We have a long wing on our house with 2-foot roof overhang supported by poplar wood beams, which carpenter bees seem to love. We had the exposed wood painted with 2 coats of polyuruthane in 2006, but by spring 2009 the bees were back. We are going to have the eaves repainted this spring. Is there a bee poison such as cypermethrin or Drione that can be mixed into polyuruthane that might help to deter the carpenter bees for more lasting protection?
Currently there is no "additive" for paint or stain that can be used to repel carpenter bees outside homes or other structures. There are just too many problems designing such a product and at this time nothing has proven effective for any length of time as the following post explains:
http://www.carpenterbees.com/stain/adding-cypermethrin-to-paint.html
Having dealt with this pest for over 30 years, I'm confident of what does work. For my money and time, the DRIONE DUST applied every spring around the perimeter of my home does the job. It seems as though wasps and bees like nesting where roof and gutters meet by soffits and eaves. These locations notoriously have gaps, a lot of moisture and a protected area (under the eave) which is an instinctive location most bees and wasps try to find when seeking nest sites. Using a DUSTICK, I've learned applying Drione to these areas does a great job of stopping most every insect that might try to invade. And getting it applied in the spring, before pests like carpenter bees establish themselves, seems to be important. As our video's show, the Drione will permeate up into the shingles and gaps and essentially take away these locations as nest sites. And since these are protected from direct weathering, the dust can last several months making for long term protection.
I've also learned most people aren't willing to dust once a year since it does require a little effort and time. That's when we tested and learned the CYPERMETHRIN does a good job when sprayed to these surface areas. Obvisously if you could somehow incorporate the Cypermethrin into the paint you would think you could then extend this residual to last a year or more. But this just isn't the case. If you aren't willing to dust with the Drione, spraying the Cypermethrin once a month will usually do the job. In fact, I'm sure if you applied it every spring to the area you mentioned above you'd be able to stop them before they ever got started. For now, this is the best we have so I recommend using either of these two treatment regimes and you'll be able to keep carpenter bees and many other invasive pests under control. If you have further questions or concerns, give us a call on our toll free 1-800-877-7290.
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I have a serious problem with Carpenter Bees. When is the best time to apply the dust in the their holes? I have a number of holes to do this to and if it will stop them from boring holes out of my home in the spring, I want to do it now. Note there are areas I have already filled with a wood-accepting bondo product. Over these areas I have applied a three-coat oil-based paint over them. Let me know (1) when is the best time to apply the dust (noting its fall now in New England. (2) will they bore out of holes I have already plugged?
Take some time to read our online CARPENTER BEE CONTROL article to get more details but the bottom line is you generally do not want to seal up holes until they are dusted adequately with PYGANIC DUST. As we explain in the article, these holes are where eggs and food are stored. When you putty them up without treating first, the larvae will be able to complete their cycle and when mature, drill their way back out. This will get you back to square one. To stop this from happening, dust before sealing. This way they'll be doomed when they hatch and try to forage out.
Come next spring, there is a good liklihood more carpenter bees will come around looking to drill new nest holes. This is due to the odor and scent of previous activity that's been around the home since the first nests were drilled. And though the three coats of oil based paint should slow this process it's usually not enough alone. There is simply too many gaps and seams so they'll find entry points you can't even see. By spraying over the top with the CYPERMETHRIN we have featured in our article, you'll put in place a strong repellent they don't like. This will keep them away and stop new nests from being drilled.
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Just added a carpenterbee video playlist page which features some excellent closeup footage of them in action. Some of the other videos included show how to use the various equipment needed and how to treat their nests.
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Hi, I am contacting you to inquire about what product and equipment you can recommend to get rid of bees that living under my wood siding. Is this a job I can do myself or should I just call a professional.
Thanks!
