# What gets rid of Carpenter bees?



## Duane Broussard (Apr 3, 2008)

Every summer.... here they come! They hang out around my back steps (made from thick fur wood). They've bored holes all over the bottom side of the steps. I once swatted 252 of them in one day with a badmitten racket. That was a drop in the bucket on thier count. Someone said they live in the dirt under your home, yet I only see them in their holes bored in the steps and a few other locations (wood) around the property. How do you kill these things and keep them from returning the next year??
Thanks in advance,
Duane


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## Haywire Haywood (Apr 3, 2008)

Good question. I've got a few myself boring their way into my barn but not as many as you do. I just shoot the holes full of whatever I have in the way of an aerosol. WD-40 is my favorite. I can hear them buzzing away and Pssst... no more buzzing. They don't even make it out of the hole.

Ian


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## jdboy9 (Apr 3, 2008)

Brake cleaner works for me pretty fast use it on other nasty bugs too


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## deeker (Apr 3, 2008)

We cut a bit of quakie aspen for picture frames.......they request the boards from those trees that have been eaten by carpenter ants. Huge ants. I know how to spray for them once they leave the wood. But, not so easy to spray wood heading to the customer. I am interested in this thread. Short of kiln drying.....

Kevin Davis
Ruff Cutts


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## slabmaster (Apr 3, 2008)

Yea, i got them too.They are like a little milling machine,dropping sawdust all over my truck hood in the barn.I just spray up in the hole with bee spray.Then i have bee spray dripping on the hood. Didn't have them a few years ago.Seems like alot of new bugs in the country since world trade started.Who nows what we have to look forward to now


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## Mike Van (Apr 3, 2008)

A friend of ours had them bad on his white pine siding, they finally had to call Terminex or someone like that - While they still had some siding left. It worked, whatever they sprayed, no more bees.


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## Mad Professor (Apr 3, 2008)

Boric acid works on all insects, it's not too toxic to mammals unless you ingest it.


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## deeker (Apr 3, 2008)

I doubt that the bees and ants are related, but I need to kill both of them. And the bores that are in my Ponderosa pine logs.

Kevin Davis
Ruff Cutts


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## aggiewoodbutchr (Apr 3, 2008)

Fire!!!


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## Duane Broussard (Apr 4, 2008)

Yes.... I keep hearing that Boric acid is the key against most insects.

Aggiewoodbutchr.... Understandably, fire will get rid of ANYTHING. However, I can't set my steps on fire.

They calm down at late evening... I suppose that would be the time to shoot the bores with acid... or brake cleaner...etc...


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## czeigler (Apr 4, 2008)

Duane Broussard said:


> Yes.... I keep hearing that Boric acid is the key against most insects.
> 
> Aggiewoodbutchr.... Understandably, fire will get rid of ANYTHING. However, I can't set my steps on fire.
> 
> They calm down at late evening... I suppose that would be the time to shoot the bores with acid... or brake cleaner...etc...



We used to fill the holes with silicone at night! :hmm3grin2orange:


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## Metals406 (Apr 4, 2008)




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## Metals406 (Apr 4, 2008)

In all seriousness, I've heard if you take a 4x4 post and drill a bunch of 3/16" holes in it, and plant it in the yard... The bees will use that to nest. Something like 5' out of the ground I think.

Farmers use them to pollinate in Central Washington.


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## dumbhunter (Apr 4, 2008)

lol at metals, got me a civie model of the m-4, mine just dont have the bee selector position on it, just deer. 

i would love to know the aswer to this question also as i hae em bad around here also. last year i would wait till around dark and whatch them go in the holes, then use touch-n-foam. this way i know i got them while thaey are home. and the next dayor so i would see more buzzing around wondering what happened to the hole. thats when i hit them with cheap hairspray. it glues the wings so they cant fly 'squish' but it seems they keep coming by the droves. we had them fighting the humming birds over the flowers on our tulip tree. they then would hit the humming bird feeders.

for ants i use a product called 'amdro'. has worked well for me. just find the colony and sprinkle a little , next day- colony dead!


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## Duane Broussard (Apr 4, 2008)

Well.... these bores are about 1/4". I suppose I'm going to have to take my steps loose from the house, turn them upside down, and dose the holes with a mixture of boric acid, brake cleaner, hair spray, and insect spray. Oh.... and then light it on fire.
These steps are about 10 feet long and each step is 3 inches thick. 4 boards, stepped to 36" high. Big set of steps... and apparently this is where they decided to make thier home.


