Carpenter bee control

[Plastikosmd]

Log home

Tis the season

not sure what the bag limit is on these but there are 20 less boring holes in my cabin

also an enjoyable use of the 410

 

[Fyrstyk]

I have had great fun shoot those bees with .22 shot loads.

 

[Plastikosmd]

I will try that also

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

My past pit bull used to kill the carpenter bees. She did a good job keeping them in check. I knock them down with a fly swatter. Then step on them.

 

[shooter1niner]

I use a racket ball racket and swat them to the ground then step on. However, I find carpenter bee traps to be much more effective as they work all day long and I can't really stand around waiting for them little buggers to come close enough to me to swat...

When it starts to get dark watch to see where they go. I had an overturned wheelbarrow bucket under the deck and saw them flying under it. There was a huge Carpenter Bee nest under it. I used just about a whole can of foaming bug spray to get them.

 

[kudu]

Have you ever seen the Bug-A-salt rifle. Its a pneumatic pump that shoots table salt like a shotgun. Does dandy on flies and softer bees to about 3 feet away. Keep your wingshooting practice polished.
https://www.amazon.com/BUG-A-SALT-3...id=1621035077&sprefix=salt+gun,aps,261&sr=8-5

 

[Plastikosmd]

I have one of those for indoors
Up to 2nd story and doormers, I need more payload
The 410 with #9 was a blast

 

[Hugger-4641]

I use a racket ball racket and swat them to the ground then step on. However, I find carpenter bee traps to be much more effective as they work all day long and I can't really stand around waiting for them little buggers to come close enough to me to swat...

When it starts to get dark watch to see where they go. I had an overturned wheelbarrow bucket under the deck and saw them flying under it. There was a huge Carpenter Bee nest under it. I used just about a whole can of foaming bug spray to get them.

I use a racket ball racket and swat them to the ground then step on. However, I find carpenter bee traps to be much more effective as they work all day long and I can't really stand around waiting for them little buggers to come close enough to me to swat...

When it starts to get dark watch to see where they go. I had an overturned wheelbarrow bucket under the deck and saw them flying under it. There was a huge Carpenter Bee nest under it. I used just about a whole can of foaming bug spray to get them.

Carpenter bees do not make big nests, if there was more than one, you found a bumble bee or ground hornet nest.

 

[Cvans]

I too was under the impression that carpenter bees were more or less solitary in nature.

 

[Hugger-4641]

I too was under the impression that carpenter bees were more or less solitary in nature.

Yes they are, they pair up to mate and the female bores a hole in wood. They are the only two in their "nest" but the male is outside most of the time. Bumble Bees and ground hornets look very similar but will be chased away by the male, so the big nest he found under the wheel barrel was probably a result of this.

 

[shooter1niner]

Carpenter bees do not make big nests, if there was more than one, you found a bumble bee or ground hornet nest.

I know very well what ground hornets and bumble bees look like. Bumble bees only slightly resemble Carpenter bees and Ground Hornets look nothing like Carpenter bees (in northern NY anyway). These were Carpenter bees. As I mentioned, I would watch them scout the eaves and fascia of my house and return to the " WHEELBARROW " bucket for the night. Bumble bees, nor ground hornets chew holes into my eaves/fascia.

When I find an active hole with sawdust dropping from it (indicating the bee is actively at work in it) I apply Sevin with a infant nasal cavity suction bulb (with Sevin in it) with a (chain saw fuel line attached) hose into the hole. The bee usually tries to escape and makes quite a racket. I then withdraw hose and quickly fill hole with plastic wood.

I've been doing battle with these guys for years. They do not chew the coating on my log home but do search out places and small crevices where there is none. Mostly the underside junction of the fascia and eaves...

I hung my traps out yesterday and have caught 3 so far...

 

[JCooperfan1911]

We used a badminton racquet when I was a boy.

 

[The Happy Kaboomer]

I shoot "em" with a 38 loaded with #12 hot pushed by 1.5 gr pf Bullyeye.......Much fun!

 

[LoonWulf]

What about treating exposed surfaces with bifenthrin? Its what I use around our place to deal with creepy crawlies, and any flying critters that land on stuff I've sprayed usually go belly up also.

Not that I wouldn't sit and shoot them with a .410 also.....

