About a week ago I discovered some carpenter bees inside one of my bedrooms. They were sluggish. I trapped and removed them from the room but more are showing up. Two have actually shown up a couple of days ago in the adjacent bedroom and only show up after I’ve been in there about 15 or 20 minutes.
Got those out and have sealed off the first bedroom (stuffed towel at base of closed door). I peeked in there last night and there was at least one more. We have checked the outside of the house I think thoroughly and cant find where they are coming in.
I do understand that they (males) won’t sting but because I am highly allergic to bee stings, I’m still very uneasy.
How do I determine where they are entering in the house? I’ve even checked crown molding and ceilings in the closet in that bedroom. I’m really baffled and need to get them out!
Thanks.
If you read through our CARPENTER BEE CONTROL ARTICLE, you’ll learn the cycle of this bee. As explained, adults bore holes in which they lay eggs. Nests will be used by adults till the die but even after that nests get used over and over again. Young will emerge later in the same year they were put in the nest as an egg or the following year. More importantly, to properly treat a nest, it must be dusted with DEMISE and sealed with 1/2″ CORKS if you wish to shut it down.
You see, when carpenter bees start making their way into a home like you’re describing, it’s because one of two things must have happened. The first option is that you had some nests being used which have tunnels bored so far into the home they’re now porting to inside living areas. This can happen. But what we find is more common is when people have work done to the outside of their home such as painting, adding siding, replacing windows or just sealing it up to help save on heating/cooling costs. The process of sealing all those cracks and crevices will many times seal bee holes and nests. This will effectively trap both adults and young. The end result is that they will drill their way out. This could be to the outside but many times it will be to the inside. No doubt this could be happening in your case.
Unfortunately there isn’t much you can do. The only resolution would be to treat existing holes if you knew where they were. If you’re aware of any that someone sealed with caulking, you can remove the caulking and then dust with the Demise and seal them with corks. This will allow the Demise to work and should diminish if not eliminate the bees finding their way inside.
Here are direct links to the information and products listed above:
Carpenter Bee Control Article: www.carpenterbees.com
Demise: https://bugspray.com/catalog/insecticide/dust/drione-demise-dust-6-oz
Crusader Duster: bugspray.com/equipment/dusters/crusader
Corks: https://bugspray.com/equipment/equipment-plugs/cork-12
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