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## neverrude (Apr 4, 2008)

I give the grand kids badminton rackets and pay them .25 for each one they get and
remind them to be careful and not wack each other. They have a ball, I must have paid out over $10. last summer


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## pdqdl (Apr 4, 2008)

*I got just what you want...*

The carpenter bees are actually pretty easy to eliminate. They don't make hives, as do many bees, they LIVE and breed in the holes you are seeing. They prefer unpainted wood with low moisture content, and they usually bore into the wood from the bottom (dry) side to prevent getting wet when it rains.

Easy to treat: 

1. Paint the wood, especially the bottom sides of the joists. Easy on garage rafters, totally sucks on ground level front porches.

2. Get any common, over-the-counter insecticide, and spray it into every hole you find. EVEN last year's holes. Solvents like brake cleaner work well, but they evaporate and go away. Put something into the hole that will be there next year, too. They re-use old holes, unless you make it a bad place to live. One gallon "pump upo" yard sprayers work real well for this.

3. Plug any holes you find with whatever is easiest. Normal houshold caulk works well. It is most satisfying if you do it after dark, when they are inside the holes.

4. If the problem persists, "nuke" the wood surfaces with a harsher insecticide from somebody with a pesticide applicators license or spray the wood with something really vile like creosote or used motor oil [THINK FIRE HAZARD AND HAZARDOUS WASTE issues].

Be aware that some of the little buggers might just be buzzing through, looking for a good home. They might be overcrowded at your neighbors house.


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## zopi (Apr 5, 2008)

heh...fire does work..old stable out back is burning merrily right now..gotta make room for the saw shed. iffit'd kwit raining :censored: I'd be out there 
sawing timbers for it. 

apparently they don't like wd-40 much either...little shot through the hole and they come crawling out and DIE!


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## pdqdl (Apr 5, 2008)

*job satisfaction*

That wd-40 thing is the most fun at dusk, when they are just settling in for the night. No good for keeping them out next year, though.

Did you know that carpenter bees (at least the ones around here) don't have stingers ?

GREAT story: I had a worker's comp insurance man at my shop doing a "walk-through" to evaluate our various occupational hazards. I presume he was looking for reasons to increase my rates. A big yellow & black bee buzzed him real close, but I told him not to worry, it was just the carpenter bees. "They fly in real slow that way, trying to find their hole. Don't worry, they don't even have stingers."

Just one minute later he was jumping and whooping and swearing from a bee sting. It turns out that some bumble bees had set up an underground nest in that area, and they just don't seem to like insurance men.   

I was much closer to the nest, and they didn't bother me ! [I hate insurance companies, and don't care much for their people, either!]


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## Stihl 041S (Apr 5, 2008)

*Bees no more*

Soak cotton balls in SVEN, stuff it in the hole. It will kill it or they won"t come back to that hole.

They also stay to one board it seems. If you find one board with a lot of holes, replace it. 

Thanks to the Penn State Extention folks.
Rob


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## zopi (Apr 5, 2008)

pdqdl said:


> I was much closer to the nest, and they didn't bother me ! [I hate insurance companies, and don't care much for their people, either!]



Our ins. guy creeps me out....stepford idiot...

I had a couple of bumble nests last year...got the crap stung out of me a couple times...they do not act like honeybees...one bunch simply got doused in diesel four or five times, couldn't burn or smoke them out as they were in a building I want to keep...and the other bunch was in a piece of tin stovepipe...<GRIN>
160,000 BTU propane burner at full bore in one end and a piece of hardware cloth on the other...


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## neverrude (Apr 5, 2008)

TreeCo said:


> I use badminton racquets. Table tennis paddles are to small and short, racquet ball racquets a bit heavy as are tennis racquets. Badminton racquets are nice and light and with a bigger head would be perfect. Who cares what the neighbors say.




The first time Mrs. Saw me swinging away with a badminton racquet by chicken house she was back up the house about 75 yards away and too her it looked I was just swinging away at nothing.
It was on a hot July day. She came down to see me and said she thought the heat had gotten too me.

Now I pay the grand kids to do it, or sometimes after I have a few  
I'll get a racquet, I keep a few on a hook on the side of barn.:greenchainsaw:


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## sawyerDave (Apr 7, 2008)

*Carpenter Bees*

I've seen 'em nest in an old pitchfork handle leaning on the sunny side inside of a barn before! Best way I have found is to stuff a moth ball (Paradichlorobenzine, not moth testes) into the hole that they have drilled.