Getting rid of bees under wood siding is pretty easy. Carpenter bees will many times drill holes through siding following this exact pathway. The overlapping planks or shakes will provide ample protection from the elements and with very little work, they can create a secure and well protected nest in which to raise their young. Yellowjackets and other wasps like to nest in such cracks and crevices as well and though they don't drill through the wood like carpenter bees, they can usually find a large enough space between the siding to keep them happy. European Hornets or Honey Bees can create large nests in these same areas so having a problem in wood siding is actually quite common.
Since you don't cite which type of "bee" you think is active, I'm reluctant to say to proceed with what might sound like the logical choice being a simple dusting. If you have carpenter bees, treating under the siding with some Pyganic Dust and a Centro Duster would be all that's needed. The same would be true if you have common paper wasps. But if this "bee" is actually honeybees, European Hornets or Yellowjackets, you'll have to try one of the other treatment options listed in their respective articles (with the links conveniently included above).
So in summary, if in fact you think these bees are just carpenter bees, treat the siding as explained in our carpenter bee article. If you suspect it could be one of the other "bees or wasps" I mentioned, read up on that particular pest to learn just what you need to do or give us a call on our toll free at 1.800.877.7290 and one of our reps will be able to further advise.
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HI I HAVE A PATIO COVER WHERE ONE OF THE FRAMED SUPPORT COLUMNS HAVE BEES INSIDE. THE COLUMN IS 2FT X 2FT 8 FT. THEY ARE HOLLOW INSIDE. WHAT TYPE OF SPRAYER /PRODUCT DO YOU RECOMMEND IN THIS TYPE OF CONDITION?
THANKS
Bees and other pests will commonly take advantage of small spaces and voids like that which could be in a support column like the one you're describing. For this application, the best approach is to make a small access hole and treat with some PYGANIC DUST. Using a small CRUSADER HAND DUSTER, you will be able to "puff" the dust through the access hole which ideally should be located above the nest. If I were treating the column, I would drill the hole as close to the top of the column as possible and treat through this point.
In theory, it should only take the one access point to get enough dust into the space to solve the problem as long as the nest is in fact located inside the column. From this location the dust should flow down and coat all areas of the void. I'd use enough of the dust to insure good coverage and I would do at least two treatments to make sure it's uniform and complete. It will probably take 2-4 oz of Pyganic to get it properly dusted. I would expect quick results with most of the bees dying in the first day. By the second day there should be little activity and by the third day, if you still see them coming and going be sure to treat again but this time make holes closer to their access point thus making the dusting more directed at them. On a related note, if you see they have "drilled" access holes, treat them by dusting the holes directly as well as treating the entire void as described above.
Since this area is essentially an open air space, the use of a dust would be much preferred over any type of spray.
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To whom it may concern …
My carpenter bee problem exists below my untreated wood deck. The homes they've created are not the floor boards, but rather the joists underneath the floor.
Although the deck is 16' x 20', I feel they are " only " inhabiting 10% of the total area. To access their nests they are squeezing thru the 1/4" to 3/8" gap between boards. As the crawlspace under the deck is minimal, I've only been on the attack from the top of the deck floor using a white, foam spray that does an exceptional job as they try to squeeze back into their homes.
My problem is I really have no way to get to their 1/2" bored holes w/o ripping out 6 or 7 floor boards. I am concerned as in 4-days of the ongoing battle I've killed 45 to 50 of the varmints, and there still is activity.
If I use the CYPERMETHERIN, I'll only get it between the floorboard cracks and maybe a small portion on the face of the floor joists. Will this minimum contact with the CYPERMETHRIN low down their activity, or possibly even be fatal?
Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
Getting the dust into their holes would be important for long term control as explained in our CARPENTER BEE CONTROL ARTICLE. That being said, it's not going to be a practical option in your situation. But there are two you can try.
