Q - It's spring and it seems like we have a bumper crop of
carpenter bees. What is the best way to
get rid of them?
Hal in Douglasville
A - Hal, this is one of the best and funnest home pest control
things that there is. It's even more fun
that pulling the wings off house flies.
The recommended instrument of
destruction for these bees is a badminton racquet.
No, really.
Get a badminton racquet or a
whiffle ball bat (if you have mad skills) and start pinging the little sons of
bees into oblivion.
Do not try to squirt them with
bee/wasp poison as you will quickly run out of the highly charged spray without
much success. Unless you totally suck at
badminton, your badminton racquet swing to kill ratio will be approximately 1
to 1.
Also note that there is really
nothing that the EPA will approve that you can put into your paint to fend them
off - however - note that carpenter bees are not as quick to bore into houses
that are freshly painted or stained.
The only thing you really must do is to kill the eggs the female
has laid and repair the holes.
You can repair the perfectly
round holes the bees make in your siding or your decking by squirting some
poison in the hole then filling it with a wood filler or putty (make sure you
use a paintable kind if you plan on painting).
Contrary to popular belief there
is nothing that you can put into your paint to ward the bees off. Your only real defense to keep them away is
two remove the wood that they are enjoying which would mean re-siding your
home.
One more note. Not all carpenter bees, Xylocopa virginica,
sting - only the females (insert joke here).
In fact, male carpenter bees can be captured by hand (if you really want
to impress your friends) without fear of stinging (they have no stinger).
To be fair, the female carpenter
bee is not really interested in stinging you either. They just want to drill their holes and lay
their eggs.