The small bee is a crucial part of the multiple miniature ecosystem that make it possible for nature ’s cogs and power train to keep turning and the world to keep running . Take the bee out of the orbicular equality and the core on humanity and every other living organism on earth would be ruinous .
We need bees far more than they ’ll ever necessitate us , but as much as we trust on them , some species of bee have unique nesting and couple behaviour that can be a nuisance in the cubic yard .
One of these misunderstood coinage ( that ’s much maligned by homeowners ) is the carpenter bee . But first — are you sure you ’re parcel out with carpenter bees and not their lookalikes ?
How to tell a carpenter bee from other bees
Carpenter bee are wood - boring insects that burrow into wood so as to make their nest . As nongregarious insect , they do n’t survive in hives and are n’t part of a complex societal group ( like honeybees ) .
They ’re one of the largest specie of native bee in the United States ( a preeminence they share with bumble bees ) and are often misguided for bumble bee . But while both are large in size ( about 1/2 to 1 inch long ) , their appearance is quite different .
The carpenter bee is less hairy than a bumble bee . It has a shiny disastrous abdomen , a fuzzy yellow-bellied chest with a bald smear in the eye of its back , and a black head . The male person has a white spot on its face .
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Though they do n’t adjust to the same social structure that the legal age of bee species do , carpenter bees still follow the same hierarchical makeup , and the female always takes the lead .
The female of the species is not justificative or aggressive , but can sting if provoked . Its task is to excavate small tunnels in woodwind instrument to lie its eggs and raise the larva to adulthood .
The male , on the other hand , is very aggressive but all lecture and no bite — that is , it may attack a potential menace ( like other bees , insects , and even humans ) but can not sting . Its job is to hold the entrance of the burrow ( in hopes of snagging a mate ) .
Carpenter bees are n’t particularly grumpy about the places they nest in , which means when fountain is in the air and conjugation season arrives , there ’s a pretty good chance that a persistent carpenter bee might choose to make her nest in a rather inconvenient place — like the woodwork around your home .
Effective ways to get rid of carpenter bees (and keep them out)
Carpenter bees are incredibly effective pollinators and are a full of life part of your garden ’s ecosystem , and as long as they ’re left alone , they pose absolutely no danger to you .
Once they ’ve tunnel in , it ’s too former to do anything about the bees being there . You ’ll require to result them be and take care of what ’s leave of their nest after the next multiplication of bees has hatched and grown .
Therefore , the best way of life to get free of carpenter bees is to forestall them from direct up residence in the first position . The following method I commend for controlling them are non - toxic and dependable to practice around tiddler and pets .
Attempting to carry on with a bee plague using pesticide , insecticide , or toxic chemicals should be a very last haunt , and avoided if at all potential .
This is not just to serve the pollinator population in your curtilage , but also for wellness and environmental grounds .
Here ’s how you could keep carpenter bees from gage a claim to your property .
Method #1: Paint your wood.
It sounds crazy , but the bare truth is if you paint your fence , decking , and any other wooden buildings and surfaces that carpenter bees might be tempted to nest in , they ’ll move on to somewhere else .
Why ? Because carpenter bees are put off by wood that ’s been chemically treated ( which construct it more ambitious to burrow into ) .
Even a coat of clear varnish ( nota Mrs. Henry Wood stain , which does not have the same repelling gist ) will deter them from drill .
Painting is such a mere solution and works so well that it ’s always my # 1 good word for deterring bee nest construction .
Another tip : If you ’re build a new structure or replacing any older or discredited woods , utilise pressure - treat lumber instead of untreated timber . Or , consider synthetic stuff like vinyl , Trex , or HardiePlank if you do n’t require the on-going maintenance of pigment .
Method #2: Use citrus essential oil.
Many insects are sore to the potent olfactory property of citrus essential oil color , carpenter bee included . The warm odour of orange , lemon yellow , calcium hydroxide , lemongrass , bergamot , and grapefruit may be herculean enough to deter them , yet dependable enough to use around your home as a natural bee repellent .
Some easy ways to incorporate citrus fruit in your yard include :
Using citrus as a deterrent can be labor - intensive ( especially if you ’re take a leak citrus fruit spray a few times a time of year ) , so I only recommend this method acting in bicycle-built-for-two with other preventive measure .
Method #3: Install chimes or speakers.
Hanging heavy wind instrument bell ( or anything that will resonate and make noise when it ’s caught in a cinch ) in areas where carpenter bee might snuggle can be in effect enough to drive them elsewhere .
It is n’t the strait the chimes make that bothers and distracts bees , it ’s the vibration .
In a similar nervure , you’re able to even install outdoor speakers around potential trouble areas ( as long as you remember to move around them on often ) . The vibration from the sounds arrive out of the speakers is enough to disorientate the bee and either dissuade them from nesting , or drive them away from their nests whole .
So put up that outside sound arrangement you ’ve always need and adulterate up your favorite playlists or podcasts !
Disclosure : If you denounce from my article or make a purchase through one of my links , I may receive commissions on some of the product I advocate .
Method #4: Seal the holes.
Each new generation of carpenter bee hatches in recent summertime . The bees egress from their nest in August and September to feed on nectar and pollenate efflorescence before overwintering ( often in abandon nest tunnels ) .
So your upright bet for seal any pickle is in late September when most , if not all , the bee have leave the nest .
To see to it you do n’t trap any stragglers in the tunnels , use abee repellent like this one . ( It ’s the same clobber apiculturist use to humanely remove honeybees from the hive so they can reap the honey . )
Once you ’re sure all the bees are out , punch the hole with woods putty or a wooden dowel pin coated with wood glue . This will prevent distaff bees from returning to their nest and causing more impairment .
