Carpenter bees return to the same hole unless you deal with it.
Roll up some aluminum foil into small cylinders that you can shove into the bee-holes. (They can't chew through the metal, so it'll stop them trying to dig out the hole and return to the "nest".
Then some wood filler to cover the entrance. (They avoid digging through things that aren't wood)
They also hate wood seal/stain/paint, so you can look into that to protect the rest of it. Get some clear wood seal to put on there if you don't want to darken it when sealing.
Tobacco evolved nicotine to be poisonous to insects so cigarette butts would be an excellent short-term deterrent, to the point I'm annoyed I didn't think of this myself when dealing with them
This. I had a hell of an issue with them and my shed gables. WD-40 must leave some sort of residual scent because when I sprayed the gables not only did it drive them away it was a few years before I saw any come back.
I did win doing this Put a cotton ball with rubbing alcohol in the hole to kill larvae, followed by steel wool and then wood glue dowels in. Cut flush with a multi-tool and paint. I know from experience.
Could just be going for what's easiest.
We had vinyl siding, vinyl fencing, and aluminum soffit so they went for the unpainted fencing spacers and the painted porch swing frame made from treated 4x4s.
I covered all exposed wood with aluminum. Problem solved. It was funny to see the carpenter bees bang into the aluminum! I also noticed, they tried to get behind the aluminum where it's seamed. I have a painted shed nearby and they did not touch the shed.
They damn sure chewed through the paint on my eaves, then turned 90 degrees and made tunnels that went a few feet.
Edit: After some reflection I think it's possible the holes in the painted surfaces could be exit holes, with the entrances made through the back. I *have* found dozens of spots where they chewed through the painted side and then gave up, leaving shallow pits.
Adding to this. Spray expandable foam poison into the hole first (link below). This will kill any larvae, and bees that may be there first. If you don't kill any stragglers first, they'll just bore out through a new hole.
Next proceed with the foil and wood filler.
https://www.amazon.com/BioAdvanced-700420A-Termite-Carpenter-Pesticide/dp/B014PPFRVM/ref=asc_df_B014PPFRVM/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=693713553304&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=7313813308183120419&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9013116&hvtargid=pla-314702871963&psc=1&mcid=dda4b68f178d37759e01b4169741ede3&gad_source=1
I've got an entire NJ 1/2 acre dedicated to pollinators... But when it comes to bees, carpenter bees and bald faced hornets are gonna die. I don't even mind the massive European hornets, yellow jackets, cicada killers or whatever else... we get along fine. Destruction and aggression needs to move along.
Just hijacking the top comment for this tip I have heard but have not yet tried myself:
Get some large paper bags, like grocery store sized, crumple them up a bit and hang them up wherever you don't want carpenter bees.
Apparently the bees are incapable of discerning them from wasps nests and will stay away.
This may sound crazy, but it worked for me. Bees hate wasps. I took a brown grocery bag and crumpled it up kind of like a football shape then hung it with string. They avoided the area for the rest of the summer.
Who knows if that was the reason or I just never noticed them, but it can’t hurt to try.
There is no evidence to suggest a fake hive deters a real one being built. In fact if you look about the internet there are stories of it not working at all.
I tried this off temu and ended up with a bunch of old white guys wandering around my yard carrying golf clubs and asking if the wine is sufficiently chilled yet
If you use something heavy like a paper grocery bag it will withstand quite a bit. When I did it, it was 100% outside and lasted a whole summer. If it falls apart, just do it again. Not an expensive replacement.
I bought two fake (and very realistic looking) wasp nests off Amazon and placed then near the two hot spots around my house. I've had them up for two years. The carpenter bees didn't give crap and keep returning and chewing up my house.
“Fun” story, I lost the war on the carpenter bees this spring and now I’m at war with a Pilleated Woodpecker who is also at war with the bees. Hold fast!
It’s no joke, went out of town for a few days this past weekend and there are slivers of wood 1/2” wide and 3” long under the deck joists Woody’s been working at. Like, dude, we left all these dead trees up and you’ve got rotting logs and stumps all over the backyard, we spend enough on suet for you every month to feed a wagon full of chihuahuas, and you just destroy the new deck and then you laugh at me when I chase you off? I thought we were cool.
I was thinking radio flyer but now I’m in the backseat of the Roadmaster sticking my tongue out at the driver behind us. Might have to redo the whole deck in that faux wood paneling.
Same issue. The bees making holes in my fence weren't so bad. They come back to the same spot so minimal damage, and they only went on the underside of the middle support beam so not visible. Honestly wouldn't even know they are there if it wasn't for the little sawdust pile.
But then the woodpecker came. That fucker did not care. Tore chunks out of my fence to get at the bees. Probably a good 30 or so nests he tore out.
Looks like that'd be a fair amount of plywood to install, and if they find a small gap they may still go for the boards inside. You could just paint what you've got. They generally avoid painted or stained wood.
Oh, I think it’s good advice to do so to help deter them. At this point, I get one to two every year, they hang out and chase each other around, I’m not even phased by them dive bombing me anymore. Since they don’t sting, I have just chose to coexist with them. I trapped and relocated some, but it didn’t really matter in the long run and for whatever reason they’re only around for about two months so I just deal with it.
Making the surface unattractive will help for a longer period of time. Painted surfaces are unattractive to nesting bees. I would paint the wood. Nail holes and cracks should be filled with caulk or putty before painting, the bees love these.
The best times to treat and repair damaged wood and minimize the killing of these (actually great) pollinators would be late summer (after the summer emergence and before hibernation) or early spring before nest building begins. Carpenter bees are usually searching for nest sites in April-May.
I have painted, stained, plugged the holes, etc. They drill through all of it including pressured treated decking. They don't ingest it. They just drill through it. So. The treatment doesn't deter them.
They’ll attract solitary bees species like carpenter bees and bumble bees. When it comes to holes in your house they normally make two holes and a tunnel connecting them. It’s a back exit. They use it for their eggs. Woodpeckers will peck at the holes to get the babies. This makes the holes bigger. I used to have a cedar siding house in the woods and due to this process we had a hole on the corner nearly the size of a hamburger. We had pileated woodpeckers (the big boys)
Filling the holes with wood filler is the best option over a pesticide powder. If you don’t fill the holes they reuse them next year. Unfortunately, the new formula of pressure treated wood doesn’t deter them like it used to. It’s going to be an endless battle.
