Carpenter Bee Wars

[ovrszd]

I wonder if a person coated the wood with a tar roofing material they would leave it alone?

 

[JJT]

Thanks for posting this...I've read they don't like painted wood and was considering painting the bottoms of my porch beams as added protection.

Paint helps, you'll need two coats, applied every couple of years.

I've had good luck with Fenvastar, applied twice in the spring, about a week apart and twice in the fall, again applied apart a week apart. 8 ounces at $15 a bottle does the job.

This year there seems to be a bumper crop of carpenter bees.

I just bought the above mentioned Bioadvanced product, I will report back on its results. I like the claim that it kills on contact, I've found nothing so far that actually does, other than a tennis racket.

 

[ovrszd]

I've got three buildings suitable for Carpenter Bees. An old barn made from rough sawn cottonwood, no carpenter bees at all. An old open sided machine shed made from Red Pine, a few carpenter bees. A lean-to newly made from white pine, carpenter bees love it!!!

 

[JethroB]

My all pine cabin has always been a magnet for carpenter bees. But it was a woodpecker that destroyed the joists under the porch. He really went at the wood one year trying to get to the bee larvae.

 

[Raul-02]

Bayer Bioadvanced Carpenter Ant and Termite

https://www.amazon.com/Advanced-Carpenter-Termite-Concentrate-32-Ounce/dp/B0001LE30G?th=1

 

[Raul-02]

There is one that seems immune from my poisons.
I'm getting out the shotgun

 

[plowhog]

I tried the traps that catch bees which then drop into a glass bottle. Not very effective for me.

What has worked very well for me are these:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/RESCUE-TrapStick-for-Wasps-Mud-Daubers-and-Carpenter-Bees-Insect-Trap/1000180537

 

[Deere Dude]

Oil based paint is supposd to keep them at bay.

I found tennis racketd hard on shoulders and to time consuming.

I found Bifen-IT to work very good. 2-3 OZs/gallon of water sprayed on with a tank sprayer is a fairly cheap fix. Spray all wood in the spring and again in the fall. Do this for two years. then one spray in the spring will take care of CBs and spiders and ants. This is a Bifenthrin product and a termicide.
Easy to find on a do it yourself pest control website.

You could probably slack off with spraying after they stop returning to your wood products and only spray once in the spring. Maybe after a few years you could skip a year in spraying and -be okay. I even spray all decks, eves, wood piles and anyplace else I don't want spiders etc. Works well with fireants also.

 

[JethroB]

I like a badminton racket best. Quick wrist action and a satisfying ting.

 

[fishdrivel]

I enjoy watching the confused bees hovering around my vinyl.
I'm easily entertained.
I have an old stump pushed up at the property line that is a home for all the wayward carpenter bees that need a place to nest.
Drilled a bunch of holes in it to attract them to it. They seem pleased.....

 

[ovrszd]

I enjoy watching the confused bees hovering around my vinyl.
I'm easily entertained.
I have an old stump pushed up at the property line that is a home for all the wayward carpenter bees that need a place to nest.
Drilled a bunch of holes in it to attract them to it. They seem pleased.....

Are they beneficial in some manner?

 

[JethroB]

Are they beneficial in some manner?

We captured them as kids in mason jars as they were feeding (?) on azalea blossoms. So pollinators?

 

[Raul-02]

Bifenthrin this year

in the last day or two - I've taken to combining them. From my perspective this is war and in war there are no rules.

 

[Raul-02]

Hardie, which solves the problem.

Yah Concrete would tend to slow them

 

[monkeyduster]

My son sent this to me...I plan to try it...

 

[Raul-02]

three years. Did they leave a paper bag out for three years?

 

[BoylermanCT]

I've been fighting carpenter bees for over 30 years. They're burrowing into the beams and eves of the house & deck. Chemical sprays work fairly well but I'm at the age where climbing a ladder to apply the spray is getting difficult. I tried different traps over the years but none worked very well. Lately, my wife and I have been making sport out of swatting them from the deck with a badminton racket.

A couple of weeks ago, I asked a buddy who works part time as an exterminator. Before spending big $$ on a professional, he suggested I try these traps:

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/macs-carpenter-bee-trap-set-of-2-plbt100-1548214?cid=Search-Google-TSC_DYN-Dynamic%20All%20Site-All%20Site%20TSC&utm_medium=Google&utm_source=Search&utm_campaign=TSC_DYN&utm_content=Dynamic%20All%20Site&utm_term=All%20Site%20TSC&gclid=Cj0KCQjwvqeUBhCBARIsAOdt45bQZOBFnjZl0HiWJR-Mih_hjSadMgfd1vO1lbPo0drnwZBPeBzJamUaAjM4EALw_wcB

Apparently, they don't work in every case but for us, they seem to be quite effective. My exterminator buddy said to put them in the sun as close to the problem areas as possible. We hung one on each end of our deck and the results are encouraging.

After just 4 days, there are at least 25 bees in the first trap:

View attachment 747156 View attachment 747158 View attachment 747157

and 10 or so in the second:

View attachment 747160 View attachment 747159

We see far fewer flying around than a week ago. We'll see what happens by the end of the season.

I built my own traps like this out of 4x4 post lumber. 1 hole on each side that leads upward to a vertical hole going out the bottom of the block into the mason jar. I have 8 of them on my log garage, shed and house. Each one has captured and killed 20-25 carpenter bees so far this Spring. Made a noticeable dent in the carpenter bee population.

 

[kenmac]

this is what I spray for those bees. it works !

 

[psvfd]

I built my own traps like this out of 4x4 post lumber. 1 hole on each side that leads upward to a vertical hole going out the bottom of the block into the mason jar. I have 8 of them on my log garage, shed and house. Each one has captured and killed 20-25 carpenter bees so far this Spring. Made a noticeable dent in the carpenter bee population.

That is what I have, I use a 2 liter soda bottle instead of a jar. Working good.

 

[ovrszd]

I have 3 homemade traps using the 4x4 block and bottle method. They work fine. But they do nothing to protect the buildings. They only capture the bee stupid enough to go inside. The other dozen flying around are not affected at all. I'm looking for a deterrent.