First, if the space between the deck planks are fairly tight, the bees are likely to touch them as they crawl in and out from underneath. A good dusting with either the DRIONE or the DRIONE REPLACEMENT DUST KIT will get dust up under the deck planks. It's a light dust and will fly around coating the exposed wood surfaces quite well even without being able to make a direct treatment. As the bees fly down and crawl into these entrances, they'll pick up the dust and this will cause them to die. The drawbacks to this approach is that you won't be able to treat their nests directly and the treatments won't last as long as they could since the dust will be exposed. I would try to treat once a week until if you use the Drione till I didn't see any activity and then I'd quit.
The second option would be to apply Cypermethrin. But instead of the liquid EC formulation, go with the CYPERMETHRIN WP. This will lay on the wood quite well and last much longer than the dust so in the end, would prove to be an effective treatment. Be sure to get the material sprayed into every entrance way they're using. This will insure good coverage.
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I have a cattle shed that wood bees love. I need to get rid of them soon otherwise my shed will be destroyed in 2 years. Please help me so I can permanently kill them.
Getting rid of wood bees in a shed is pretty easy. If you review our on line article on WOOD BEE CONTROL, you'll learn the first thing you'll need to do is to treat all the nests with a dust. We typically recommend DRIONE DUST which is Ok for small infestations. If you have a lot of wood bee nests to treat, go with the DUST KIT and one of our HAND DUSTERS. Once all their holes are dusted and sealed with our 1/2"CORKS, follow up with a good spraying of CYPERMETHRIN. This will stop new drilling and repel bees and wasps in general so they will stay away.
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I HAVE A SEVERE PROBLEM WITH CARPENTER BEES ON MY WOODEN PORCH. THEY ARE BORING HOLES EVERYWHERE AND HAVE SAWDUST ALL OVER EVERYTHING. I'M NOT SURE WHICH ITEM WOULD BE THE BEST I COULD USE TO SPRAY THE WOOD STRUCTURE TO ELIMINATE THEM.
Bee sawdust is being generated by the carpenter bees as they chew through the wood of your porch. This can quickly be stopped by spraying it with the CYPERMETHRIN we have featured in our CARPENTER BEE CONTROL ARTICLE.
For bee nests which are active – the ones where you see bees entering and exiting – you will need to treat with some DRIONE DUST. This will get both the live stages and any that are buried in the nest developing. Be sure to plug the nests with a 1/2" CORK to seal the dust up so it can last as long as possible.
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I see some bees hanging around my shed and I'm not sure what species they are. First I thought they were honey bees but I noticed they're mostly yellow and black. Then I saw a hole which could be an old wood knot but its so perfect, I think someone drilled it. Well, the bees are using this hole as a nest! I see them going in and out. The hole is in one of the 2×4 studs which I can rip out but I'm afraid of getting stung without treating first. Any idea what type of bee this might be?
Exact bee identification can be tough without seeing a specimen. That being said, what you're describing sounds like either a bumble bee or a carpenter bee. If you take a little time to review our on line article about CARPENTER BEE CONTROL, you'll see what they look like and that they are very likely to drill holes in wood like you see in that stud. Before you rip out any wood, I suggest you first try treating the nest with one of the DUSTS we have listed in our article. I think this will quickly control whatever type of bee is active and save you both the time and effort required to remove and replace any part of the shed.
If the bees come back and are hanging around other parts of the shed, consider spraying with some of the CYPERMETHRIN we have listed in our article. It does a great job of repelleing all bees and will force them to forage elsewhere. It's easy to use and treatments should last 3-6 weeks.
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I own a log home restoration company. I treat log homes with timbor (after I strip the logs, but before I apply the new stain) as a preventative against wood boring insects and fungi as part of my restoration process, and when I run into carpenter bees I use Drione dust in the holes and seal them with chinking. I haven't figured out how to stop the bees from boring new holes after I've finished the job until I read about Cypermethrin. What I'd like to know is how do I use this product in conjunction with Timbor?
Thank You.