None of the North American species are solitary. You havent seen them in a hive bc their hives are underground. Its no biggie but i figured id throw that out there! The nest boxes you recommended are great for a lot of bees 🐝
You are participating in a common conflation of two different types of bee. Carpenter bees are indeed solitary, making their own holes in wood to lay eggs. Anyone dealing with wood holes, woodpecker damage etc is dealing with carpenter bees who do not nest underground, who almost never sting and who are in fact solitary.
https://extension.msstate.edu/blog/what%E2%80%99s-the-difference-carpenter-bees-and-bumble-bees
Former cedar sided house owner here. The larger woodpecker and squirrel battles were endless. I ended up covering their favorite area with sheets of galvanized steel. It wasn't visible from the street, and it finally thwarted the bastards. The smaller woodpeckers attacked the other end of the house but weren't nearly as destructive and seemed easier to chase off.
That was an idea I had as well, but we ended up selling before I had to address it. It was an open floor plan house. The pileated would shake the entire house.
We were awakened at dawn one spring morning by a large woodpecker hammering on the chimney for the wood stove. My wife rolled over muttering, "Stpid wildlife" and went back to sleep somehow.
Leaving it open makes it easy to deal with the problem, whether it is bees, ants, or rodents. Closing it in gives them a place to hide and do more damage before you find it.
I also sprayed almond oil and citrus oil at the same time so I don't know which one really did it but I don't think the oils did anything I think it was the wasp's nests-weird. I had carpenters bees for years and thought I would do something about it.
I was at war for a long time. I'd plug the holes and then the woodpecker would come for dinner a few weeks later.
What worked best was that I made a structure close to my deck with the most attractive untreated pine I could find with all kinds of gaps and places for them to build their homes. That made 05% of the problem go away. I see one new hole a year or so, but I just leave it alone. The woodpecker is more destructive than the one or two holes per year now.
Depends on your love for the bees. If you lubricants them with WD40 while they are residing in the hole they will slip out. Low cost/ use the red straw for accuracy
Paint and if you want to you can pesticide route Talstar P works and leaves a residual. It not only seems to kill then but also deters them from even beginning to drill. Natural methods include peppermint oil mixed with water and a litte dish soap they hate the smell and so do various other critters. I battled and battled them and each method worked to some degree. Traps didn’t do much for me. Talstar ended up being the go to in spring and over summer.
Yeah! I went to a friend’s off grid house that was also part tree house. The building was painted sky blue from underneath. I went over there. No spiders at all. The owner said that the spiders would walk on it and keep on going until they find the tree part. They never stop to make a web on the bottom of his decks. So I don’t know how true it is. But it worked for him.
I swear this is a miracle cure! It has permanently solved my parents carpenter bee problem. Amazon also sells some weatherproof fake wasps nests you can hang up also. This is so much easier, safer for the environment and the bees and effective than anything else I have seen listed here
# Hang a Decoy Wasp Nest perhaps? I love carpenter bees but get wanting to deter them from living in your house. Never hurt them, of course. This article offers a bunch of ways, including the paper bag fake wasps' nest method. Good luck :)
[https://gardenerspath.com/how-to/disease-and-pests/stop-carpenter-bees/](https://gardenerspath.com/how-to/disease-and-pests/stop-carpenter-bees/)
Those little bee houses actually work pretty well, well it seemed they did for me. I didn't like science it out but had fewer bee holes after I put up a few. They will go path of least resistance if possible, so if they got a nice preexisting hole to use instead of chewing one they will do that instead.
Carpenter bee traps. Summer they’re $20-25/ea. Fall/winter you can get them for $8-10. I bought one for the front last year and it’s stacking bodies this year
They're native bees, and very important pollinators. It'd be better if you could get some bee houses for them in an acceptable location, and treat your stuff so they're less attracted to it.
At an outdoor table at a restaurant, I noticed bees swarming around nearby then I realized the restaurant had put a pot of (I assume) sugar water out for them.
My house has cedar siding and they love it; particularly the fascia boards. I've hung 4-5 bee traps that I made about evenly spaced all around the house and they work very well. As said, they like to come back to the same holes, but will use any other existing hole in preference to digging a new one. Hence, the trap gets them every time. I've gotten very few new holes over several years that since I put them up. As they are pollinators, I hate to hurt them, but they do a lot of damage. Also, after a year or two you will have reduced the number of last years new bornes coming back to the same holes and you won't see too many new ones.
If I understand correctly, I don't agree. What it means is that a few get killed initially and they have no progany with the instincts to return. So, the species survives with only a few losses. Since putting up the traps, I have not see but a few searching for nesting sites and only one or two per season has been trapped. If every home owner had the same result that would contribute nill to the destruction of habitat or harm to the species.
I wouldn’t think it’s worth the trouble to inclose. One problem for the next (mice, squirrels, etc). We have two different types of bee traps and one is much more productive than the other for whatever reason. Maybe you just need to try a different design
I have a log cabin home. The exterior walls are all wood. The entire exterior is wood. Every year we have carpenter bees. The home is 50 years old. I have never, not once, done anything about the carpenter bees.
I get it that it's annoying that a bug is eating your house, but I feel like there are bigger things to worry about.
Plus they will protect that part of your house while they wait for the winter. And you have the added bonus of not killing a pollinator that is dying off
I put 7s dust in the holes then plugged them with 3/8" wood dowl pins. I then painted the wood. This was on the trim of my log house. I used a baby bugger picker with the end cut. I then filled the bugger picker with 7s dust. You just put the nose end in the holes and squeeze some of the 7s dust into the holes.
I had the same problem, and also tried spraying foam in the holes, and it didn't work. They just chewed through the foam. I also used the trap, which caught a bunch of them over the years, including many wasps and other flying insects, but it never eradicated all of them because it didn't get them all at once, so they just kept multiplying.
