If you read our CARPENTER BEE CONTROL ARTICLE, you’ll learn they don’t typically attack. In fact, only the female can sting and it would be quite unusual for you to encounter more than one at a time. I’m actually thinking you might have BUMBLE BEES, which closely resemble Carpenter Bees, and are more likely to sting in numbers. The good news is regardless of which species you actually have, both can be treated by dusting the column with the DRIONE DUST and a HAND DUSTER we have featured in our carpenter bee article.

At this point I suggest you observe the column from afar to see where the bees are entering their nest. If it’s carpenter bees, there will be holes drilled which are most likely being used for nests. This would explain the sawdust you found. But I have seen Bumble Bees use such columns for nesting and I’ve even seen bumble bees use carpenter bee holes as a way to enter the void so again, it could be either. Many times the wood used to make these columns isn’t that thick and when carpenter bees drill, they will inadvertently drill all the way through a piece and end up abandoning the hole altogether. Carpenter bees don’t like holes that empty out into an empty space but bumble bees love this. And bumble bees typically like to use small holes as a way to enter a nest cavity so this might be what you have going on in your column. But it really doesn’t matter; if you dust the hole with Drione, you’ll surely get either species. And all it will take is 3-5 squirts of the Drione. In most cases the nest will shut down in a day if it’s hit thoroughly. Now if you see activity a day after you treat, that means you didn’t use enough and will need to dust again.

Now if you can’t find an entrance hole, it’s entirely possible the bees are entering the column via a small gap or crack in the frame. I’ve seen this happen many times; even though both bees are seemingly “thick”, they can slide into some tight cracks. In these cases, dusting the entire gap will yield the same results as treating a specific hole. It will require more product and more effort to make sure you get them all but in the end, the Drione will render the nest useless.

Lastly, the best time to treat will be in the evening, close to dark, to insure the bees are both back at the nest and not active. This will help reduce the chance of confrontation and being stung.

Here are direct links to the information and products listed above:

Carpenter Bee Article:  http://www.carpenterbees.com/carpenter-bee-control

Bumble Bee Article:  http://www.bugspray.com/articles99/bumblebees.html

Drione Dust:  http://www.bugspray.com/catalog/products/page256.html

Hand Duster:  http://www.bugspray.com/catalog/products/page258.html

I strongly suspect what you’re seeing are in fact carpenter bees and not bumble bees. If you take some time to read our CARPENTER BEE CONTROL ARTICLE, you’ll learn all about this species which is very different from bumble bees.

One thing you’ll learn in the article is the ones you’re seeing are most likely males waiting on females. I’m saying this because seeing them tumble fight in mid air is very common this time of year. To repel them, you’ll have to spray with either the CYPERMETHRIN or the INSECT REPELLENT. A good dose of either on the porch up around the eve where you mostly see them should repel them from the area.

Here are direct links for this information and products mentioned above:

Carpenter Bee Article:  http://www.carpenterbees.com/carpenter-bee-control

Cypermethrin:  http://www.bugspray.com/catalog/products/page259.html

Insect Repellent: http://www.non-toxic-pest-control.com/repellents/nbs-repellent-insect-spray

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.