Cypermethrin is something that can be applied over the exterior finish of wood to prevent carpenter bees from drilling new holes. However, you cannot get the same results if it's applied under the finishing coat. Timbor can be applied under the finishing coat and it will help prevent wood destroying organisms like insects and decay fungi. But applying Cypermethrin at the same time as the Timbor would serve no benefit. The Cypermethrin would loose it's effectiveness once the finishing coat was applied so this is not a productive way to use Cypermethrin. If you wish to deter the bees from drilling, you'll have to apply it after the wood is installed as explained in our CARPENTER BEE CONTROL ARTICLE.
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I need some help. I am looking at the Drione Dust 1lb vs the PT-230 Tri Die 8z. I have 2 nests of carpenter bees in my soffits and I don't know which product I should purchase. I will need to treat again next year. But I was not sure which product I should use. your advise would be appreciated.
I think the PT-230 will handle your needs fine. A good rule to follow here is that the PT-230 can usually treat at least 5 nests. One can never tell for sure unless you are certain you know just how deep each nest is in the wood. The depth is what dictates how much material will be needed; nests which are 2 feet or longer will require a lot more drione compared to a nest which is only 6-12 inches deep.
Based on the limited information you provided, I believe the PT-230 will suffice and handle your problem for now most definitely. If you only have 1-2 holes to treat next year, it should be more than enough for you at that time as well. But if you end up finding 5 or more holes, get the 1 lb DRIONE, along with a good HAND DUSTER, to insure good coverage and proper product distribution.
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I have bumble bees coming into my sunroom throughout the day, I always manage to get the window open and let them out, there is a deck attached to the sunroom but I am not sure if that is where the nest is. I let 3-4 out the window every day. Not sure what to do since I do not know if they are in the wall or coming from the deck area. I only get one bee at a time (Thankfully). Any suggestions would be greatly welcomed as I know it is only a matter of time before me or my cats get stung.
My first thought is whether or not you actually have bumble bees. Their nests are only now just developing but typically you don't see a lot of mature nests till late in the summer. That means to have the same bumble bee finding her way into your sun room over and over would be odd and not likely statistically. This fact leads me to believe it could be another type of bee.
Carpenter bees are bees that drill or chew through wood and love to live in decks. Since you have a deck in close proximity to the sunroom, I'm thinking you might actually have a carpenter bee nest that has drilled holes all the way through to the sunroom. If one hole has an exit into the sunroom, it would explain why you keep seeing them in there. They have no idea they are entering the sunroom; they would only know they are using a part of their nest and in advertently exit it and cannot find the exit hole so you see them. At this time here is what I suggest.
First, review our CARPENTER BEE CONTROL article. In the article you can see a female carpenter bee close up as well as learn she has an abdomen which is shiny and metallic unlike a bumble bee which is hairy all over it's body. Since you are seeing these bees so often, you should notice is they are metallic or shiny on the lower half of their body. This clue should tell you just which species you are seeing.
If you discover they are really carpenter bees, there will be two things you should do. First, go outside and try to learn where they have created nests. Treat these nests with DRIONE as explained in our article and seal the nests with CORKS. Next, on the sunroom side, do a good inspection to see if you can find a small entry hole they may be using to gain access to the sunroom. As you can see in the article, this hole would be almost 1/2" wide and very smooth, like it was made with a hand drill. If you find such a hole, seal it and your problem should be easy to resolve.
Alternatively you may be able to learn for sure that you have bumble bees and if that is the case, the only way you would have them entering over and over would be if they are using some part of the deck for a nest which has access to the sunroom. Again, you'll need to find their nest but as you will learn in our BUMBLE BEE CONTROL article, their nests are typically under flat objects like wood and not in wood like carpenter bees make them. If you spend some time outside observing the area in the morning after the sun has risen, you should be able to find some bee activity which might reveal exactly where this location is on the house. At that point you could apply some DELTAMETHRIN DUST to the entrance ways and get quick control.