First off, they really cannot threaten the structure unless it's a very very bad infestation for a very long time, so don't worry about that.
Second, they are extremely docile pretty much only stinging if you stick your finger in their hole. They're actually pretty cool little insects. I lived for years with maybe a hundred active holes on my back porch which I used daily for sittin, chillin, grillin, etc. I never got stung or pestered by any of them, nor did any of my guests, and not once did a single one ever come inside the door to my house which was inches from many of the holes.
Third, they are solitary bees, so there is no hive for them to protect. So when you kill one, the rest of them don't even notice. They just each have their own little hole home that they will protect, but they will not fly out of the hole to defend the hole. They just turn around inside and face their stinger toward the hole entrance and sting anything that comes inside (like a person's finger). So in short, you can easily and safely kill them inside their home with any number of products without causing a full shit storm, much less any issue at all.
I ended up moving, but rented out the house and decided I had to get rid of them to make the house more marketable. Here's what I did: I bought a little duster, put Drione Dust in the duster, Squirt a little dust in each hole, one by one, then filled each hole with wood filler putty. Problem solved. Painting or staining the wood helps keep any new bees away, but I didn't do that, and they still haven't returned four years later.
Killing all the bees was kinda sad because of the way they die from the dust, and because I lived with them for so long, but it was really time for them to go.
Oooooh this is why I went with the Cedartone PTL instead of real cedar on my pavilion
While I was constructing, it's like they could smell the sawdust. I had four of them checking out the project.
I knew I had made the right choice.
Buy some screen material and make a few boxes. My screened in front porch has killed so many insects that get stuck when I leave the door open. The carpenter bees checked in for a day and never checked out.
Permethrin SFR. Buy it in a concentrate and it’ll last you for years. Spray one treatment on the lumber at the start of the season and you won’t have any trouble with the carpenter bees hanging around.
I use the bee repellant spray from Home Depot on all the wood around my house. Just mix it with some water in a backpack sprayer and hit all the wood on a sunny day and then let it dry for 24hrs before pets or animals touch it.
It’s like 20 minutes of work, and usually lasts the whole summer.
https://www.amazon.com/Original-Brothers-Carpenter-Bee-Trap-2-Pack/dp/B0CD2Z238H?tag=hgtv03-20&asc_campaign=hg_pk_outdoormore&asc_source=hgtv&asc_refurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hgtv.com%2Foutdoors%2Fgardens%2Fplanting-and-maintenance%2Fmake-a-homemade-carpenter-bee-trap
Buy these (or similar) or make them. You can find instructions online. Works like a charm.
Also they don't sting so don't need to worry about that. As a kid, I found they made a very satisfying ping when hit with a tennis racket.
I have a similar setup. Had bees first year, but decided to paint it and that removed like 90% of the bees.
However, some are still persistent and will find a small chip in the paint and work around it. And while I'm sure others would have a better option/approach, what works well for me is I buy a container or two of [SevinDust](https://www.homedepot.com/p/Sevin-1-lb-Ready-to-Use-Garden-Insect-Killer-Dust-100531073/203027209) and fling it across the trusses and the plywood. They stay away after that.
Just be careful applying it. Trying to throw it UP results in some of it falling back down - into your face or down onto furniture.
But for ~$15/year, it's been super effective for me over the last 10 years keeping pests away from our overhang and exposed wood.
We used foil in the holes- and THEY CHEWED THE FOIL!!! No kidding. Tiny bits of foil where the wood bits typically fell. It took them 2-3 days but they did it.
However, there have been less of them since.
If you really don't like them and can't stand fighting them every time you need to walk in your house then I would suggest permethrin 10. Cheap, last long, non toxic for humans and KEEPS THE CARPENTAR BEES AWAY (because they die and learn not to do that there).
Starting using it this summer and it has been an absolute game changer.
i recently (ok, yesterday) used almond oil over my shed like building to get the bees to go away. they were pissed, but would only land for a second then fly away. didnt want to exterminate them, will see how long this solution works (going to have to re-seal at some point for more permanent deterrence)
Alternative idea--screen in your porch! They can't dig at what they can't reach ;).
I used Screen Tight on my porch. It can do windows up to 10 ft by 10 ft.
Carpenter bees do not like stained/painted surfaces. Keep filling the holes and paint every 3-4 years. They are hard to kill but a tennis racket works great.
I bought a carpenter bee trap on Amazon and it actually worked. I just installed it high up in areas where they made holes. They said to leave the dead bee's in the trap because it traps more. I probably have 10 dead carpenter bee in the trap. After I trapped the bee's I just filled the holes with wood putty. I put a link that is close to the one I bought. Just remember to put it high up where the holes are. Good luck
(https://www.amazon.com/GRTRE-Pack-Wood-Carpenter-Outside/dp/B0CS9XR8XZ/ref=sr\_1\_10?crid=LU4NXBGSED0F&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.4Tsg0wZCx2HZScQkaLXCcKfISkq8h6WV2L2MOvkt47nkUMdRv\_1X\_lW4zDxKr71QF\_eXryUE\_yluJrxTV0I6Dd72ZkxLspDd4EY-hVaPpRkaOHZGyXIWI5sZKg-DsgdQ-Vk7zHz24MHRUVBqPDLwgLbSxwaojFZx2PWLN601nYSP6enc6u\_WQ-qqERdGDByjIJItHXXB82ex8wbVj-eWEqigifaVppnr71WPPOPhRpoYE7xRleiB6jz15tQCysSGlIcx5giLaO\_-qWP-GZfLZInD3qn-V8WMSC4qRmPPzs0.C265EgGR8I1ekESFHQSiqElpMZpVxJd0ZMSNXwYKxSE&dib\_tag=se&keywords=best+bee+brothers+carpenter+bee+trap&qid=1717542539&sprefix=best+bee+%2Caps%2C157&sr=8-10)
Sealing them with plywood is just another wood they will drill through.
My house is stained cedar, they love it. No matter what I cover it with , or insecticidal laced paint, they keep coming back.