One crucial thing to note : I ’ve seensmall corks like these onessold for the purpose of punch carpenter bee holes , but I do n’t commend them . The bees can and will chew through the cork and make new holes elsewhere . At secure , these phellem are impermanent band - aids if you ca n’t get around to decently plug the pickle in good order away .
Important
Always use bee repellent before plugging a hole . If any carpenter bees are trapped inside their burrow , they ’ll simply excavate new tunnels to regain their way out .
Method #5: Invite them in.
While carpenter bees can burrow into any wooden region they select to make a nest in , they can also be rather lazy . Every springiness they have the vast task of drill golf hole and building nests , so if they can find oneself anything to make their jobs easier , they ’ll in all likelihood take it .
That ’s when asolitary bee house like this onecan be an effective remedy for keep carpenter bees out from your own home .
Mount the bee house on a wall that develop morning light , on a tree branch away from bird feeder , or on a hardy post in your garden to give carpenter bees an substitute and ready - made nesting site !
When choose a bee business firm , make certain the holes are large enough for a carpenter bee to nest in . Many of the unity on the market are made for smaller lone bees ( like A. E. W. Mason ) , and carpenter bee wo n’t fit inside the pre - drilled holes , nor do they care the more vernacular bee house filled with paper nesting tubing .
Method #6: Trap them.
When all else fails , or if you have other cause for needing to exterminate carpenter bees around your house , you’re able to practice a exceptional carpenter bee trap .
Where to purchase
Carpenter bee traps
Hang this eccentric of trap on a fence post or near exist holes around your house to lure carpenter bee . Once they fly inside the ambush , they precipitate into a chamber and can not fly back out .
you may habituate a non - toxic bee trap enticement around the ambuscade entryway to further cod them . The sweetener replicates bee pheromones and is 100 per centum safe to use , unlike pesticide that are toxic to other beneficial insects as well as world .
Bee trap bait
Hang the trap under an eave or covered porch ( or wherever carpenter bees are likely to nest ) and put away the dead bee when they start throng up in the jar .
How their holes are made
Unlike termites — and perverse to popular opinion — carpenter bees do n’t run through wood . They scrounge for pollen and nectar .
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But they do chew through wood ( and spit the particles back out ) to build their nesting bedroom , an activity that can be trashy , messy , and a nuisance on your prop .
The easy way to tell if you ’ve been visited by carpenter bee is if you start take care modest , random peck of sawdust or loose shavings around the wooden surfaces outside your firm — particularly sawdust near or direct beneath diminutive holes .
You might hear some muffled buzzing inside the wood ( as the bee bear their tunnel ) and you might even see some large , lightly fuzzy bee flying around your wooden eaves , wooden fencing , or wooden deck of cards .
Those slight mounds of sawdust are byproducts of the bee ’ burrowing . And where there ’s sawdust , there ’ll almost certainly be holes .
To get it on whether these are just random holes or the skillful employment of carpenter bees , reckon for mucilaginous , dark , yellowish - brown or black smirch around the muddle ; these are bee dung ( excreta ) . The golf hole are about 1/2 column inch in diameter and perfectly round , to where you might even mistake them for maw drill by a power pecker .
Carpenter bees opt to exercise into unpainted softwoods like pine tree , cypress tree , fir , cedar tree , and redwood . ( Though some species will also practise into hardwoods like oak or eucalyptus . )
Their holes are unremarkably found in wooden cap zoster , facia board , eaves , rafters , turnout , decks and railings , fence post , firewood , and outside furniture . In the natural state , they often make nest in stagnant trees , stumps , and logs .
It’s not just the hole you have to worry about
From the exterior , carpenter bee equipment casualty look like a childlike yap . But the maw is merely an entrance to a mesh of separate tunnels built by multiple bee .
The female carpenter bee start up by using her mandible ( mouthpart ) to vibrate against the Sir Henry Joseph Wood grain , carve out diminished granules that resemble sawdust . It work about a half - inch into the wood , then prepare a 90 - level turn and “ drills ” a foresightful tunnel following the grain of the Sir Henry Wood . A single tunnel is typically about 6 inches long but can traverse up to 12 inches .
The female person can brook a little over a half - in of forest per week and sometimes you could even hear it manducate furiously through the wood .
One hole can be used by multiple nesting female , with each bee take its own tunnel branching off the main one . Inside each tunnel are 6 to 10 cell . The female mixes pollen and ambrosia to form a kind of “ bee bread , ” lays an egg on top of the bee lettuce , then seals off each electric cell with jaw - up Mrs. Henry Wood .
Since the female likes to keep a clean nest , it push all the surplus forest granules and its own poop out of the burrow , result in the piles of sawdust and gluey streaks of brown you see outside the holes .
On its own , a unmarried tunnel bore by a carpenter bee is n’t likely grounds to cause any significant damage to your home or other wooden structure . The initial drilling may not be esthetically pleasing , but it wo n’t compromise stability .
However , distaff carpenter bee favor to use the same nesting site as their mothers , and may return to their nest to overwinter before enlarging and blow up the tunnels the following fountain .
If the same tunnel is used by multiple carpenter bees over multiple years , it canstretch up to 10 feet retentive , severely weaken the wood .
Woodpeckers also like to course on carpenter bee larvae and will cause further hurt by tearing into the wood to get at the nests .
Multiple holes also create more areas for water to seep in , eventually leading to wood rot . So , it ’s always a practiced idea to put a diaphragm to carpenter bees as soon as you comment them tunnel on your property .
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