Carpenter bees...
Carpenter Bees | University of Kentucky Entomology
Hubby sprays insecticide into the holes and then slaps some wood putty in to plug them up. If you don't do something, you end up with very damaged wood!!!
Gotcha! Worth getting a company such as terminex out?
They also make good ping pong balls. I swat them with a ping pong racket or even a tennis racket. Doesn't seem to hurt them. They eventually shake it off and come back for more. They are agressive and will intentionally ram you, wishing they could sting the crap out of you. Especially after you play ping pong with them. Some times they come in a group which entices me to have a racket in both hands. If you're a good shot, you can shoot them out of the air with a BB gun.
Tennis racket is fun too!! But I like the ping pong paddle idea!!!
Not to hurt our humble brethren is our first duty to them, but to stop there is not enough. We have a higher mission - to be of service to them whenever they require it.
- Francis of Assisi<!-- google_ad_section_end -->
Are there bee's That eat wood? Bore holes and such in the side's of houses? Etc??
Probably not unless you have a major infestation. Plastic wood works better than putty since it sets up faster. The way you keep them away is with a coat of paint, they go after bare or raw wood.
That would explain the huge number of bees suddenly in our backyard. Hubby & I have been building a deck for about 6 weeks, should be done Thursday. Guess I better stain faster than I have been!
The underside joists of ours is also stained (where they seem to prefer to drill), and they still bore into it. Maybe they don't go for freshly stained, but it's never seemed to bother them in the least on ours. I just spray where they start to bore in, or get them directly if I have the chance.
Thanks for the info. What do you spray them with, what seems to work the best? Never had a bee problem before. Just hit down wasp nests as needed and that's all we've ever had to do......until now.
Just an insect spray, they're easy to spot when you either see them or see the hole they're digging. I usually wait 'til they just crawl in if they've already established their real estate, then blast 'em (but there may be better methods).
Painting is better at prevention than staining. Just keep after them as you don't want them laying eggs in the holes that they bore, breeding even more to bedevil your wood!
Those bastages are killing me this year. Have used the bb gun and its worked going to buy a racket just for the entertainment.