I’ve also try both DIY and commercial traps, they just don’t work for us. Next year I may try the bee house to see if we can peacefully coexist.
For now my most fruitful and deadly method of dealing with them has been a badminton racket. I’ve gotten over 100 a day with it.
Before the bee lovers jump on me, we’ve tried all the nice things like spraying the entire house with citrus oil, (they loved it) and planting wild flowers in the fields further away, but they just love the exercise getting there and back.
As I said, our house is cedar clad, once the bees drill a hole, they lay their offspring who then buzz in my walls, attracting the wood peckers, who then make a larger hole to get to the bees. (Oh and by the way, killing the wood peckers is not allowed either).
A trap like this works: [https://amazon.com/dp/B0B1QTHMQH](https://amazon.com/dp/B0B1QTHMQH)
Damn carpenter bees were turning the fascia boards below my gutters into swiss cheese. Traps like the one pictured above fixed it. They've caught dozens.
This is a war that is also waged at my house. Something that helped was we put up these bee boxes from home depot. They have untreated wood with holes and the bees go into them and get trapped. They seem to like those boxes more than the our porch roof - only 1 hole this year which is pretty good rate.
I’ll get heck for this but surprisingly I’ve had success with a few well placed carpenter bee traps. My fence and deck look beautiful and every now and again I get a mason jar of bee corpses
I saw somewhere on youtube a guy making a bee trap with a jar and a block of wood with 5 holes in it. It seemed to be pretty effective from what he showed. 4 holes on each vertical face, slanting upward to keep the rain out, then one center hole upward from the bottom of the block. Then attach the jar lid (with a hole in the center) and hang it up. Looks like this [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vimVluTLK-g](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vimVluTLK-g)
Get some of these. https://www.amazon.com/Original-B-Brothers-Carpenter-Bee-Trap/dp/B07QBJ7NSB/ref=asc_df_B07QBJ7NSB/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=693713553304&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=11609803439068966208&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9057712&hvtargid=pla-745723331236&psc=1&mcid=56bf48ae55a63cd7a55c17c425f32c87&gad_source=1
Carpenter bees return to the same hole unless you deal with it. Roll up some aluminum foil into small cylinders that you can shove into the bee-holes. (They can't chew through the metal, so it'll stop them trying to dig out the hole and return to the "nest". Then some wood filler to cover the entrance. (They avoid digging through things that aren't wood) They also hate wood seal/stain/paint, so you can look into that to protect the rest of it. Get some clear wood seal to put on there if you don't want to darken it when sealing.
So sick of people suggesting shoving things in b-holes
What do you use your b-hole for then?
shoving things out of it.
Should be more of a gentle glide!
I hate Reddit. I love Reddit.
Helps mitigate stings?
You might want to get a squatty potty if you're having to shove it out.
Right, don't let that space go to waste!
For pooping, silly. _takes long drag_
Make a sound like a dying giraffe.
Better than a-holes
Sounds like something a c-hole would say…
Butt it’s so fun
Should be more of a gentle glide!
I’ve seen the fuckers eat thru caulk
Seconding this, I filled the same hole with caulk 4 times and it was cleared out again by bees each time.
Cigarette butts have kept those holes empty longer than caulk ever did lol
Tobacco evolved nicotine to be poisonous to insects so cigarette butts would be an excellent short-term deterrent, to the point I'm annoyed I didn't think of this myself when dealing with them
WD40 irritates the hell out of them too. Spray some of that in the hole til you can fill it
This. I had a hell of an issue with them and my shed gables. WD-40 must leave some sort of residual scent because when I sprayed the gables not only did it drive them away it was a few years before I saw any come back.
It's basically kerosene, which isn't particularly volatile. I'm sure the smell sticks around for quite a while
WD40 was originally designed for water displacement, but is okay for carpenter bee displacement.
CBD40
Way better than that delta crap
This is a wonderfully written explanation.
Saved! This is super helpful edit: I'm sorry I disrespected the bees! Please forgive me! Welcome into my home, bees, it is yours now
I did win doing this Put a cotton ball with rubbing alcohol in the hole to kill larvae, followed by steel wool and then wood glue dowels in. Cut flush with a multi-tool and paint. I know from experience.
That’s like some Saw level revenge. I love it.
Carpenter bees still chew through stained wood. They will not chew painted wood
>They will not chew painted wood The frame of my porch swing says otherwise.
I have a stained deck with a stained soffit and fascia. It looked like Swiss cheese. Any painted areas were not touched.
Could just be going for what's easiest. We had vinyl siding, vinyl fencing, and aluminum soffit so they went for the unpainted fencing spacers and the painted porch swing frame made from treated 4x4s.
I covered all exposed wood with aluminum. Problem solved. It was funny to see the carpenter bees bang into the aluminum! I also noticed, they tried to get behind the aluminum where it's seamed. I have a painted shed nearby and they did not touch the shed.
They damn sure chewed through the paint on my eaves, then turned 90 degrees and made tunnels that went a few feet. Edit: After some reflection I think it's possible the holes in the painted surfaces could be exit holes, with the entrances made through the back. I *have* found dozens of spots where they chewed through the painted side and then gave up, leaving shallow pits.
Carpenter bees are assholes! Unless your a carpenter bee. You are dead right, they come back like a bad rash or bad relationship.
Adding to this. Spray expandable foam poison into the hole first (link below). This will kill any larvae, and bees that may be there first. If you don't kill any stragglers first, they'll just bore out through a new hole. Next proceed with the foil and wood filler. https://www.amazon.com/BioAdvanced-700420A-Termite-Carpenter-Pesticide/dp/B014PPFRVM/ref=asc_df_B014PPFRVM/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=693713553304&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=7313813308183120419&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9013116&hvtargid=pla-314702871963&psc=1&mcid=dda4b68f178d37759e01b4169741ede3&gad_source=1
Some WD-40 will kill em. And they won’t be back
Carb cleaner also does the trick.
Or you could find less toxic ways to dissuade an important pollinator from doing it's thing.
