Get Rid of Carpenter Bees
Carpenter bees resemble the bumble bee, having similar body structure and coloring. However, unlike bumble bees, carpenter bees are benign creatures. Only the female carpenter bee is capable of stinging, and will only do so when provoked. These creatures like sylvan environments, as they like to burrow tunnels inside wood to set up a nest. The following article explains how to defeat carpenter bees and keep them from coming back. NOTE: Carpenter Bees are Pollinators, which help crops, gardens, and wild flora. It may be more beneficial to contact a local Bee Keeper than an exterminator (or trying to remove them yourself).
Contents
Steps
Actively Fighting and Exterminating Carpenter Bees
- Make good use of available pesticides. Powders are the most effective pesticide for active Carpenter bee nests. Products such as Carbaryl dust (Sevin) and boric acid (Borid Turbo Aerosol) are effective.
- Spray the burrows with petrol. A tried and tested remedy for bees is spraying petrol or diesel into their burrows. It's a homemade pesticide, if you will. It will kill them, but petrol is flammable and can damage the structure you pour it over, so use it carefully.
- Take caution not to get petrol on your skin or inhale its fumes. Wear an N-95 respirator, some goggles, and gloves when applying petrol to the burrow.
- If using a spray bottle to spread petrol, be sure to label it and set it aside for petrol-only use in the future. You probably don't want to use the spray bottle to spritz your plants with water after using it to gas carpenter bees.
- Spray the bees or their burrows with aerosol carburetor cleaner. While it's not the most gentle product to use for carpenter bee extermination, it's certainly effective. Aerosol carburetor cleaner has an extension tube for the can, and can be had cheaply from a discount or auto supply store. Some types will kill them instantly inside their burrow; others will make their prospective home very uninhabitable.
- Be very careful to not get this in your face or eyes; wear protection and read the precautions for safety.
- Make a lot of noise. Carpenter bees are notoriously sensitive to noise, which may in fact be a sensitivity to vibrations. Set up a soundbox or boombox next to their prospective dwellings to encourage them to leave. This method is both safe and no-hassle.
- Lay the swat down. In spring, carpenter bees fly around looking for burrows to lay eggs and deposit pollen as food for the larvae. (They use old burrows too, therefore it is a good idea to plug them.) This means they are very active for two to three weeks. A badminton or tennis racket is very effective to smack them with, especially easy with their habit of stopping and hovering for a moment.
- Make sure to give them a good brisk smack! Stepping on them, (with shoes of course), is an obvious extra option after you smack them.
- Get an exterminator. Professional exterminators know what they are doing, and can rid you of the bees efficiently.
Preventing Carpenter Bees
- Stuff their hole with steel-wool. Carpenter bees can't dig through steel wool, making it a perfect jail cell. After they have left that nest, use some wood putty or caulk to patch the spot. Match the putty or caulk to your wood or plan on painting.
- Stain or paint any outdoor wooden surfaces to discourage bee infestation. Although carpenter bees tend to attack all wood surfaces, they don't do so indiscriminately: Exterminators believe they prefer untreated wood. That means it's high time to apply that stain or paint that deck that you've been meaning to but haven't gotten around to.
- Spray affected areas with a natural non-synthetic citrus and/or tea tree oil spray. Try to find a citrus-based spray specifically designed for carpenter bees, or be industrious and make one yourself. Cut up the rinds of several different citrus fruits (orange, lemon, lime, grapefruit) and boil them in a shallow pot filled with water. Fill a spray bottle with the citrus-extract water, and fill spray bottle with the juice of citrus fruit.
- Spray the burrows of the carpenter bees with citrus-extract water. Carpenter bees, like other insects, have a natural aversion to citrus oil (which is why the skin and rind protect the fruit on the inside — to keep it away from predators).
- Almond oil and almond essence is another tried and true option that repels carpenter bees.
- Stop the cycle of reproduction. It's not enough to merely kill the adult bees or the reproducing females; you need to kill the bee larvae in their nests in order to keep them from reproducing and starting the whole menacing cycle over again. Here's what to do to try to kill the carpenter bee larvae:
- Apply a dust insecticide in each nesting gallery. Using a dust insecticide is important, as other insecticides can become absorbed into the wood or wear off before the larvae is hatched.
- Be sure not to seal up the gallery hole when applying the insecticide dust. This forces the carpenter bees to burrow new holes, meaning there's a chance they don't pass through the insecticide.
- Seal off burrows or galleries that have been vacated. As soon as the young carpenter bees leave their nest, it's time to seal everything up again, preferably with something stronger than wood (which the bees will burrow into again). Seal off with steel wool, aluminum, asphalt, or fiberglass and cover with wood filler. Paint or stain the surface to discourage further burrowing.
Warnings
- Do not use pesticide products that are banned; they're banned because they're bad for your health, the health of children, or cause serious environmental problems.
- Make sure to wear protective clothing when handling these bees, as they can sting. But only if it is a female, and females are much more reserved, spending most of their time in their nests. As a result, the likelihood of being stung by one is very little.
Things You'll Need
- Spackle
- Pesticides
- Rackets to kill the bees
- steel wool
- plugs/ wood putty
Related Articles
- Deter Bees
- Get Rid of Killer Bees
- Get Rid of a Wasp's Nest
- Get Rid of Ants
- Get Rid of Bed Bugs
- Kill a Bee