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I need to get rid of carpenter bees that are drilling into my deck. I see at least 5 holes but suspect there could be more. When do they drill their holes? I never saw anything happening. The only reason I even found the holes is because there was a lot of powder on the patio under the deck. It looked like someone was drilling holes there was so much powder and when I looked closer, I could see perfectly clear holes in several floor planks of my deck. Do I need to replace them and what can I do to get rid of them?
Carpenter bees can drill holes quickly when wood is unfinished and untreated like most of the wood found on the bottom side of a deck. Now that you're aware of them it's a lot more likely that you'll see the activity when it first starts next season. The good news is you can stop them from both drilling and nesting if by following the directions on how to treat explained in our CARPENTER BEE CONTROL article.
To get rid of the carpenter bees that are nesting now, treat their holes with DRIONE DUST in the late evening after they've returned to the nest and are settled. Use 1/2" CORKS to seal the holes after you've dusted them and let them remain open for at least two days. Keeping them open will insure all the carpenter bees using the nest will enter and be killed; sealing them will allow the treatment to last for a long time which is key for killing the larvae that will be hatching next season.
To get rid of carpenter bees that are coming around to drill new holes, spray the CYPERMETHRIN on all exposed wood you have on you home. Carpenter bees will tend to look in areas close to where they've already been nesting so the existing nests will be attracting more bees until it's treated. Renew the Cypermethrin application once every 1-2 weeks if you keep seeing them around; eventually they'll move away as this treatment will tend to repel them from the area.
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I've had an ongoing problem with carpenter bees drilling holes in overhangs that are on all sides of my house. I've been spraying with the Cypermethrin and it's worked quite well but I'm wondering if there is something I can do that's more permanent. What if I add some to the paint I use on my trim and siding? How much would I need? I generally paint every 4-5 years (a lot of touch up for sure) and if there is any way I can incorporate a chemical with the paint I'd do it.
At this time there is no chemical that's proven to work with paint or stain when added to it after bringing it home from your local paint supplier. There is a host of reasons why it doesn't work even though the concept has been tried. In the past there have been paints that included a pesticide attempting to accomplish what you want to do but none really worked well. For various reasons the concept just hasn't been worked out chemically to where both seem to work together in harmony for any length of time or long term benefit. For the time being, it's pretty obvious that a good paint job followed by a good chemial barrier sprayed over the paint is the best option when trying to stop carpenter bees from drilling holes. The liquid concentrate Cypermethrin is good at stopping the bees from drilling for several weeks. Treatments will last several weeks and in most cases will chase them away from your home
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THANK YOU for the great info on these cute but annoying creatures who have infested my porch beams…..will spraying insulating foam sealant into the holes do the job of caulking or corks? If so, that would sort of reinforce the holes as well as trap the bees after spraying. What should I do about the holes the bee has already sealed? I assume the wasps loitering around are trying to get to the newly laid eggs at this time of the year and are establishing nests to be near to take advantage of the hatching bees in the fall.
Carpenter bee holes should be sealed with a cork or wood dowel. The key is using something that seals the hole tight but keeps all the space inside open. This will allow hatching larvae to move about and pick up a lethal dose of the treatment. Since they won't be able to walk or chew through caulking or expanding foam, by filling up all the treated areas you could force them to forage into new untouched wood thus allowing them to prosper elsewhere. In other words, this is not a good idea.
Not sure about the "holes that are sealed"; carpenter bees will lay eggs and seal them up with food but again, if voids of the main nest are left open, the treatment with Drione or Pyganic will get them when they hatch since this dust lasts a long time (which is why it's the only dust to use for this treatment 
Not sure about any wasps that might be hanging around either except that they might be looking to start their own nest like they are here at my house. Use the same Drione and Cypermethrin to stop them as discussed in our Wasp Control article. I don't know if any wasps that feed on carpenter bees and even if they did, it will be a long time before the eggs will be hatching so they're in for a long wait if that's why they're hanging around. My guess is they're really just looking to make new nests in the same area and are a separate problem altogether.
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