We bought a house last summer and we found that we have carpenter bees in the gazebo (we have not found any holes in the deck itself). Most of the holes were plugged with metal bolts. Nothing was sprayed inside the holes. We plan on buying some DEMISE DUST and the CRUSADER HAND DUSTER. Should we unscrew the bolts and spray or leave as is? We want to repaint the deck and gazebo too and add the additive mentioned on this site.
It also appears we have some carpenter ants. It doesn’t look as if it’s a huge problem as only a small amount of ants have been found in the house. They are usually curled up and dead or dying so we do not know if anything was sprayed by the previous owner. No wood shavings have been detected anywhere. Would it be best to call someone like Terminex to check the house and outside for carpenter ants?
Regarding the carpenter bees; no doubt treating every hole you find with DEMISE and sealing the holes with a CORK would be best. Next, using some NBS additive to any paint or stain you apply would be smart. Once these treatments are done, you can monitor the situation and see if anything further is needed but this should do the job.
As for the CARPENTER ANTS you’re seeing; I would say to start small before paying $500-$1000 for a service (sometimes even more!). Based on what you’re finding, it’s quite possible there is a nest somewhere on the property. But with our technical support and product line, I’m sure you can solve any problem and would suggest hiring a service only after you’ve tried some treatments and failed.
For now I recommend doing a good inspection to see if you can find any place where they’re active outside. This would be key if they’re just foraging into the home; as you’ll learn in our article about this ant they will commonly travel over 100 yards to find food so finding them inside does not mean there is a nest close by. And since outside nests are easy to deal with using some of the Demise you’ll be using for the Carpenter Bees, the treatment may turn out to be very simple. So for now, I suggest you read our article and do some inspecting to see if you can locate a nest either on or outside the home.
But if it turns out you only see one or two carpenter ants inside or outside the home, I would say to apply some TERMIDOR around the home outside and some PHANTOM inside. These will be detailed in our article and as you’ll learn, they’ll get the nest no matter where it might be and really is the best approach when the nest is hidden and unknown location wise.
Good luck!
Here are direct links to the information and products listed above:
Demise: https://bugspray.com/catalog/insecticide/dust/drione-demise-dust-6-oz
Hand Duster: bugspray.com/equipment/dusters/crusader
Corks: https://bugspray.com/equipment/equipment-plugs/cork-12
NBS Repellent: https://bugspray.com/exempt/additive/nbs-paint-additive-16-oz
Termidor: www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/liquid/termidor-sc-20-oz
Phantom: www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/aerosol/pt-phantom-17-5oz
Carpenter Ants: https://www.carpenterants.com/carpenter-ant-control
Carpenter Bee Control: www.carpenterbees.com/carpenter-bee-control
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Travis says
Thanks for the question and the thorough follow up. Very helpful.