How to repair carpenter bee damage?

[CH4Ohio]

I have a big problem with them drilling into the bottom of 2x10 rafters on the overhang of the barn where the wood is bare or nearly so.

Have had pretty good luck with just giving the holes a shot of expanding foam insulation. It doesn't do anything to repair the structural damage, but after it dries, it's easy to just trim off flush with a knife or putty knife, etc. and then paint over. A good coat of paint will keep those bees away.

 

[deezler]

I have filled mine with plain old silicone sealant in the past. Worked fine. Bondo or construction adhesive sounds good too, a little messy though.

The bees boring holes in my new(ish) cedar siding is frustrating enough. But the g0d d&^% WOODPECKERS that come afterwards trying to find the larvae are SO MUCH WORSE. The bees go in and then turn sideways. The woodpeckers take a shortcut and make their own path in. You can only run outside and throw tennis balls at the peckers so many times in a day, gets old.

Thankfully, somehow not too bad this year at all. I keep my carpenter bee traps hung up on all the house corners all summer long now.

 

[plowhog]

Have had pretty good luck with just giving the holes a shot of expanding foam insulation. ... A good coat of paint will keep those bees away.

It's pine wood being attacked. Bondo and foam sound interesting. And if bee larvae are in the holes, what are some options for treating those holes before filling? Are there off-the-shelf products that would work?

You raise a very important point. If fresh paint dissuades the bees, after painting they will focus on and more aggressively attack the unpainted wood on the barn interior. I already have significant damage there. But I need to better prepare for that.

btw, the traps that look like a small bird house with a glass jar on bottom work OK. But the "sticky" traps are awesome-- catching hundreds. I need to up my "treatment" game next season ....

TrapStik, Carpenter Bee - Rescue

Carpenter Bees get caught on the sticky surface. They're drawn to the trap with our exclusive VisiLure technology, the colors and patterns under the glue.

www.rescue.com

 

[CH4Ohio]

It's pine wood being attacked. Bondo and foam sound interesting. And if bee larvae are in the holes, what are some options for treating those holes before filling? Are there off-the-shelf products that would work?

You raise a very important point. If fresh paint dissuades the bees, after painting they will focus on and more aggressively attack the unpainted wood on the barn interior. I already have significant damage there. But I need to better prepare for that.

btw, the traps that look like a small bird house with a glass jar on bottom work OK. But the "sticky" traps are awesome-- catching hundreds. I need to up my "treatment" game next season ....

TrapStik, Carpenter Bee - Rescue

Carpenter Bees get caught on the sticky surface. They're drawn to the trap with our exclusive VisiLure technology, the colors and patterns under the glue.

www.rescue.com

I have never seen those trap sticks before, but I'm going to order some! I need to up my game on these guys too.

Strange thing is that I've NEVER seen one drill a hole into a framing member inside the barn. Why is that? They work on the overhang like crazy. They work on the run-in shed area. But never have I seen one drill a hole in the enclosed portion of a building.

Don't know why. Also don't know if we have the same species.

Someone posted a thread the other day about creatures they would ban from the Earth if they had the power . . . I'd nominate these carpenter bees.

 

[plowhog]

But never have I seen one drill a hole in the enclosed portion of a building.

The rear of my barn is open with no door. Probably a 12 x 14 opening-- maybe not being sealed / no door is why they attack interior wood there?

 

[lman]

I have filled mine with plain old silicone sealant in the past. Worked fine. Bondo or construction adhesive sounds good too, a little messy though.

The bees boring holes in my new(ish) cedar siding is frustrating enough. But the g0d d&^% WOODPECKERS that come afterwards trying to find the larvae are SO MUCH WORSE. The bees go in and then turn sideways. The woodpeckers take a shortcut and make their own path in. You can only run outside and throw tennis balls at the peckers so many times in a day, gets old.

Thankfully, somehow not too bad this year at all. I keep my carpenter bee traps hung up on all the house corners all summer long now.

We have cedar siding also and we discovered that it's necessary to keep the siding well covered with a solid color stain. I believe there are also additives to put in your stain to keep carpenter bees away.

 

[CH4Ohio]

The rear of my barn is open with no door. Probably a 12 x 14 opening-- maybe not being sealed / no door is why they attack interior wood there?

I don't know. Always thought it was weird. Even with the barn wide open, they'd always work on the exterior wood here.

I keep a couple cheap tennis rackets laying around at the barn. You can nail a bunch of them in a few minutes. Doesn't do much to reduce the population, but it sure feels good. . . .

 

[plowhog]

I keep a couple cheap tennis rackets laying around

Well, there goes two months where I could have been doing something else.

Seriously, the bee problem was neglected; as a consequence it exploded out of control two years ago. This year I applied countermeasures and "reduced the herd" by at least half-- I will keep it up but this is going to be a never-ending seasonal thing.

 

[oldpilot]

To get rid of them (I'd do that first!) soak the wood with Citri-Fresh Bee Stop. Amazon sells it by the gallon jug.

 

[Midniteoyl]

this seems to be a good argument for vinyl or metal siding.

They get into my garage door header in the polebarn. Not limited to just siding and whatnot.