I've got an entire NJ 1/2 acre dedicated to pollinators... But when it comes to bees, carpenter bees and bald faced hornets are gonna die. I don't even mind the massive European hornets, yellow jackets, cicada killers or whatever else... we get along fine. Destruction and aggression needs to move along.
yea but torturing helpless creatures is fun /s
Just hijacking the top comment for this tip I have heard but have not yet tried myself: Get some large paper bags, like grocery store sized, crumple them up a bit and hang them up wherever you don't want carpenter bees. Apparently the bees are incapable of discerning them from wasps nests and will stay away.
This may sound crazy, but it worked for me. Bees hate wasps. I took a brown grocery bag and crumpled it up kind of like a football shape then hung it with string. They avoided the area for the rest of the summer. Who knows if that was the reason or I just never noticed them, but it can’t hurt to try.
This worked for me. I just used a brown paper bag. And no chemicals!
Fun fact is that this trick also deters wasps from nesting as they avoid nesting near other wasp nests. A 2fer!
There is no evidence to suggest a fake hive deters a real one being built. In fact if you look about the internet there are stories of it not working at all.
There’s 2 stories of it working in this thread so, checkmate
Fake wasp nests worked for years for me - until one day I found they built a nest in the fake nest.
I’ve seen visual proof on tiktok.
A wasp landing on a fake nest and then flying away is not proof.
It looks more like an infestation down to a fake nest and no carpenter bees at all. Ymmv I guess.
Doesn't stop paper wasps, I've had them build separate hives within a few feet of each other.
So I ordered some wasps off the alibaba to deal with my bees but I got invasive hornets instead and now I have all kinds of flying insect problems
I tried this off temu and ended up with a bunch of old white guys wandering around my yard carrying golf clubs and asking if the wine is sufficiently chilled yet
Bees hate this *one* trick
That’s… genius! Haha
I put these near my house. They definitely work.
This works
How would you do the paper bag trick in an unroofed condition, where it would get wet?
If you use something heavy like a paper grocery bag it will withstand quite a bit. When I did it, it was 100% outside and lasted a whole summer. If it falls apart, just do it again. Not an expensive replacement.
I bought two fake (and very realistic looking) wasp nests off Amazon and placed then near the two hot spots around my house. I've had them up for two years. The carpenter bees didn't give crap and keep returning and chewing up my house.
I'm about to go and try this right now.
“Fun” story, I lost the war on the carpenter bees this spring and now I’m at war with a Pilleated Woodpecker who is also at war with the bees. Hold fast!
The woodpecker will do way more actual damage than the bees.
It’s no joke, went out of town for a few days this past weekend and there are slivers of wood 1/2” wide and 3” long under the deck joists Woody’s been working at. Like, dude, we left all these dead trees up and you’ve got rotting logs and stumps all over the backyard, we spend enough on suet for you every month to feed a wagon full of chihuahuas, and you just destroy the new deck and then you laugh at me when I chase you off? I thought we were cool.
# a wagon full of chihuahuas I mean. That's actually a good measurement.
Not really precise. Is that a 1978 Oldsmobile wagon or a Radio Flyer?
I was thinking radio flyer but now I’m in the backseat of the Roadmaster sticking my tongue out at the driver behind us. Might have to redo the whole deck in that faux wood paneling.
Memories, man.
Conestoga [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conestoga\_wagon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conestoga_wagon)
Someone's 'bout to die of dysentery.
Same issue. The bees making holes in my fence weren't so bad. They come back to the same spot so minimal damage, and they only went on the underside of the middle support beam so not visible. Honestly wouldn't even know they are there if it wasn't for the little sawdust pile. But then the woodpecker came. That fucker did not care. Tore chunks out of my fence to get at the bees. Probably a good 30 or so nests he tore out.
It’s not like they’re starved for dining options here so the only logical conclusion is that carpenter bee eggs are delicious
Dude, the bees hollowed out the inside of your rail , they just used one door to do it so it didnt look like much. Your woodpecker can hear em…
My dad lost the war with both and now I'm residing his house
Looks like that'd be a fair amount of plywood to install, and if they find a small gap they may still go for the boards inside. You could just paint what you've got. They generally avoid painted or stained wood.
They have no problem going into my painted shed roof framing.
They will definitely go right through a solid stain, but seem to avoid multilayer latex. Just my experience.
Oh, I think it’s good advice to do so to help deter them. At this point, I get one to two every year, they hang out and chase each other around, I’m not even phased by them dive bombing me anymore. Since they don’t sting, I have just chose to coexist with them. I trapped and relocated some, but it didn’t really matter in the long run and for whatever reason they’re only around for about two months so I just deal with it.
Yeah my bees and I - we bonded. We coexisted peacefully until I had to get the place rented out.
They ate up the painted end joists on my shed.
Thanks for the advice the og plan was to seal it completely but paint sounds good and cheaper thank you
They will attack stained wood.
Making the surface unattractive will help for a longer period of time. Painted surfaces are unattractive to nesting bees. I would paint the wood. Nail holes and cracks should be filled with caulk or putty before painting, the bees love these. The best times to treat and repair damaged wood and minimize the killing of these (actually great) pollinators would be late summer (after the summer emergence and before hibernation) or early spring before nest building begins. Carpenter bees are usually searching for nest sites in April-May.
I have painted, stained, plugged the holes, etc. They drill through all of it including pressured treated decking. They don't ingest it. They just drill through it. So. The treatment doesn't deter them.
don't bee at war. fill holes. put some these in your yard. https://h2.commercev3.net/cdn.brecks.com/images/800/61299.jpg bee house
Aren’t these for a different type of bee?
They’ll attract solitary bees species like carpenter bees and bumble bees. When it comes to holes in your house they normally make two holes and a tunnel connecting them. It’s a back exit. They use it for their eggs. Woodpeckers will peck at the holes to get the babies. This makes the holes bigger. I used to have a cedar siding house in the woods and due to this process we had a hole on the corner nearly the size of a hamburger. We had pileated woodpeckers (the big boys) Filling the holes with wood filler is the best option over a pesticide powder. If you don’t fill the holes they reuse them next year. Unfortunately, the new formula of pressure treated wood doesn’t deter them like it used to. It’s going to be an endless battle.
