A friend of ours asked how we kept carpenter bees from eating our pergola. "We have no carpenter bees”, I said, "but I’ll investigate how to manage your bees and let you know”.
She was worried that since the bees pollinate flowers, controlling carpenter bees may be a bad thing. I replied, “There were plenty of things they could eat besides your house, so let’s figure this out". I also found that the larva will attract woodpeckers and they will also destroy a house, which happened to be a problem for her in the past.
The very next week we had signs they had arrived! We saw sawdust on the top of the car we park underneath the pergola.
So I went to bugspray.com and ordered three things.
Drione Dust
1/2 inch corks
Crusader bellow
Remember, the female carpenter bee will sting--so make sure the hole is empty before you begin. The male bee won’t sting, but they are the ones that fly in and around you to scare you off. They have yellow faces; while the females have black faces.
The reason why it’s a good idea to get rid of them now is that the babies tend to return to the nest where they were born. One nest could turn into more with every passing year. The next thing you know, you have hundreds of holes in your deck or house that are also going to attract woodpeckers.
Drione has a baby powder like substance and it will make a “poof” of dust when shot into the holes. Make sure it doesn’t come in contact with your skin or eyes. (I should have worn protective goggles because it would have been safer.)
Use the Crusader bellow to poof the Drione dust into the hole. You can seal the hole with a cork after you let it stand for a few hours. If the cork won’t press all the way in with just your thumb you can hammer them in the rest of the way.
I have a stain pen that I used to color the cork a little closer to the pergola color so it won’t stand out as much.
There you have it. Simple as that.
Bugspray.com is a wonderful resource for bug control of almost every kind. I recommend you visit that sight.
Here is an added bonus on Carpenter Bees from my friend Cathy who writes:
"Two weeks ago I learned from two gentlemen from Jasper, GA that there is a product that successfully deters carpenter bees from burrowing holes. The product is called NSB-30 and can be bought over the internet. It can be mixed with stain or water. It is a better environmentally safe product for your home and the bees, as it doesn’t kill the bees but detracts them.
I purchased it online and have since mixed it with the stain we used on our pergola. I inserted a small amount of insecticide first (as you suggested), filled the holes with steel wool then filled the remaining indentation w/ stainable wood putty. I then applied the stain. I waited until now to fill the holes as I had read online that the eggs hatch in August. Since carpenter bee’s are pollinators I’m trying to do my part, albeit not very significant, by not killing them out right. I hope this tip helps."
Thank you Cathy - I appreciate the tip!
