[marano35]

I read on another forum where some guys were talking about shooting Carpenter Bees with Single-Sixes and the crimped shot. I have them everywhere because I have a Cedar sided house. I got me a box of crimped shot and since I had the bear-cat handy I opted to use it. I have about twenty rounds of the 50 round box left and I have eliminated about 10 of the buggers. It is quite entertaining, you kind of have to wait til they are not in line with anything you don't wanna shoot and then they just give you a second or two to line em up. It has been quite effective and it is kind of fun. Any of you guys ever do this? I called this thread the Birds and the Bees due to the little Phoenix's on the Ruger.

[MattTheHat]

A tennis racket works too. :)


-Matt

[Big Daddy Grim]

I just hooked up my bug zapper close by to the infestation thats fun to watch.

[batmann]

Somehow the idea of shooting one's own house doesn't have much appeal to me.

[Beagle-zebub]

Somehow the idea of shooting one's own house doesn't have much appeal to me.

These things are really, really mild. The guy who taught me how to shoot said that he once used them to clean the bats out of a friend's barn, and that his daughters (who are surely in their 50s by now) used to shoot bees with them. He let me shoot one of his .22 shotshell guns once, and it put a bunch of pinhole sized holes in the cardboard box I used as a target, though I couldn't see this result from the 15' or so distance I shot it at.

This guy had been a pro, or something or another (company marksman, seemed like) for Dupont back when they owned Remington. He still had a Dupont card with his name on it! (Ohhhhhh, Delaware.)

[JimKirk]

I just catch them in a fine mesh dip net and dump'em into a bucket with gasoline, diesel or charcoal lighter! Heck a lot cheaper than 22 shotshells ....have you priced them lately? You don't need a lot of fluid either, just a 1/2" or 1" of what ever .... if you need it deeper put some water in it'll float what ever you got in the bucket. You could shoot a 12ga cheaper than 22 shotshell ....lot better pattern ...I would go with a skeet or cylinder choke!

JK

[stonecoldy]

I think it would be fun using those birdshot loads on carpenter bees like marano did. When i was younger we tried them on a hornet's nest we found on my uncle's farm. Not a wise idea, as you had to get within 25 feet or less to visibly start tearing it up. And then run away.
We have used a badminton raquet for the ones infesting my parent's shed.
And some other things. When we first noticed them, my daughter and I were visiting, and my mom looked at my daughter after we commented about how many were out flying around, and she said, "Amber, how about you take one of your thongs and go out and see how many you can knock down". Amber's eye were about the size of quarters, with shocked look on her face at that remark!
Generational confusion. My daughter was wearing flip-flops for footwear that day, that was what they used to be called before certain ladies undergarments got the moniker.
Amber took a flip-flop off and killed like six of them before dinner. So sandals are useful too.

[scottfrmga]

crossman BB gun, make it a challnge

[PT1911]

personally, it sounds like a lot of fun to me... good practice, serves a purpose, and any time you get to shoot (other than SD situation) is a good time....

[PT1911]

....

[Southern Rebel]

Lady I worked with years ago used a vacuum cleaner with a long externsion. She claimed it was very effective - I neglected to ask her if there were any problems with emptying the vacuum cleaner after the "war"

Personally, I think the .22 shot would really entertaining! Actually, the 12 guage with maybe #9 shot would be much more dramatic. Collateral damage?

[Ruodo]

Heck a lot cheaper than 22 shotshells ....have you priced them lately?

If it weren't for this I would actually consider making a hobby of this. Sounds like fun and there are a ton of those bees in the fields around my house. But spending that much on the ammo is a real turn off.

[GP100man]

i use a 38 case1gr clays, a card filled with grits or rice another card.

very effective short range bee ammo, gotta taylor ammo to the job at hand !!
& the biggest cost is the primer.

GP100man

[FullEffect1911]

When I was a kid I used to shoot them with a pellet gun, took a lot of shots to just hit one, but it was a way to pass the time. I then graduated to the bee master 2000, which was a golf club with the head removed and a piece of cardboard taped to the end. The tool worked really well.

Now I just leave them alone, they chase the other bugs away and the males are actually unable to sting (the ones flying around are the males), they are also pollinators. Besides to truly get rid of them you need to go after the females, which as I understand it are always in the holes they burrow. It's to bad they cause property damage.

We put facia and soffit on our shop where they used to live and they try to get in their old homes by bouncing off the aluminum. It's kinda sad.

As a bit of an aside, a buddy and I once captured a black jacket and a carpenter bee and froze them... we got bored while there were trying to thaw out, so we left. When we came back the carpenter bee was gone and the black jacket's head was missing. Weird stuff. Isn't life in the country great! :)

[MikeJackmin]

I like to hunt them with .22 colabris (a powder-free 22lr round that approximates the power of a good air rifle).

Shooting them out of the sky while they hover is very rewarding. Wear eye protection.