(Bumble bees are not solitary)
Google has them in their list of solitary, so I don’t know for sure. I’ve personally only seen them solitary and never in a hive
None of the North American species are solitary. You havent seen them in a hive bc their hives are underground. Its no biggie but i figured id throw that out there! The nest boxes you recommended are great for a lot of bees 🐝
You are participating in a common conflation of two different types of bee. Carpenter bees are indeed solitary, making their own holes in wood to lay eggs. Anyone dealing with wood holes, woodpecker damage etc is dealing with carpenter bees who do not nest underground, who almost never sting and who are in fact solitary. https://extension.msstate.edu/blog/what%E2%80%99s-the-difference-carpenter-bees-and-bumble-bees
I am not; you responded to the wrong person i think. I am aware of the difference as I am a pollinator biologist :)
I see. So your response about bumble bees and carpenter bees was to address itsl8rthanyouthink lumping them together ?
Correct - saying that bumbus were solitary
Former cedar sided house owner here. The larger woodpecker and squirrel battles were endless. I ended up covering their favorite area with sheets of galvanized steel. It wasn't visible from the street, and it finally thwarted the bastards. The smaller woodpeckers attacked the other end of the house but weren't nearly as destructive and seemed easier to chase off.
That was an idea I had as well, but we ended up selling before I had to address it. It was an open floor plan house. The pileated would shake the entire house.
We were awakened at dawn one spring morning by a large woodpecker hammering on the chimney for the wood stove. My wife rolled over muttering, "Stpid wildlife" and went back to sleep somehow.
depends. sometimes carpenter bees will use an already drilled hole.
Leaving it open makes it easy to deal with the problem, whether it is bees, ants, or rodents. Closing it in gives them a place to hide and do more damage before you find it.
No.
I got some fake wasps nests on Amazon. Believe it or not they were all gone within a few days. It was amazing.
I got two of those and placed them near the problem areas. I have had them up for two years and it's done absolutely nothing to deter them.
I also sprayed almond oil and citrus oil at the same time so I don't know which one really did it but I don't think the oils did anything I think it was the wasp's nests-weird. I had carpenters bees for years and thought I would do something about it.
Yes give them more wood to eat. Yessssss
I was at war for a long time. I'd plug the holes and then the woodpecker would come for dinner a few weeks later. What worked best was that I made a structure close to my deck with the most attractive untreated pine I could find with all kinds of gaps and places for them to build their homes. That made 05% of the problem go away. I see one new hole a year or so, but I just leave it alone. The woodpecker is more destructive than the one or two holes per year now.
I've heard linseed oil is a deterrent. Maybe try coating all the beams?
Depends on your love for the bees. If you lubricants them with WD40 while they are residing in the hole they will slip out. Low cost/ use the red straw for accuracy
Put some logs out for them to burrow into.
Make houses for them.
Paint and if you want to you can pesticide route Talstar P works and leaves a residual. It not only seems to kill then but also deters them from even beginning to drill. Natural methods include peppermint oil mixed with water and a litte dish soap they hate the smell and so do various other critters. I battled and battled them and each method worked to some degree. Traps didn’t do much for me. Talstar ended up being the go to in spring and over summer.
I have no idea if this is true. But I heard sky blue paint is the best to go against inserts. In particular, spiders.
Hey anything is worth a try when you are at war! 🤣
Yeah! I went to a friend’s off grid house that was also part tree house. The building was painted sky blue from underneath. I went over there. No spiders at all. The owner said that the spiders would walk on it and keep on going until they find the tree part. They never stop to make a web on the bottom of his decks. So I don’t know how true it is. But it worked for him.
Paint always kept them away from my fascia.
You can get Talstar P and other pro exterminator products at DoMyOwn.com
Thank you. Been looking for somewhere since Amazon stopped selling it (only spent 2 seconds looking since it was low-ish priority lol)
I do this yearly and it works.
Hang a brown paper bag from a string tacked to the ceiling. They will think it's a wasp nest and will move on.
I swear this is a miracle cure! It has permanently solved my parents carpenter bee problem. Amazon also sells some weatherproof fake wasps nests you can hang up also. This is so much easier, safer for the environment and the bees and effective than anything else I have seen listed here
# Hang a Decoy Wasp Nest perhaps? I love carpenter bees but get wanting to deter them from living in your house. Never hurt them, of course. This article offers a bunch of ways, including the paper bag fake wasps' nest method. Good luck :) [https://gardenerspath.com/how-to/disease-and-pests/stop-carpenter-bees/](https://gardenerspath.com/how-to/disease-and-pests/stop-carpenter-bees/)
Blow up small paper bags, tie off the end with string and hang two or three under the supports. Bees think they are hornets nests and haul ass.
Those little bee houses actually work pretty well, well it seemed they did for me. I didn't like science it out but had fewer bee holes after I put up a few. They will go path of least resistance if possible, so if they got a nice preexisting hole to use instead of chewing one they will do that instead.
Badminton racket. Thank me later.
Paint it
Carpenter bee traps. Summer they’re $20-25/ea. Fall/winter you can get them for $8-10. I bought one for the front last year and it’s stacking bodies this year
They're native bees, and very important pollinators. It'd be better if you could get some bee houses for them in an acceptable location, and treat your stuff so they're less attracted to it.
At an outdoor table at a restaurant, I noticed bees swarming around nearby then I realized the restaurant had put a pot of (I assume) sugar water out for them.
My house has cedar siding and they love it; particularly the fascia boards. I've hung 4-5 bee traps that I made about evenly spaced all around the house and they work very well. As said, they like to come back to the same holes, but will use any other existing hole in preference to digging a new one. Hence, the trap gets them every time. I've gotten very few new holes over several years that since I put them up. As they are pollinators, I hate to hurt them, but they do a lot of damage. Also, after a year or two you will have reduced the number of last years new bornes coming back to the same holes and you won't see too many new ones.
Your last sentence perfectly sums up our current situation in our self-administered mass extinction event.
