Wood boring bees are solitary and a big problem in Ct every May and into June. The problem with these bee’s is twofold. They’re a nuisance when they hover at the roof line and the damage they cause is unsightly. Carpenter bees are here to stay, read on and learn a bit more about them.
Identification
Carpenter bees look a lot like large robust bumble bees to the untrained eye. But if you look closer you’d notice that bumble bees have a furry hind quarter while carpenter bees have a shinny rear quarter. Also, there is the characteristic black dot on the head.
Hovering around
There are two obvious signs that you have carpenter bees. The first is actually seeing the male hovering around your roof line. The males don’t do any damage, but are very aggressive and will dive bomb at intruders. The second is the steady stream of sawdust you’ll see falling from the roof line when fresh drilling is happening.
Damage they can cause
Carpenter bees are actually an amazing insect. I know of no other pest that can chew (or drill) a perfect hole the size of a dime into a piece of wood. The hole is so perfect that many people are in disbelief when they see it for the first time. The female does all the damage. What she’s attempting to do is drill a hole into the wood and burrow a 6″-7″ gallery to plant eggs in. Once the eggs are planted she provisions each egg with a slurry of pollen and nectar so the larva has something to feed on. After each egg she’ll close the cell with a slurry of wood pulp and move on to the next.
The damage to the wood she creates through burrowing is never structural. However, the damage becomes unsightly when she gets too close to the skin of the wood and penetrates through. Then to add insult to injury wood peckers peck through the wood looking to feed on the undeveloped larva creating more damage.
They don’t always drill a new home
Wood boring bees can be a reoccurring issue. The reason is that the offspring will stay at the area they were born and instead of drilling a new hole they just clean out an existing hole and start fresh. That’s why filling holes after treatment is typically a good idea if the hole is easily accessible.
Treatment for wood boring bees at the roof
A treatment for carpenter bees can be either really easy or really difficult. The reason is that not all the holes are easily accessible from the ground. Carpenter bees have a nasty habit of drilling holes at the roof line. The best treatment is to use an insecticidal dust to treat the individual holes. Once the holes are treated the female will come in contact with the product and die.
After all this is complete the best deterrent for future carpenter bee issues is fresh paint. The problem with this is…… you guessed it the holes are not always easily accessible.
If you have carpenter bees and need them gone, call Envirocare Pest Control at 1-888-879-6481