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?carpenter bees?
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Posted by louisianagal z9seLA (My Page) on Sun, Mar 25, 07 at 10:43
| All along the top back side of our shop are very large "bumblebee" type bees which I think are carpenter bees. They are very loud buzzing and they are making fairly large drilled holes there. I am trying to make a garden bed there and they are dive bombing me. Is there a non-chemical way to get rid of them? I was thinking a product like TANGLEFOOT which I think is sticky and used for ants. Any ideas? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: ?carpenter bees?
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| Last year I had a very large infestation of carpenter bees, and, sadly to say, I had to resort to wasp spray to get rid of them. I sprayed them directly and also sprayed into each hole and plugged them up with caulking compound. They really love untreated wood. They also do not hesitate to bore into stained wood. I have never seen them attack painted surfaces, but I wouldn't rule it out. One good thing, though, they rarely sting. Good luck. |
RE: ?carpenter bees?
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| Don't let the dive-bombing alarm you! It's an amusing (I think they are hilarious) scare tactic that is all bluff and no bite. I usually say, " Oh, YEAH? What're you gonna DO about it?" By the way, it is the male who is the agressive one and will defend a nesting site. Look for a white face on the males. If the bee is all black, that's the female. The females are the only ones with stingers. That's what I meant about 'all bluff and no bite'. ;-) I agree with the fresh paint. |
RE: ?carpenter bees?
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| Paint the surfaces. I wish we had insisted on painting the wood to be used for a back deck before the builder built the thing. Now it is just about impossible to get under it to all the little nooks, which the carpenter bees have no trouble finding. And it is treated wood--I think the treatment only lasts a certain number of years. |
RE: ?carpenter bees?
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| Do a search on a product called Bee Gone. It is a liquid that can be painted on your house with paint or stain or maybe by itself. It will not work 100% by itself and still needs a little more to totally get rid of them but it sure has helped us. We had at least tens of thousands of them. They were litterally eating us out of house andhome. Now we see one once in a while but mostly they are gone. Good luck. Plantnfool |
RE: ?carpenter bees?
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| What ever you use to deter these bees be sure it is not a poison that will kill them. Given that bees, of all kinds, are necesary to produce the foods we eat and given that bees are in trouble and dying off in large numbers, it is very irresponsible of us to kill off any of these if there is another way to control them. |
RE: ?carpenter bees?
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| Try EcoExempt. It is an organic product. Bees are actually really easy to eliminate with any dust product. Boric Acid will work as well, or Delta Dust. |
Here is a link that might be useful: EcoExempt Info
RE: ?carpenter bees?
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| Quite a few years ago I read an article about carpenter bees. Since honey bees were dying it was important to encourage carpenter bees to stay in the garden since they pollinated plants. I did just that and it was easy to tell you had them looking at the leaves and seeing the distinct pattern. However, this year I noticed a great number of plants had that same pattern to the point where some of them were almost stripped of leaves. I find myself wondering now if I encouraged them beyond what garden needs and if carpenter bees have become a nuisance? Until I read this I never thought they could become a problem. I have never been able to find their nesting sights. While I don't want to eliminate them completely, I would like to reduce the number. |
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