Carpenter Bees

[DawnSuiter]

If only they actually BUILT things instead of destroying them

I'm so torn, I wanted to find a way to discourage them, but then read that the only thing to do is kill them but I certainly DO NOT want to contribute to killing bees, that's one reason I stopped using the Carbaryl powder... the bees are dying, and when that happens... well... you know... basically, the end of the natural world.

BUT THEY ARE CHEWING UP MY COOPS!!!!!

But I planted flowers this year to ATTRACT bees, because last year there weren't many and the harvest was pretty small. This year we're BUZZING with bees, but the wrong wrong wrong kind

So... I don't know what to do.. they are driving me crazy dropping sawdust on my head :/ .. mocking me.

But I guess I DO want them here....

Maybe I should build THEM a coop... or rather... an unfinished unpainted attractive stack of wood... and then slather everything else with something UN-attractive.

what do you do? My dog tries to eat as many as possible, it's entertaining to watch him jump around.

FYI - Only females sting...

 

[Grow 4 Food]

Got a grease gun or a can of WD-40? Shoot it in the hole that they are "drilling" in (I suppose you can make sure it is empty first) but they will not come back to it to work more and it is harmless to everything else.

 

[bid]

Are your coops painted? Sometimes that will deter them a bit, altho' they drill into treated wood here. I suppose they haven't read they are not supposed to drill into painted or pressure treated wood. If you don't want to kill them you could just fill the holes with caulk and a dowel later on. The damage they do is minimal really. But like compound interest it adds up over time and that's when it can get substantial. I think just like the stinging it is only the females that drill holes also. The males are out there playing mini-fighter pilot. My dog likes to eat them as well. I sometimes think she's going to break teeth off snapping at them!

 

[lesa]

DH says they are attracted to moist/damp and or rotting wood... Not that they only drill in that- but that is what attracts them???

 

[DawnSuiter]

bid - your post made me chuckle repeatedly!!

ALL are great ideas... the wood is treated with Termin-8H20 which is supposed to deter wood boring insects and eating insects like termites and I hoped carpenter bees, but they apparently forgot to read the literature over here too.

They are working on the newest coop of yummy wood.... but won't chew up the palette coops.. go figure!

 

[boggybranch]

Interesting fact about carpenter bees.....the male has NO stinger, while the female DOES.

 

[vfem]

I just caulk or wood putty over the hole's they create right before dark. Sadly, it sufficates them.

However, they don't bore into freshly painted or stained wood. So signs of carpenter bees means something needs a fresh coat!

 

[vfem]

DH says they are attracted to moist/damp and or rotting wood... Not that they only drill in that- but that is what attracts them???

Not so true!

We built a brandnew swing set last year, still haven't stained it, but within a week, we already had a carpenter bee hard at work. Within 2 weeks from putting that there was another. Since them I've had to kill 4-5 more. They like FRESH wood.

 

[boggybranch]

I worked for a building suppy company for 3 years and this time of year, the lumber yard was wrapped up in carpenter bees. We would go around swatting them with strips of wood.....hit one and it sounded like you hit a minature baseball.

 

[vfem]

I worked for a building suppy company for 3 years and this time of year, the lumber yard was wrapped up in carpenter bees. We would go around swatting them with strips of wood.....hit one and it sounded like you hit a minature baseball.

My husband calls that bee-ball... he was playing it out in the garden while building my recent new chicken coop! I kept hearing a *pop* as one whacked the siding on the house. And then 5 minutes later there was another one hovering in the same spot!