 

[Blue Brick]

I know very well what ground hornets and bumble bees look like. Bumble bees only slightly resemble Carpenter bees and Ground Hornets look nothing like Carpenter bees (in northern NY anyway). These were Carpenter bees. As I mentioned, I would watch them scout the eaves and fascia of my house and return to the " WHEELBARROW " bucket for the night. Bumble bees, nor ground hornets chew holes into my eaves/fascia.

When I find an active hole with sawdust dropping from it (indicating the bee is actively at work in it) I apply Sevin with a infant nasal cavity suction bulb (with Sevin in it) with a (chain saw fuel line attached) hose into the hole. The bee usually tries to escape and makes quite a racket. I then withdraw hose and quickly fill hole with plastic wood.

I've been doing battle with these guys for years. They do not chew the coating on my log home but do search out places and small crevices where there is none. Mostly the underside junction of the fascia and eaves...

I hung my traps out yesterday and have caught 3 so far...

Pic?

 

[edwardware]

also an enjoyable use of the 410

Yeah, but that's like using an mortar to kill moles in the yard!

A Walnut Shotshell load is much less expensive, and won't do more damage to the house than the bees do.

 

[whughett]

I’m trying to imagine shooting any thing near my house, garage, shed or yard with a 410 shotgun. But then my neighbors are all on 50 by 100 lots same as me. Not to mention the cost /availability of 410’s

 

[Zerodefect]

A Shotgun for a honeybee that doesn't sting? Seems like over kill, and a clue of serial killer tendencies.

When I moved into my house I had all kinds of stuff stacked up in my garage and always had the females coming in. Watched them for a while and they were all going nuts for some bamboo window blinds I had stacked on top of some boxes.

Get these from home depot:
https://www.amazon.com/bambeco-Maso...ocphy=9015587&hvtargid=pla-449501520141&psc=1



Put those houses on your barn or on a tree in your back yard and they'll stop eating your deck. I used three. (1 acre).

Now instead of being pests, they're friendly pets. And actually really cool to have around. The large males can't sting. And the females aren't aggressive at all. I stand in a cloud of them in front of those houses all the time.

..........and people wonder why bees are dying off.

 

[JCooperfan1911]

I hate insects of all kinds, and wish them all death.

Except dragonflies, butterflies, and honey bees because honey is delicious.

 

[fireman 9731]

I have spent many a nice afternoon eliminating the pesky vermin with a single action 22 revolver and shot shells. The electric fly swatter is fun too, but they are tough critters and it usually just stuns them enough that they fall to the ground where they need to be quickly finished off before they fly away.

 

[Roknstevo]

Find holes....spray a shot of wd-40 in holes...job finished....no ammo expended.

 

[Hugger-4641]

Around here we call the yellow faced bumble be a ground hornet , it has yellow pointed face. The male carpenter bee is closer to looking like a bumble bee except the female doesn't sting and has a white square dot on her head.

carpenter bee regular bumble bee yellow faced bumble bee

 

[Cvans]

Ours are almost all black. Not much coloring as I remember.

 

[Armorer 101]

I am quite familiar with the two bees. While clearing our north 1/4 mile fence line, the D-8 moved off to the east fence line and I drove my Kubota Tractor on top of a hill where I could look down the line E and W, corner to corner. With the tractor running, I was happily surveying the straight line through the trees, when I noticed large black dots in the air.....bumble bees. I had parked the running diesel right on top of their nest. They did not like that one little bit. My signature; A bumblebee can fly faster than a tractor, is no joke.
When a bumblebee decides to hit you, get ready, that sucker is like a sewing machine, and can put a hurt on you quick, none of that one sting, Mickey Mouse stuff, whack, whack, whack, whack. 10-12 coming out of the ground at once, all POed can ruin your entire day.

I returned with a front bucket full of dirt and the disc set on the back of the tractor. Dirt, disk, push dirt back on top, end of that mess.

Our hornets are quite different and generally have a mean, nasty attitude. You have to watch for the big funnel like grey hanging nest in trees.

 

[Hugger-4641]

Yes, in addition to all of these mentioned, we also have yellow jackets. They are also black and yellow, but are actually a small type of wasp. They nest in the ground in deep burroughs, but instead of a few dozen like bumble bees, there can be several hundred. If you can even see the entrance, all you will notice with these is a small hole about one or two inches in diameter. If you accidentally park a lawn mower over one, you won't believe how many come out of that nest.