but they will find any crack or lightly-painted area. I'm pretty sure that no house has ever toppled from being riddled with carpenter bee tunnels, but in our neighborhood they're still taken pretty seriously.

I've heard that one effective deterrent (aside from a Babolat AeroPro Drive) is "Bee-Tour". The advertising could have been copied from a marketing campaign for snake oil, which is why I haven't tried it, but several people have told me they've had good luck with it.
 
senseless said:
I always thought that Bumblebees did not sting, but now I see the females are not to be trusted. Still, they're pretty tame creatures.
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iBlazed said:
Some things in the animal kingdom are universal...:D
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Sometimes, unwanted (but persistent) suitors need to have the message driven home upon delivery to the recipient. If, in the circumstances, that message requires sturdy reinforcement, why then, your domestic armoury may come in very handily.
 
Huntn said:
I found this article interesting: How To Control Carpenter Bees. I'm curious what kind of wood your deck is made from and if it is stained? I could see a real issue if you have a low deck, where the underside of it is inaccessible.
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I'll take a look at the article. It's a high deck with a crawl space under it. Not sure what type of wood it is, but it's not stained it's painted.
 
Tsuchiya said:
Image

It's one solution...probably not the most helpful post though :p
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No, probably not, in the circumstances…...

Instead, alas, it brings to mind an regrettable reminder which may serve as a sort of unfortunate metaphor for some of the more dismal aspects of recent American foreign policy…..

But, back on topic, and on related topics: Given that books which address the topic of biology, and natural history, happily inform us that bees are strongly attracted to flowers, why not consider approaching them with garlands of sweetly scented aromatic flowers, (in a spirit of peace and love) rather than offering rocket propelled grenade launchers, and flame throwers?

Just a thought…..
 
After treating your house to make it less hospitable you could make a little carpenter bee/arachnid/small animal refuge habitat elsewhere on you property. I reckon some of them look great. Good way to increase the biodiversity of your property and attract them away from the house :)

9628603.jpg
 
.Andy said:
After treating your house to make it less hospitable you could make a little carpenter bee/arachnid/small animal refuge habitat elsewhere on you property. I reckon some of them look great. Good way to increase the biodiversity of your property and attract them away from the house :)
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There shall be no biodiversity of any sort on this half acre of prime suburban real estate. :D
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Scepticalscribe said:
But, back on topic, and on related topics: Given that books which address the topic of biology, and natural history, happily inform us that bees are strongly attracted to flowers, why not consider approaching them with garlands of sweetly scented aromatic flowers, (in a spirit of peace and love) rather than offering rocket propelled grenade launchers, and flame throwers?
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Your solution just sounds plain un-American. I prefer to invade their territory, exterminate them and their young, and erect an American flag when I'm finished. :p

Huntn said:
Painted and stained wood was said to deter carpenter bees.
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You would think. The entire deck was just power washed and repainted a week ago too. Thought that might do the trick, I was dead wrong.
 
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iBlazed said:
There shall be no biodiversity of any sort on this half acre of prime suburban real estate. :D
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Your solution just sounds plain un-American. I prefer to invade their territory, exterminate them and their young, and erect an American flag when I'm finished. :p



You would think. The entire deck was just power washed and repainted a week ago too. Thought that might do the trick, I was dead wrong.
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I'm a proud European, iBlazed. Possibly even one of those cheese eating surrender monkeys.

My initial suggestion stands; get a professional in to deal with such a thing.

Actually, while I knew about the social structure of bees, I hadn't known that wasps were governed by a queen, as well, until the professional that we engaged to deal with our unwelcome visitors explained this to us.

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.Andy said:
After treating your house to make it less hospitable you could make a little carpenter bee/arachnid/small animal refuge habitat elsewhere on you property. I reckon some of them look great. Good way to increase the biodiversity of your property and attract them away from the house :)

9628603.jpg
Click to expand...

That is an excellent idea, and one I would certainly consider for myself should such a situation recur.
 
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