![]() Treated tunnels should be sealed with a small ball of aluminum foil and caulked after 24-36 hours. Always stand upwind from the surface you're treating. Avoid inhaling the insecticide or contaminating your clothing with the spray. A list of chemicals for use against carpenter bees can be found in the North Carolina Agricultural Chemicals Manual. Products containing carbaryl (Sevin), cyfluthrin or resmethrin among other chemicals are suitable. Swatting hovering bees will often prove to be just as effective.Īlthough it is a time-consuming and seemingly endless task, treating the entrance holes with an insecticidal spray or dust can reduce future nesting activity. Trying to spray bees that are seen hovering about is not a sensible (or particularly safe) use of pesticides either. Second, since virtually any exposed wood on the house could be attacked, it is difficult and usually impractical and unsafe to try applying a pesticide to all possible sites where the bees might tunnel. Since the bees are not actually eating the wood and they are active over several weeks, they may not be exposed to lethal doses of the pesticide. Protective insecticide sprays applied to wood surfaces are effective for only a short period even when repeated every few weeks. Preventing carpenter bee damage is difficult (or nearly impossible) for several reasons. Although the bees remain active, feeding on pollen the general area, they do not construct new tunnels, but may be seen cleaning out old tunnels which they will use as overwintering sites when the weather turns cold. The new generation of adult bees begin to emerge in later summer. The eggs hatch in a few days and the offspring complete their development in about 5 to 7 weeks. These adult bees die in a matter of weeks. She constructs additional cells in this manner until the tunnel is completely filled, usually with six to seven cells (depending on length of the tunnel) ( Figure 6). She deposits an egg near this pollen ball and then seals off this section of tunnel with a partition made of chewed wood. The female bee collects pollen which she mixes with nectar to form a ball that will serve as food for her offspring. If the same entrance hole is used for several years, tunnels may extend several feet in the wood. ![]() Occasionally, several bees use the same entrance hole, but they have individual galleries branching off of the main tunnel. The galleries typically run six to seven inches, but may exceed one foot. The entrance holes start upward (or inward) for about one-half inch or more ( Figure 4 and Figure 5), then turn horizontally and follow the wood grain. The mated female bees feed on plant nectar and then begin constructing new tunnels in a few weeks. Unlike bumble bees and honey bees, carpenter bees are "solitary bees", i.e., they do not form colonies with worker bees to maintain a nest or care for offspring. Females can sting, but rarely do so unless confined in your hand or become highly agitated. The males do not have stingers, but they are territorial and will harass other carpenter bees and people who are near their nesting areas. Males can be distinguished from females by a whitish spot on the front of their face. They emerge in April and May with the males usually the first to appear. They simply excavate tunnels for nesting sites.Ĭarpenter bees overwinter as adults, often inside old nest tunnels. Carpenter bees, like their distant relatives, the carpenter ants, differ from termites in that they do not eat wood as food. Unpainted or stained cedar, cypress and redwood shingles and siding are also attacked despite their pest-resistant reputations. Painted and treated woods ( Figure 3) are less preferred, but they are by no means immune to attack. Wooden decks, overhangs and other exposed wood on houses are prime targets. A tell-tale trace of coarse sawdust is often found on the surface beneath the hole. The round half-inch diameter entrance holes ( Figure 2) are usually found on the underside of a board. ![]() ![]() They are often mistaken for bumble bees, but differ in that they have a black shiny tail section.The carpenter bee is so-called because of its habit of excavating tunnels in wood with its strong jaws. Carpenter bees ( Figure 1) are large, black and yellow bees frequently seen in spring hovering around the eaves of a house or the underside of a deck or porch rail. ![]()
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