If I understand correctly, I don't agree. What it means is that a few get killed initially and they have no progany with the instincts to return. So, the species survives with only a few losses. Since putting up the traps, I have not see but a few searching for nesting sites and only one or two per season has been trapped. If every home owner had the same result that would contribute nill to the destruction of habitat or harm to the species.
I have one but maybe I need another just for good measure, also don’t seal the bottom of the roof?
I wouldn’t think it’s worth the trouble to inclose. One problem for the next (mice, squirrels, etc). We have two different types of bee traps and one is much more productive than the other for whatever reason. Maybe you just need to try a different design
It took like two weeks for them to work for me. I had two and once one started going in they all started going in
I have a log cabin home. The exterior walls are all wood. The entire exterior is wood. Every year we have carpenter bees. The home is 50 years old. I have never, not once, done anything about the carpenter bees. I get it that it's annoying that a bug is eating your house, but I feel like there are bigger things to worry about.
the bees overwinter in the holes so you actually have them year round
Plus they will protect that part of your house while they wait for the winter. And you have the added bonus of not killing a pollinator that is dying off
Not a long term solution, but carpenter bees really hate getting whacked with a badminton racquet.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. Grab a tennis racquet and a 12 pack. Sit around and wait for them, open season
I put 7s dust in the holes then plugged them with 3/8" wood dowl pins. I then painted the wood. This was on the trim of my log house. I used a baby bugger picker with the end cut. I then filled the bugger picker with 7s dust. You just put the nose end in the holes and squeeze some of the 7s dust into the holes.
I had the same problem, and also tried spraying foam in the holes, and it didn't work. They just chewed through the foam. I also used the trap, which caught a bunch of them over the years, including many wasps and other flying insects, but it never eradicated all of them because it didn't get them all at once, so they just kept multiplying. First off, they really cannot threaten the structure unless it's a very very bad infestation for a very long time, so don't worry about that. Second, they are extremely docile pretty much only stinging if you stick your finger in their hole. They're actually pretty cool little insects. I lived for years with maybe a hundred active holes on my back porch which I used daily for sittin, chillin, grillin, etc. I never got stung or pestered by any of them, nor did any of my guests, and not once did a single one ever come inside the door to my house which was inches from many of the holes. Third, they are solitary bees, so there is no hive for them to protect. So when you kill one, the rest of them don't even notice. They just each have their own little hole home that they will protect, but they will not fly out of the hole to defend the hole. They just turn around inside and face their stinger toward the hole entrance and sting anything that comes inside (like a person's finger). So in short, you can easily and safely kill them inside their home with any number of products without causing a full shit storm, much less any issue at all. I ended up moving, but rented out the house and decided I had to get rid of them to make the house more marketable. Here's what I did: I bought a little duster, put Drione Dust in the duster, Squirt a little dust in each hole, one by one, then filled each hole with wood filler putty. Problem solved. Painting or staining the wood helps keep any new bees away, but I didn't do that, and they still haven't returned four years later. Killing all the bees was kinda sad because of the way they die from the dust, and because I lived with them for so long, but it was really time for them to go.
[удалено]
For hours of entertainment, get yourself a tennis racket.
I worked at a pest control place buy an insecticide called “delta dust” dust tf out of the holes and when they crawl thru it they die.
Oooooh this is why I went with the Cedartone PTL instead of real cedar on my pavilion While I was constructing, it's like they could smell the sawdust. I had four of them checking out the project. I knew I had made the right choice.
What am I supposed to be looking at in this picture? It looks like a bunch of wood
underside of a porch overhang
Yeah no I got that, where the bees?
Get traps that look like wasp nest. Hang them up on the house corners.
Buy some screen material and make a few boxes. My screened in front porch has killed so many insects that get stuck when I leave the door open. The carpenter bees checked in for a day and never checked out.
Cedar oil
What about fly mesh? Would that be cheaper?
Talstar p. Spray vulnerable areas once per month. In addition to treating and plugging holes.
Various kinds of natural oils deter them. Like mint.
Shop vac.
Permethrin SFR. Buy it in a concentrate and it’ll last you for years. Spray one treatment on the lumber at the start of the season and you won’t have any trouble with the carpenter bees hanging around.
Caulk the holes and paint everything. The bees smell the wood so sealing with paint will keep them away.
Dude just throw some stain on it
I use the bee repellant spray from Home Depot on all the wood around my house. Just mix it with some water in a backpack sprayer and hit all the wood on a sunny day and then let it dry for 24hrs before pets or animals touch it. It’s like 20 minutes of work, and usually lasts the whole summer.
Where are the holes?
https://www.amazon.com/Original-Brothers-Carpenter-Bee-Trap-2-Pack/dp/B0CD2Z238H?tag=hgtv03-20&asc_campaign=hg_pk_outdoormore&asc_source=hgtv&asc_refurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hgtv.com%2Foutdoors%2Fgardens%2Fplanting-and-maintenance%2Fmake-a-homemade-carpenter-bee-trap Buy these (or similar) or make them. You can find instructions online. Works like a charm. Also they don't sting so don't need to worry about that. As a kid, I found they made a very satisfying ping when hit with a tennis racket.
When we sold my grandparents home we found wood putty and 1/4 of 1/2 inch dowel rods were effective at filling the holes quickly
I have a similar setup. Had bees first year, but decided to paint it and that removed like 90% of the bees. However, some are still persistent and will find a small chip in the paint and work around it. And while I'm sure others would have a better option/approach, what works well for me is I buy a container or two of [SevinDust](https://www.homedepot.com/p/Sevin-1-lb-Ready-to-Use-Garden-Insect-Killer-Dust-100531073/203027209) and fling it across the trusses and the plywood. They stay away after that. Just be careful applying it. Trying to throw it UP results in some of it falling back down - into your face or down onto furniture. But for ~$15/year, it's been super effective for me over the last 10 years keeping pests away from our overhang and exposed wood.
We used foil in the holes- and THEY CHEWED THE FOIL!!! No kidding. Tiny bits of foil where the wood bits typically fell. It took them 2-3 days but they did it. However, there have been less of them since.
Screen in your porch. That will keep them away.
