# Carpenter Bee. What's the threat?



## Beaches' Bee-Haven Apiary (May 22, 2007)

We've got a carpenter bee making herself at home underneath our deck. My questions are 1. What's the best way to get it/them out. 2. How worried should we be about carpenter bees, how much damage can they make?

Here are pictures:


















-Nathanael


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## ScadsOBees (Oct 2, 2003)

Just one of them isn't a big deal, unless they are nearby and aggressive. You can probably just leave her there if you want. If you want to get rid of it you can probably wait till shes in and then plug the hole up. Or wait till shes out and plug it.

It is when you have a nice cedar trim on your garage or house, and a "colony" starts drilling it full of holes that things get damaged. Colony is used loosely as a bunch of bees using the same place to nest. They won't usually bother painted or covered wood. They like cedar.

They are impressive and fun to watch, and you can actually hear them chewing. Then try to figure out how the first baby bee laid is in the end of the tunnel and the first to hatch and has to get past all of her siblings somehow...

Rick


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## Curtis (Jun 25, 2005)

Carpenter bees can and will do a lot of damage. They tunnel into the wood and and lay thier eggs and pack the hole full of pollen. Then the egg hatches and eats its way out an is another Carpenter bee. They cause structural damage to the wood. They live for 1 year but leave a pheramone in the wood so others will come back to nest. 
These are very BAD bees to have around.
Curtis


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## Curtis (Jun 25, 2005)

The way to get rid of them is killing the adult, I use a racketball racket. In the hole put some DE or other insectacide, plug the hole with a piece of hardwood. The male is the one that looks you in the face, he can not sting. The female takes flight, but she can sting but usually will not. If you like having your property damaged and eaten up, keep them. They will not go away....you have to kill them.....


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## Hobie (Jun 1, 2006)

I am overrun with carpenter bees and I fear for the structure of my barn. If you don't get rid of the first ones you see, the population explodes, I can vouch for that. If anyone knows what to do to get rid of them (in the eaves, out of my reach) I would appreciate hearing.

They do, however, pollenate my apple tree nicely.


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## Jack21222 (May 29, 2007)

I'm an exterminator, this question is right up my alley.


Carpenter bees are not aggressive, the main reason is because they are solitary insects, and therefore do not have a nest to defend. If they die, their brood dies. They'd rather fly away and live another day. 

It doesn't take much insecticide to kill a carpenter bee. Just take a can of your favorite synthetic pyrethroid, preferably one with a nozzle that can fit into the carpenter bee's hole, wait until night time, and just spray the hole. Next day, patch up the hole, and it's as if the bee was never there. Just plugging the hole without treating inside is useless, because the bee will just bore another hole to get out if trapped in... or if you block the hole while the bee is foraging, the bee will just dig a new hole to his next. You must treat it.

As far as Hobie's question about having a ton of carpenter bees out of reach... Get a ladder. That's really the only way to take care of them... spray their nests, especially at night time. 

One way to help prevent carpenter bees from even starting is to paint the underside of the wood. It is not foolproof, and I've seen plenty of cases where carpenter bees bore right through painted wood... But they'll almost always prefer to bore through unpainted wood than painted wood. Therefore, by painting the wood all the way around (including the bottom), it may discourage them from damaging your property.


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## dickm (May 19, 2002)

I saw one once with a bee in its mouth, just sitting on a stem.

Dickm


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## BULLSEYE BILL (Oct 2, 2002)

I have just finished two locations that had over thirty holes each. It took three trips of treating every hole. The young kept hatching and chewing out the side of the nest hole. There would also be new holes every time I went back.

The first time I went to these locations it was impressive! I had never seen so many carpenter bees in flight at once before that. No wonder the homeowners were so freaked out.


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## ScadsOBees (Oct 2, 2003)

Dick,
You most likely saw a robber fly if it was eating a bee. Unless the carpenter bee was trying to get nectar out of its stomach.....

Laphria thoracica
http://www.giffbeaton.com/laphriinae.htm

They look uncannily similar, just not so roly-poly.

Rick


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## Sr. Tanya (Feb 9, 2007)

I have lots of carpenter bees in the joists of my shed. What do you use to plug the holes after spraying?

They do try to get in the hives every once in awhile- and sometimes succeed, though the bees boot them out.

Tanya


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## jim b (Oct 3, 2004)

*ScadsOBees-*

You must be quite a fan of the robber fly! Great pics. Are you the photog?

