carpenter bees drilling pressure treated wood

I have a question, will carpenter bees make a nest in pressure treated wood?

Yes. Pressure treated lumber is generally well protected against decay fungi and most insects that eat wood. But remember, CARPENTER BEES aren’t eating the wood. They’re only drilling through it. I’ve seen plenty of nests located in pressure treated lumber so whatever is being injected does not seem to slow them down or kill them.

That being said, in my experience it would seem that in general, most carpenter bees prefer untreated wood over pressure treated lumber. This is probably due to the fact that pressure treated lumber tends to be more “dense”. It also tends to mask the natural odor of the wood. This makes it harder for the bees to find it and even when they are flying around it, freshly treated lumber isn’t nearly as appealing as unpainted raw wood.

If you find any wood – pressure treated or not – being drilled by carpenter bees,  you’ll need to treat it as described in our CARPENTER BEE CONTROL article. Dust any holes you find with DEMISE and then spray with either MAXXTHOR EC or NBS INSECT REPELLENT to stop new holes from being created.

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

Carpenter Bee Control:  https://www.carpenterbees.com/carpenter-bee-control

Demise:  https://bugspray.com/catalog/insecticide/dust/drione-demise-dust-6-oz

Maxxthor:  https://bugspray.com/catalog/insecticide/liquid/maxxthor-ec

NBS:  https://bugspray.com/exempt/additive/nbs-paint-additive-16-oz

Give us a call if you still have questions.

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