Carpenter bees

[Peter W. Bennett]

Now I know what they are called carpenter bees.
check out the image of two boring holes which are in the exact location of the siding.

[Jae Williams]

Originally Posted by tallen

Or, you could just mix some "pure" soap with some water and soak the area once a day for about a week..

That's an old Amish trick...

The Amish rid themselves of the Carpenter bee problem by taking a small bucket or paint pail and fill it half way with water. Add a couple of squirts of a liquid soap into the pail and hang it next to or beneath the holes that have been made by the bees. You can hang the pail with a screw hook or nail. The bees are attracted to the pail of water and once they taken a dip into the pail they can no longer fly because the soap coats their wings. You got it—no more bee or holes to deal with.

All the pest guys tell me (and all the things I read) that carpenter bees don't work on 'treated' lumber or painted lumber.

So why, then, do I find so many 3/8" holes in treated lumber that's been painted.

Hmmmmmmmmm?????

[Jeffrey R. Jonas]

Originally Posted by jwilliams4

All the pest guys tell me (and all the things I read) that carpenter bees don't work on 'treated' lumber or painted lumber.

So why, then, do I find so many 3/8" holes in treated lumber that's been painted.

Hmmmmmmmmm?????

Jae... you are confusing them with the "Mennonite Drill-bit Beetle"

(right side in pic)...

[RAY THOROMAN]

Short story, kill or treat these bees yourself. There is no ''cure all'' product.


Best thing when they're active to swat them with tennis rackets. Get a torch and stick it the hole. Fill the hole while they're in it.

Yes they'll eat through paint and PT wood. Of course they prefer the dried aged soft wood. If the PT is dry or aged, they'll go for it, wet PT not so much.


These guys have pheromones and will migrate back. It's a pain to control them. Causing structural damage? Not really, it'd take a lot. Diging through siding and causing moisture damage, more likely.


This is my experience here in Georgia. Don't remeber them being a problem in MI or FL when I used to live there?

[Jae Williams]

Originally Posted by jjonas

Jae... you are confusing them with the "Mennonite Drill-bit Beetle"

(right side in pic)...

Oh, OK...now I understand. Thank you so very much...