Carpenter bees

[LCHIEN]

Oh, its springtime and I have a number of carpenter bees trying to destroy my fence.. First sign: Sawdust on the ground and cross bar..


Better look underneath the crossbar above. Nice neat round hole about 3/8" Looks like he used a brad point drill.



Look what fell out of the hole after I sprayed...

.



Killed one last week, two more today.
Unfortunately I feel a slight kinship to this bee.

[atgcpaul]

Both my dad and I had a couple at our respective houses. I was always envious of the nice round holes they could achieve. No evidence of wandering like you can get with a standard drill bit.

[os1kne]

I've been having them also. Last year, I built a "carpenter bee trap" with a PT 4x4 scrap and a mason jar. It's trapped 4 carpenter bees so far this year.

The trap may be to much effort for the return of 4 bees, but I do get a small sense of satisfaction every time I see it.

[LCHIEN]

They tend to be loners, not large swarms or hives, so four is pretty good.

[Carlos]

Glad we don't have those around here, but the **** woodpeckers... If only it were legal, I've *heard* you can get rid of them with a high-power .22 air rifle...

[capncarl]

I use a Raquet ball racket to swat them into the next county! In early spring they start buzzing around and will hover near you, I guess trying to scare you away. It doesn’t go ell with them. I believe the carpenter bees at my house learn to stay away from me because shortly after I start swatting them they stay away from people, but we can walk over to the neighbors house and the bees will get in your face. I don’t carry my racket there because their daughter flips out when someone kills a living thing.
My bug a salt gun is not very effective on killing carpenter bees. Thy move too fast and stay just out of its range.

[LCHIEN]

I've been having them also. Last year, I built a "carpenter bee trap" with a PT 4x4 scrap and a mason jar. It's trapped 4 carpenter bees so far this year.

The trap may be to much effort for the return of 4 bees, but I do get a small sense of satisfaction every time I see it.

How do you get them to go for the sacrificial trap and not the fences? I''d almost be glad to coexist with them if they were't dismantling my fence. I read that they are good pollinators. I have plenty of wood I'd be willing to give them. They don't really eat it, they just bore their nests in it.

Oh, I get it now. THey go for the holes you drill in the trap. They prefer existing holes (lazy?) to having to drill brand new holes. If you make the holes right they supposedly can't get back out.

[LCHIEN]

Glad we don't have those around here, but the **** woodpeckers... If only it were legal, I've *heard* you can get rid of them with a high-power .22 air rifle...

Squirrels and .177 spring piston air rifle - they don't get along with each other. Squirrels are getting a bit aggressive this year. .177 cal pellet will have a higher velocity than a similar spring piston .22; the kinetic energy will be about the same. (1/2 mV^2) since you are cranking the same spring and piston power plant, just a different mass projectile.

[os1kne]

How do you get them to go for the sacrificial trap and not the fences? I''d almost be glad to coexist with them if they were't dismantling my fence. I read that they are good pollinators. I have plenty of wood I'd be willing to give them. They don't really eat it, they just bore their nests in it.

Oh, I get it now. THey go for the holes you drill in the trap. They prefer existing holes (lazy?) to having to drill brand new holes. If you make the holes right they supposedly can't get back out.

Yes - I can't say that it's 100% at preventing new holes, but if they see the trap they do seem to prefer checking out the existing holes to boring a new one.

[capncarl]

They must be good pollinators. We grow a lot of plants and shrubs for the bees and hummingbirds and see the carpenter bees right ther with all the little critters.
I have a puzzle that I made out of a 2x2 piece of of a much larger slab of old pine that was riddled with carpenter bee tunnels. The tunnels wandered around and had several entrances and larger rooms. I crosscut the 2x2 every 1 1/2” to see where how far the tunnels went and decided to keep it for a puzzle. It’s quite hard to solve, and you have to grain of the wood rather than match the tunnel holes in the adjoining blocks. I’ll post a photo later.

[LCHIEN]

Carpenter bee trap
https://www.myfrugalhome.com/how-to-...nter-bee-trap/

Made one this afternoon.
If you make one, drill the big hole before cutting the rooftop bevel, in fact the roof top bevel is only for looks/ water runoff.

In this one, ignore the used nail holes; this is a scrap of an old fence post.
The 4x4 has a central hole about 7/8" dia. and three and a half inches deep from the bottom. There are four more 7/16th holes drilled upwards at 45 degrees from the side intersecting the big hole from the bottom.
The glass jar lid has a 7/16" hole in the top and the lid is screwed on so as to cover the big hole in the bottom of the wood.


P.S. So far two bees in the trap - catching one per day. No new holes noted in the fence.

[JoeyGee]

Interesting. We started getting carpenter bees last year--honestly I had not even heard of them before then. They attack a treated wood playset and ignore our fence that has seen better days--the opposite of what that article says they prefer. I will have to try those traps.

[capncarl]

I haven’t had much luck thinning the herd with traps. I guess there is just too many boards for the to eat to worry about a trap! These critters are very territorial, much like hummingbirds. They are constantly trying to chase an opponent away and get into some interesting fights. I’ve seen them chase each other around the yard several times then head straight up, probably 50 feet before they finally tie up, then plummet to the ground. At first I thought they were doing the dirty deed, their own mile high club, so I observed what happend when they hit the ground. Usually one was dead or dying.

[LCHIEN]

I haven’t had much luck thinning the herd with traps. I guess there is just too many boards for the to eat to worry about a trap! These critters are very territorial, much like hummingbirds. They are constantly trying to chase an opponent away and get into some interesting fights. I’ve seen them chase each other around the yard several times then head straight up, probably 50 feet before they finally tie up, then plummet to the ground. At first I thought they were doing the dirty deed, their own mile high club, so I observed what happend when they hit the ground. Usually one was dead or dying.

They don't eat the wood, just bore in and hollow out a nest.
They are lazy and prefer using/checking out old holes to making new, hence their susceptability to the traps,

[Haninga]

Nice trap LCHIEN since they are lazy to make new holes, just drill for them and let them fall into the bottle or container under it... I will make one today

[capncarl]

There is something about the angle the hole has to be drilled in the trap that makes them work, otherwise the bee can crawl back out.

[LCHIEN]

I use 45° angled up to meet a central hole in the center leading to the trap bottle at the bottom. They can't find their way out.