I have no idea how to provide a link to the pics i've got on Webshots, but i tried this:



-j

Yeah, it worked, but there are four photos there and i dont know how to make them big enough to see. I'll try this:






Oh well, maybe some day.


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## naturebee (Dec 25, 2004)

dickm said:


> I saw one once with a bee in its mouth, just sitting on a stem.
> 
> Dickm





dickm said:


> I saw one once with a bee in its mouth, just sitting on a stem.
> 
> Dickm


I’ve had carpenter bees land on the frame I was inspecting, and abduct a bee right off the comb.

It happened again last week when the inspector was by to look at the hives. A carpenter bee landed right in the middle of the frame, and we watched as the bees converged on the intruder and managed quite a few stings before the carpenter bee flew off.


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## notaclue (Jun 30, 2005)

About eleven years ago I saw a carpenter bee in my carport just tunneling away in the fresh unpainted wood used for repair. I took some wood putty and since I couldn't get her out I puttied it up. Not had a problem since. House across the street lost part of its carport due to carpenter bees.


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## Jeffzhear (Dec 2, 2006)

This is the way I've handled carpenter bees...first; they don't like painted surfaces and therefore paint your surfaces and they won't bore. They look for unpainted surfaces. Second; I push a little screen up the hole and that traps them inside or outside. In any event they won't be able to chew their way out quick enough and they will die...

And, I also enjoy using a Badminton raquet on them....


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## BeeAware (Mar 24, 2007)

*Carpenter Bees*

I don't kill these bees unless they are in a most undesirable location. But when I do need to kill them, I use ether, common starting fluid. A little sprayed into their tunnel does the trick.


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## Beaches' Bee-Haven Apiary (May 22, 2007)

BeeAware said:


> I don't kill these bees unless they are in a most undesirable location. But when I do need to kill them, I use ether, common starting fluid. A little sprayed into their tunnel does the trick.


How 'bout WD-40?

-Nathanael


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## Sr. Tanya (Feb 9, 2007)

May I ask again? 

What do you use to plug the holes?

Thanks!
Tanya


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## Beaches' Bee-Haven Apiary (May 22, 2007)

Sr. Tanya said:


> May I ask again?
> 
> What do you use to plug the holes?
> 
> ...


Someone mentioned wood putty. But I'm still wondering that myself.

Any other suggestions?

-Nathanael


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## mac (May 1, 2005)

silicone or latex caulk. @ any hardware store or home improvement store (lows home depot wallkmart. Someone told me to try wd40 but it didn' work. 
The house now has 2 coats of good latex paint put on with a brush. Spray just doesn't put down enough paint. The piliated woodpeckers got rid of them for me but what a mess they made. Tore out huge chuncks of ceder trim to get at the larva 2 stories up.I hate carpenter bees. They havn't been back since I painted.


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## Sr. Tanya (Feb 9, 2007)

I think the silicone or latex caulking would be the cheapest and easiest to apply.

I'll have to paint then for the *future* carpenter bees otherwise I won't have a tractor garage soon.

Thanks for the idea!
Tanya


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## JP (Jul 10, 2005)

*Carpenter bees*

The holes they drill or chew out rather are 3\8 in size. You can use 3\8" hard wood plugs to seal the holes. Before plugging the holes, the best product which should be applied before plugging the holes are dusts such as drione, or borid. I use one called d-foam, its deltamethrin. The young bees inside the wood will hatch out and you cannot treat them, initially because the queen or female rather(because they are solitary bees), lays between on average 6-8 eggs, that she seals in individual chambers, so they are sealed and protected from any form of treatment except for fumigation, which you won't do unless you are rich. The wood must be painted, I recommend several coats of an oil based paint. The plugs you can get from Home Depot. Remember that eradicating a carpenter bee infestation is not a quick fix. You have to wait for the young to emerge, and sometimes that is the following spring.


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## Jack21222 (May 29, 2007)

JP said:


> The holes they drill or chew out rather are 3\8 in size. You can use 3\8" hard wood plugs to seal the holes. Before plugging the holes, the best product which should be applied before plugging the holes are dusts such as drione, or borid. I use one called d-foam, its deltamethrin. The young bees inside the wood will hatch out and you cannot treat them, initially because the queen or female rather(because they are solitary bees), lays between on average 6-8 eggs, that she seals in individual chambers, so they are sealed and protected from any form of treatment except for fumigation, which you won't do unless you are rich. The wood must be painted, I recommend several coats of an oil based paint. The plugs you can get from Home Depot. Remember that eradicating a carpenter bee infestation is not a quick fix. You have to wait for the young to emerge, and sometimes that is the following spring.


