Date: Mon, April 3, 2006

In this email look for the following:  Carpenter Bees E Letter

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I have just responded to the first question about Carpenter Bees for this year: "Can anyone tell me what you can do to get rid of carpenter bees?"

I've been out on the porches and decks this week-end and observed these large black and yellow bees buzzing around the siding and rafters. They resemble "bumblebees" and use strong mandibles to excavate tunnels about 1/2 inch in diameter, usually on the lower side of a board.

Males emerge from tunnels where they have spent the winter and begin to carouse about looking for the girls who usually show up later. The females begin to excavate the nesting sites (isn't that the way?) boring in about 1/2 inch or so, then turning 90 degrees to follow the grain of the wood. Sometimes several of the girls work together with a single entrance but separate quarters inside. Inside her own tunnel the female deposits a pollen ball and an egg. She seals this chamber with chewed wood and repeats the process several times.

The adults soon die and a new generation will hatch out later in the summer. They seldom create new tunnels but may clean out an old one to provide a nice place to spend the winter months while you bring in firewood.

I doubt that you can get rid of carpenter bees. They are simply one of the critters with whom we share this world. They are annoying, but we learn to live with annoyances and to minimize how annoying it is.

Entomologists with whom I have discussed this insect suggest that a tennis racket is the most effective control strategy, and they seem to be serious. They also suggest that treating the wooden surfaces with insecticide is of limited effectiveness for multiple reasons: 1) They are effective for only a short period even when reapplied every few weeks. 2) the bees don't actually eat the wood so they actually are exposed to only a sub-lethal dose. 3) any exposed wood may be subject to boring by carpenter bees, and there is usually a lot of surface that is not accessible with reasonable application strategies. (I don't include power washing your home with an insecticide among reasonable application strategies.) 4) trying to spray a moving bee in the air is probably neither wise nor safe. I can see you backing off the steps while spraying your mother-in-law with the insecticide. The tennis racket is probably more effective, but do watch where you lunge. I've gone in a circle now.

Treating individual holes with an insecticide spray or dust may reduce future activity but is not guaranteed. Be sure to stand upwind and be aware that a spray may ricochet back in your face. These treatments tend to be more effective if the individual hole is sealed afterward. And of course, accessibility to individual holes is no easier than spraying the whole house. I'm back to thinking tennis racket again.

The good news is that carpenter bees seldom create serious structural damage unless they are allowed to drill many tunnels over a period of years. And that argues for treating individual holes.

You will probably hear several other suggestions. I'll be waiting to see who has gotten rid of them for more than a season. I wonder if anyone has investigated vinyl siding and carpenter bees?

alcooke

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Al Cooke
Extension Agent - Agriculture
Chatham County Center
North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service
N C State University
PO Box 279
Pittsboro, NC 27312
919.542.8202, FAX 919.542.8246
al_cooke@ncsu.edu http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/chatham/staff/acooke/home.html