Get Rid Of Carpenter Bees

Getting Rid Of Carpenter Bees-Step By Step

All Carpenter Bee Control Products

Carpenter Bee Identification    Signs of Infestation of Carpenter Bees    Recommended Measures for Carpenter Bee Control

Recommended Control Measures-Prevention and Active Infestations

Carpenter Bee Prevention and Extermination

Prevention is the operative word. In the early spring, before the carpenter bees can begin to bore into the wood an once of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Recommended Residual Insectide Products: To be mixed with water in a tank sprayer such as B&G Dura Sprayer

• Cyzmic CS-Will not leave a visible residue
• Cyper WP-Will leave a visible residue seen against dark surfaces

Carpenter Bee extermination is usually best done before nesting activity gets started. Nesting and the rearing of young carpenter bees occur in the late spring or early summer . Treat when the carpenter bees are seen early in the spring. for best results. Treat with the residual insecticides shown below.

Active Infestations

• Step 1-If you have an active infestation with carpenter bees already in the galleries,you may need to spray the hovering males with a contact spray such as EcoPCO Jet X Spray or CB 80 as the beginning step.
• Step 2-spray with a residual insecticide such as Cyzmic CS or Cyper WP .
• Step 3-dust a residual dust such as  Delta Dust or Drione Dust in all the new openings. We suggest B&G Duster 1150(the carpenter bee kit has an additional curved tip to dust into the galleries)The tip is not sold outside of this kit.
• Step 4-After all is done, plug up the holes during the fall months.

How to use the Carpenter Bee Kit Step By Step

Do Carpenter Bees Sting?

Carpenter bee stings: Only the female will sting if provoked.The sting may be painful, and a cool ice pack can sooth the sting. Males(the ones with the yellow faces) cannot sting(they do not have stingers), but can be bothersome . You can kill the hovering males with a contact aerosol such as:   EcoPCO Jex X Wasp and Hornet Spray or CB 80 Pyrethrin Aerosol. The only reason for killing the males is their nuisance factor, since they can't sting.

Where to Spray Carpenter Bee Treatment

Spray the areas where they are boring in any unpainted or unvarnished wood with Cyzmic CS. Sometimes they may be boring in painted or varnished wood. Their holes are usually located on the underside of any wood surface including siding, soffits, overhangs, decks, fence posts, fascia boards and window frames. We recommend spraying during the spring twice at intervals of 3-4 weeks.

For severe infestations of carpenter bees on cedar and log structures, you may need to repeat the treatments more than twice.. We suggest a interval of two weeks .After each spray treatment , apply Delta Dust or Drione Dust to all possible carpenter bee holes or entry points.

Cyzmic CS or Cyper WP will last 2 to 3 months, leaving a residual for that long, taking it through most of their season.

Equipment to use for spraying:

B&G 10PV Dura Sprayer one gallon pump sprayer can spray 10-15 feet to reach any hard to reach areas.

Or you can use a Gilmour hose end sprayers The hose end sprayer will not work for i wettable powder (wp) formulations such as Cyper WP or Demon WP. The WP formulations will clog up the hose end sprayers. You can use the Cyzmic CS in a hose end sprayer. If you are using liquid residual insecticides such Cyzmic CS Insecticide , you will have a run-off of liquid if using a hose end sprayer.

Cyzmic CS or Cyper WP will work in any garden type pump sprayer.

Using Dust in carpenter bee holes

If you have a current infestation, dust with Delta Dust or Drione Dust as many carpenter bee holes as possible. Fill the B&G Dust-R Duster 1/2 with dust and dust into the openings. Although their holes appear to be only an inch or two deep, it usually extends at a 90 degree angle.This duster comes with a curved tip thtat will fit into the 90 degree angles easier. The female will turn 90 degrees and bore a channel from 6 inches to as long as 4 feet. This channel serves as a main corridor from which she will drill small chambers a few inches deep. These chambers become egg holders. She will deposit an egg, bring in some food, and then seal it off to ensure the egg's development.

It may be difficult to treat each individual gallery with a dust , aerosol or liquid residual insecticide, as you can see by the carpenter gallery picture, but is important if you have a current infestation.

Plugging up carpenter bee entrances

You can plug up the entrances with trebor plugs or cork, putty or use caulking compound after all the bees are killed. A safe time to plug entrances would be in the early fall months.
If you plug up the entrances too early, you would not allow the carpenter bees to pass thru the insecticide dust to pass freely and they may chew new openings in other locations.

The following year, by all means, spray early to prevent further boring.

Carpenter bees get their common name from their habit of boring into wood to make galleries for the rearing of young. These are worldwide in distribution with 7 species occurring in the United States. They don't have a hive as honey bees, but are solitary bees.The female Carpenter bee can get into small areas,boring holes.

They are perfectly round, about 3/8 " in diameter.

The female carpenter bee will bore a channel or main corridor in the wood from 6 " to as long as 4 feet to lay their eggs in "galleries". She will deposit an egg, bring in a mass of pollen for the newly hatched larvae to feed on, and then seal it all off to ensure it's development before she repeats the process for the next egg.

Although, they are a wood boring insect, they are not considered a true structural pest. They do not spread through out the entire structure, but prefer unpainted or finished wood.

CARPENTER BEE IDENTIFICATION

Picture courtesy : Kansas State University Research and Extension

Adult body length is about 1/2 to1 inch (12.5 to 25 mm). They are robust, resembling bumble bees, but larger, with the top surface of abdomen mostly bare and shiny. 

The male has a yellow face. The female's is black.

They can resemble bumble bees, but the upper surface of their abdomen is bare and shiny black, while bumble bees have a hairy abdomen with at least some yellow markings.

Bumble bees don't nest in the wood, but rather on the ground.

SIGNS OF CARPENTER BEE INFESTATIONS

Carpenter bees get their name from their ability to drill through wood and nest in it. Their drilling will create a nearly perfect hole approximately 1/2 inch in diameter. You will see round holes and a coarse sawdust-like substance called frass underneath the holes. The holes are perfectly round and are about 3/8 inch in diameter. You may find old holes near the newer ones. Old nests can be used year after year by the carpenter bee. Their holes are usually located on the underside of any wood surface including siding, soffits, overhangs, decks, fence posts, fascia boards and window frames.

HABITS

During the spring, the males seek out the females, hovering around females that found some unfinished wood, such as under eaves, railings, etc. The males are territorial and will confront you if you enter their territory, but they are incapable of stinging. Females have a stinger, but are very docile. Females will nest in a all types of wood, but prefer weathered and unpainted wood.

Male carpenter bees tend to be territorial and can buzz around you if you approach closely, sometimes hovering a short distance in front of your face or buzzing around your head. Since males have no stinger, these actions are just for show and intimidation.

The female bee can squeeze through incredibly tiny places to bore into untreated wood.