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## pdqdl (Apr 7, 2008)

*Bumble bees!*



TreeCo said:


> I use badminton racquets. Table tennis paddles are to small and short, racquet ball racquets a bit heavy as are tennis racquets. Badminton racquets are nice and light and with a bigger head would be perfect. Who cares what the neighbors say.



The bumble bee nest that I mentioned previously was VERY difficult to eliminate. We sprayed them with insecticide, gasoline, diesel; all to no avail. They set up camp underneath some metal cabinets, and were too far back for our chemical efforts to take them out.

I ended up killing over 50 of them with a light board by "baseball batting" them when they came home to roost. I wish I had had a badminton bat; I'll bet the strings cut them to pieces !


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## pdqdl (Apr 7, 2008)

sawyerDave said:


> I've seen 'em nest in an old pitchfork handle leaning on the sunny side inside of a barn before! Best way I have found is to stuff a moth ball (Paradichlorobenzine, not moth testes) into the hole that they have drilled.



The old fashioned moth balls were naptha. I never thought of that, that would work real well. 

[Mix with gasoline, and you get napalm, too !]


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## 318firebug49 (Apr 7, 2008)

*Bees n Beer*

Used to run a wholesale Crawfish business out of an old wood shed on our place in Effie. Had several guys working for us and at the start of the first crawfish season we had one heck of a infestation. Thousands of them!!!!!!! We got a half dozen badmitton rackets and at the end of the day we would pass a few beers around to get the guys to hang around, put a racket in their hand and let the fun commence. Took most of the crawfish season, and a small fortune in beer cost but we got all of them. Still have a few show up every now and then but for the most part - No more bees-... Sodbuster killed quite a few, he was one of the better one's once he got a six pack in him!!


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## pdqdl (Apr 7, 2008)

Darn ! That sounds like a LOT of fun.


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## 318firebug49 (Apr 7, 2008)

pdqdl said:


> Darn ! That sounds like a LOT of fun.



It was/is- just gotta watch out after a 12 pack- the swings can get kinda wild and you end up with a bump or two on the noggin from over swings!! Might also try a Red Rider BB gun, shooting at the holes can be challenging!!

They will also attract to a bug zapper- just be warned- they sometimes catch fire while they are frying- quite a show  I have seen sodbuster catch them, tie a thread around them and let them fly on a leash, he took one into Blockbuster- kinda got a little attention out of that


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## pt026422 (Aug 5, 2008)

*Ortho Ome Defence*

ORTHO HOME DEFENCE!!!! My Terminix guy said it's the strongest unregistered spray that I can get and it works on bee's, ants, and just about everything except bats. I have used it numerous times and it is great. Home depot and Lowes carry it in a self applicator container. I live in a log cabin and can't take chances with boring bees or carpenter ants!! Hope it works for you. Russ


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## Duane Broussard (Aug 5, 2008)

Hey Russ... thanks for the advice with Ortho. I'll give it shot.


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## Ted J (Aug 5, 2008)

pdqdl said:


> That wd-40 thing is the most fun at dusk, when they are just settling in for the night. No good for keeping them out next year, though.
> 
> Did you know that carpenter bees (at least the ones around here) don't have stingers ?
> 
> ...



I don't have a problem with them anymore.

I bought a Bellows Duster and a bottle of Drione powder. Puff the powder in the holes and when the bees hatch they will die in the hole, and it will kill any bee that goes in the hole.

Plus I also take the duster and dust every weep hole in the brick wall around the house real good.

The male carpenter bees do not have a stingers, only the female ones. There area number of pests listed on this page and suggestions for getting rid of them.


Good luck,
Ted

PS: Before I bought the Drione I used wasp spray and it fills the holes fast, but ya gota be careful of "spray back", that'll burn the eyes, goggles recommended!!!


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## Duane Broussard (Aug 5, 2008)

Ted, thanks for all the great info! I'm going to look into all of this.


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## Mike PA (Aug 7, 2008)

Use sevin to kill 'em. Two types of sevin, liquid or powder. For powder, blow sevin into holes. I have heard of people using steel wool in the holes after blowing in the dust. Haven't used the liquid, but I imagine it works the same, once it drys out. Untreated wood can be coated with liquid sevin to prevent boring. Once a bee has bored in, blow the dust in so the bee takes the dust throughout the hole.

BTW - female carpenter bees have stingers, males do not. Male tend to be aggressive, while females are not.


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