The Walden Effect: Farming, simple living, permaculture, and invention.

Carpenter bee damage

how to prevent carpenter bee damage?

Our front porch is being attacked by carpenter bees!

I just found out they dig a 90 degree tunnel that can expand after each year of nesting.

Painting or varnish usually prevents this kind of damage. I think we'll be using treated lumber for any future porch projects.



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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.



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Carp bees
Are these the same bees that pollinate blueberries? They come here at the same time.
Comment by Errol — Sat May 18 15:50:14 2013
Carpenter bee pollination
Daddy --- Carpenter bees are excellent pollinators. Their relatives the bumblebees are too, of course, and they look very similar (although carpenter bees are less hairy and lack any yellow on their abdomen). So you might have seen either or both on your blueberries.
Comment by anna — Sat May 18 16:59:51 2013
Carpender Bees.
Google Carpenter Bee trap. They are easy to build an they work well.
Comment by Bobby — Sat May 18 20:42:50 2013
I am glad
I love how you protect my sister from bees. :)
Comment by Maggie — Sun May 19 06:14:04 2013
Treated wood
We built our pergola out of treated wood and the first year carpenter bees were already drilling into it, and every year since they have made holes. A co-worker uses a citranella additive that can be used with paint and he either paints it (on his shed) or mixes it with alcohol and sprays his pergola with it. I tennis racket comes in very handy when you see them to just swat them down quickly and easily.
Comment by Brian — Sun May 19 17:18:32 2013
Carpenter bee eviction process
Get a spray can of WD-40 with a long, thin straw attachment. Spray WD-40 into the hole until the female bee comes out. Then fill the hole with wood putty. If you just fill the hole and don't get her to come out first, she will bore out another way. This works for us.
Comment by Susan — Thu May 23 12:10:59 2013
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