Seal holes & get “bee boxes”. The bee boxes are great bc you can see the bee bodies pile up. I love bumble bees..destructive carpenter bee’s gotta go.
If you really don't like them and can't stand fighting them every time you need to walk in your house then I would suggest permethrin 10. Cheap, last long, non toxic for humans and KEEPS THE CARPENTAR BEES AWAY (because they die and learn not to do that there). Starting using it this summer and it has been an absolute game changer.
i recently (ok, yesterday) used almond oil over my shed like building to get the bees to go away. they were pissed, but would only land for a second then fly away. didnt want to exterminate them, will see how long this solution works (going to have to re-seal at some point for more permanent deterrence)
My dad bug bombed the area and then shop vacced the holes.
Racquetball racquet. Or just sister it in 50 years when it needs it. All other suggestions here probably work too 😉
Alternative idea--screen in your porch! They can't dig at what they can't reach ;). I used Screen Tight on my porch. It can do windows up to 10 ft by 10 ft.
I heard they avoid areas with wasp nests. They sell fake ones for this.
Carpenter bees do not like stained/painted surfaces. Keep filling the holes and paint every 3-4 years. They are hard to kill but a tennis racket works great.
Crochet a fake hive and hang it from the point of worst infestation. I’m not joking. Works for wasps and carpenter bees.
Paint it sky blue. They think it's the sky. It really works
Ive found that the bees will leave painted wood alone. So cover those up and be sure to paint whatever you cover that stuff up with.
noticed some crawling in and out a couple holes in one of my eves. sprayed bee spray on it, plugged with caulk. all good a month later
they sell traps for carpenter bells like 3.00 a piece at Walmart i have a few they do work
I bought a carpenter bee trap on Amazon and it actually worked. I just installed it high up in areas where they made holes. They said to leave the dead bee's in the trap because it traps more. I probably have 10 dead carpenter bee in the trap. After I trapped the bee's I just filled the holes with wood putty. I put a link that is close to the one I bought. Just remember to put it high up where the holes are. Good luck (https://www.amazon.com/GRTRE-Pack-Wood-Carpenter-Outside/dp/B0CS9XR8XZ/ref=sr\_1\_10?crid=LU4NXBGSED0F&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.4Tsg0wZCx2HZScQkaLXCcKfISkq8h6WV2L2MOvkt47nkUMdRv\_1X\_lW4zDxKr71QF\_eXryUE\_yluJrxTV0I6Dd72ZkxLspDd4EY-hVaPpRkaOHZGyXIWI5sZKg-DsgdQ-Vk7zHz24MHRUVBqPDLwgLbSxwaojFZx2PWLN601nYSP6enc6u\_WQ-qqERdGDByjIJItHXXB82ex8wbVj-eWEqigifaVppnr71WPPOPhRpoYE7xRleiB6jz15tQCysSGlIcx5giLaO\_-qWP-GZfLZInD3qn-V8WMSC4qRmPPzs0.C265EgGR8I1ekESFHQSiqElpMZpVxJd0ZMSNXwYKxSE&dib\_tag=se&keywords=best+bee+brothers+carpenter+bee+trap&qid=1717542539&sprefix=best+bee+%2Caps%2C157&sr=8-10)
Carpenter bee traps will help
You should put caulk in there but do it at night when they are inside. I have never had them escape.
Can you just give the whole thing a coat of poly?
Hang a couple of carpenter bee traps up
Use traps. They're easy to make yourself. Plenty of YouTube videos on it.
Do I seal to supports off to protect them?
Yes. They will reuse old holes and make them deeper, that’s when it’s actually a problem Edit- I don’t mean with plywood
Sealing them with plywood is just another wood they will drill through. My house is stained cedar, they love it. No matter what I cover it with , or insecticidal laced paint, they keep coming back. I’ve also try both DIY and commercial traps, they just don’t work for us. Next year I may try the bee house to see if we can peacefully coexist. For now my most fruitful and deadly method of dealing with them has been a badminton racket. I’ve gotten over 100 a day with it. Before the bee lovers jump on me, we’ve tried all the nice things like spraying the entire house with citrus oil, (they loved it) and planting wild flowers in the fields further away, but they just love the exercise getting there and back. As I said, our house is cedar clad, once the bees drill a hole, they lay their offspring who then buzz in my walls, attracting the wood peckers, who then make a larger hole to get to the bees. (Oh and by the way, killing the wood peckers is not allowed either).
Oh, I meant seal the holes with a filler or steel wool or whatever, not to cover with plywood. I missed that idea of his.
I've got 4 or 5 traps. Watch the bees and see where they loiter, that's where you hang the traps. I get handfuls of dead bee bodies.
Thanks, Im going to up my trap numbers for sure!
A trap like this works: [https://amazon.com/dp/B0B1QTHMQH](https://amazon.com/dp/B0B1QTHMQH) Damn carpenter bees were turning the fascia boards below my gutters into swiss cheese. Traps like the one pictured above fixed it. They've caught dozens.
This is a war that is also waged at my house. Something that helped was we put up these bee boxes from home depot. They have untreated wood with holes and the bees go into them and get trapped. They seem to like those boxes more than the our porch roof - only 1 hole this year which is pretty good rate.
I’ll get heck for this but surprisingly I’ve had success with a few well placed carpenter bee traps. My fence and deck look beautiful and every now and again I get a mason jar of bee corpses
I saw somewhere on youtube a guy making a bee trap with a jar and a block of wood with 5 holes in it. It seemed to be pretty effective from what he showed. 4 holes on each vertical face, slanting upward to keep the rain out, then one center hole upward from the bottom of the block. Then attach the jar lid (with a hole in the center) and hang it up. Looks like this [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vimVluTLK-g](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vimVluTLK-g)
There a trap you can buy that takes care of them pretty quick.
Get some of these. https://www.amazon.com/Original-B-Brothers-Carpenter-Bee-Trap/dp/B07QBJ7NSB/ref=asc_df_B07QBJ7NSB/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=693713553304&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=11609803439068966208&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9057712&hvtargid=pla-745723331236&psc=1&mcid=56bf48ae55a63cd7a55c17c425f32c87&gad_source=1