Is Drione dust available over the counter?


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## JP (Jul 10, 2005)

*Carpenter bees*

not sure if Drione is available over the counter or in your state over the counter, but I like an aerosol application that dries as a dust. Aerosols that are labled for carpenter bees usually come with an injection straw, that one can use to get into the galleries the carpenter bees have made. Also, carpenter bees can also be worked early in the morning before they have taken flight. Carpenter bees are not considered true structural pests, and unless you live in an untreated log cabin, they do not destroy the main structure. More than anything, they are a nuisance. Now they will do damage in time, but its usually to things like patio overhangs, and fences.


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## Sarge (Jun 26, 2006)

Woodpeckers will also dig them out. They follow the burrows and eat the larva. If you think a neat 3/8 hole from the bee is bad wait till THEY get done.


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## Ravenseye (Apr 2, 2006)

I've tried all kinds of caulk from latex to silicone. An active bee or it's young will tear it right out. You need to kill them and their young. I now plug with a hardwood dowel and don't have any problems. Again, you need to kill all the generations of them. Many times....just when you think they're gone, you end up with another nice round hole in the wood!


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## ron c (Jun 19, 2004)

Jack 21222, you mentioned using "pyrethroid". I need to know brand name, or active ingrediants please thanks, Ron.


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## Jack21222 (May 29, 2007)

ron c said:


> Jack 21222, you mentioned using "pyrethroid". I need to know brand name, or active ingrediants please thanks, Ron.


Anything ending in a -thrin


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## Kevin M (Aug 11, 2006)

I have a carpenter bee that loves harassing and intercepting my girls near the hive entrance..I haven't seen it try to kill my girls, it just loves getting in there face and being disruptive. I've tried swating it,no luck, man that suckers fast...!


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## JP (Jul 10, 2005)

*Carpenter bees*

Ron C, the only problem with pyrethrens is that they leave no residual.


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## Jack21222 (May 29, 2007)

JP said:


> Ron C, the only problem with pyrethrens is that they leave no residual.


True of pyrethrins. Not necessarily true with synthetic pyrethroids.


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## MichaelW (Jun 1, 2005)

Keep in mind Carpenter Bees are excellent pollinators. I have this idea for palletized carpenter bee colonies for commercial pollination. The only problem is how to keep the "pallet" or hive from falling apart over time. Perhaps some engineered wood can frame the whole thing up. 

To get colonies started it would probably be easiest to cut out some wood from infested structures.

For the naysayers, the latest research is showing that nectar robbing in blueberries does not negatively impact setting the flowers and there are instances showing nectar robbed flowers improved setting possibly due to making the flower more attractive to honey bees. Either way, there's plenty more crops than blueberries that carpenter bees could be used for where they don't cut-n-rob.


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## Jack21222 (May 29, 2007)

Carpenter bees don't really make colonies. Just a bee or two and their brood of about 10. When the brood become adults, they fly out and start their own tiny nest.

They're solitary insects. 

It would be nearly impossible to get enough carpenter bees in once place to be effective pollinators. You'd have better luck with bumble bees. In fact, there was a thread here recently about a book out on bumble bee rearing.


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## Hobie (Jun 1, 2006)

Jack21222 said:


> It would be nearly impossible to get enough carpenter bees in once place to be effective pollinators.


You haven't seen my barn. 

They are the primary pollenator of my apple tree... there is apparently something else blooming at the same time that the honeybees prefer.


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## MichaelW (Jun 1, 2005)

I wouldn't make such a suggestion without knowing enough about them to know they are solitary bees. They do however form "social communities" such as reported at Hobie's barn. They filled out the eves of a house I lived in pretty well too. Its not unusual around here in spring for carpenter bees to be the dominate pollinator on some flowering plants, over bumble bees and honey bees. Now that summer is closing in, bumble bees have become the dominate pollinator at some locations I've been visiting lately. So it could be that carpenter bees could be more beneficial to use earlier in the spring. I'll have to read up and see what I can find out.

The honey bees seem to be busy with basswood right now. Seems like pollination can be improved if we don't think "one bee for all crops". Different bees could be developed for different crops, different bees clearly prefer different blooms and some are more efficient pollinators of certain crops. So the beekeeper and crop grower could get more "bang for his buck" so to speak and hedge the business on diverse bee stock for when one bee population crashes and another bee has a good year.


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