Rainy days and Mondays always get me down. Oh, sorry, wrong carpenters. Bees. Carpenter Bees.
Even though carpenter bees can be very graceful and their buzzing may sound musical to some and they are super beneficial to pollination, they can be huge pests. These tiny creatures are incredibly smart little engineers, boring their way into the unprotected wood around your home.
Not ho hum boring.
Carpenter bees do not live in hives. The female bee drills these perfectly round holes into wood to create single nests for laying her eggs. This, in turn, causes damage to the wood, weakening its structural integrity.
The following is a list of ways to control Carpenter bees and make the wood on and around your home less attractive.
1. Use hard woods for exterior construction.
2. Fill depressions and cracks in wood surfaces with caulk or suitable material.
3. Paint or varnish exposed surfaces regularly to reduce weathering.
4. fill in unoccupied holes with steel wool and caulk in late summer after the bees have left
the nest, but before winter hibernation. Then paint or varnish over this repair.
5. Protect exposed rough wood areas, such as the ends of timbers, with wire screening or
metal sheeting.
If these steps do not help to deter these determined destroyers, contact a local, licensed professional to help you remove these pesky, drilling insects.
