As our CARPENTER BEE CONTROL ARTICLE explains, carpenter bees exist in nature as a kind of recycler. Your wood pile is exactly why they exist; in the forest they would be drilling through it turning the trunk and limbs to sawdust therefore allowing the cellulose to filter back into the earth. But when we're trying to preserve such wood to use at a later date, the bee's natural behavior will come in direct conflict with our effort. To stave off their attacks, there are a few things you can do.

First, dusting any existing holes you see with DE DUST will render it dead and prevent further damage and nest growth. This can be done any time and will not affect the wood in any way now or when it comes time to burn it. In other words, the dust can be burned with the wood and not pose a hazard to anyone close to the fire.

Second, the wood in the wood pile can be treated to prevent further drilling. The best product for treating wood piles is the INSECT REPELLENT. This is not a pesticide but is merely a repellent. It won't kill anything nor would treated wood pose a threat to anyone close to the fire when being burned. I expect you'll need to spray at least twice from now till the fall/winter; 3-4 applications would be the norm for most active sites to keep them away effectively.

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

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

DE Dust:  http://www.non-toxic-pest-control.com/dust/mothers-earth-diatomaceous-dust

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

They can. As explained in our CARPENTER BEE CONTROL ARTICLE, the females have stingers but rarely use them. Males are the ones most people see and they will aggressively fly around people and pets. Ironically they don't have stingers so they can't hurt you anyway!

http://www.carpenterbees.com/carpenter-bee-control

Read through our CARPENTER BEE CONTROL ARTICLE for starters. In the article you'll learn the treatments needed. If you have nests you'll need to dust them with the DRIONE. If they are only flying around the deck a good spraying with the CYPERMETHRIN will stop the activity and should protect the wood from further attacks.

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

http://www.carpenterbees.com/carpenter-bee-control

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

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

Sounds like carpenter bees. I suggest you read our online CARPENTER BEE CONTROL article. After reading it you'll learn what you need to do if you wish to treat the existing nests and what to spray to keep new ones away. If you still have questions give us a call. Given that it's spring, this problem will remain active for another few months unless treated.

You actually have carpenter bees. To learn how to properly control them, you'll need to first read our online article which explains everything in great detail. In the article you'll learn about the dust you need to treat the nest directly and then the spray required to stop new nests from being drilled. If you still have questions, give us a call at 1-800-877-7290.

The article can be found here:

http://www.carpenterbees.com/carpenter-bee-control

If you take some time to read through our CARPENTER BEE CONTROL article, you'll learn exactly what you need to do. A quick dusting with some DRIONE will take care of them instantly. Plug up the hole 1 day later with some of our 1/2" CORKS and you'll be done with that nest for sure. If you only have 10 or less nests to treat, a can of the PT-230 (aerosol version of Drione seen on the DRIONE page) will be enough to do the job.

To keep them away, spray the entire swing set with CYPERMETHRIN. Treatments should last 2-4 weeks and are easy to apply using any standard PUMP SPRAYER.

Organic options include the DE DUST in place of the Drione and some BUG PATROL in place of the Cypermethrin. Neither will last as long so expect to do an extra application or two but they will handle the problem.

Here are direct links:

http://www.carpenterbees.com/carpenter-bee-control

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

http://www.bugspray.com/catalog/products/page257.html

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

http://www.gotosprayer.com/sprayers

http://www.non-toxic-pest-control.com/dust/mothers-earth-diatomaceous-dust

http://www.non-toxic-pest-control.com/concentrates/bug-patrol-rts

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.