# First time post and I need help



## Jmayspaint (May 4, 2013)

That's a tough one. The only effective method that I know of to control carpenter bees is to kill each nest (hole) individually. In your case that would mean removing the wrap so you could get to the wood. 

You can buy insecticide kits that come with a special tool to squirt the insecticide back into the holes. Another way to do it is to use WD 40 with a straw. Poke the straw as far back in the hole as possible and spray. Fill the hole with aluminum foil then caulk over that. 

I really don't think you'll find a way to remedy the problem without being able to access the holes. Even if you kill every bee you see, there are more bees and eggs living in the holes. The longer you wait the harder it will be.


----------



## Gymschu (Dec 12, 2010)

Your "search" function on here is a great help in finding similar threads. Here's an example of a recent thread:

http://www.diychatroom.com/f51/wood-boaring-bees-200447/


----------



## eharri3 (Jul 31, 2013)

They like to go back to old holes, which means the wrap has to come off to treat the problem properly.

I have had them attacking my deck, gazebo, and trellis in the first year I moved into my home. I did 3 things to eradicate them. I had an exterminator spray all my exposed exterior wood with a deltamethryn-based repellent around every MArch when it gets warm out. This keeps the bees away from wood they haven't already attacked.

Then I go to each individual hole and treat it with seven dust from home Depot, using a hand held puffer-type-device with a plastic tube on the end to blow the dust as far into the hole as it will go. Key for two reasons. First, this still acts like a nerve agent to insects, inducing eventual death on contact to adults who touch it going in and out of the hole. The liquid repellents are good to ward them off from wood structures but they usually can't pick enough of it up off the wood to kill them. That's where the Sevendust comes in. Any bee that touches it will eventually die. This includes the babies that hatch in all those tunnels they dig which come out to feed one last time in the fall before going back into hibernation.

For good measure I add traps, which you can find on Amazon. Look them up and you'll see what they do. They work, as the carpenter bees find their way in and can't get out, eventually dying in there. Then more are attracted when they see bees fluttering around in them.

I didn't stop my carpenter bee issues over night but I see fewer of them every year and I only see them very briefly before they die off. If you're unwilling to pull the trim off it's harder but not impossible. I'd get those areas sprayed as thoroughly as possible with a repellent spray, get the dust into whatever holes are exposed, and hang the wood carpenter bee traps in any areas where you know there's been activity.


----------

