wood bees

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Wood bees

I have a set of my version of Adirondack chairs in progress.
I want to get ‘em all made up before applying the coating which will be a 2 component catalyzing urethane (I love this stuff). And of course who has room for several over size Adirondack chairs in their shop sooooo I have ‘em outside covered in plastic tarp.

The wood bees seem to like ‘em. I dunno why as they are PT spruce but they like ‘em. They get trapped by flying in low and heading up to the light where the tarp traps ‘em till they die from heat starvation or I squish ‘em.


Gave me an idea:
Take some poison that hornets and wood bees won’t be offended by like chlordane liquid (oops illegal) or Boric acid solution and soak some beat up old wood in it and hang it out with a rain cover, as bait for the wood snaggers and borers.

[Lee Schierer]

I've had carpenter bees bore into the railings on my PT deck for several years. They chew the wood to make their tunnels, but don't actually eat wood, so the poison apparently doesn't bother them. The best thing I've found for taking care of carpenter bees other than completely covering the wood with metal or plastic is a badmitton racket and a good back hand. Works most of the time and the twang as they hit the strings is quite satisfying too. For some reason they like to hover and check you out from a distance of about 3 feet, which is perfect for a good back hand swing.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

For some reason they like to hover and check you out from a distance of about 3 feet, which is perfect for a good back hand swing.

lol - - - ...

[Roger Fitzsimonds]

I too have been plagued by wood bees. Like Lee my daughter and I go play bee Batting with badminton racket. We can do some damage to the population if 15 or 20 minutes, then they go all wary on you. I had found some spray last year on the web but it was very expensive.I have some new stuff to try. If it works I will post an update.

Roger

[Robert E Lee]

Wood bees are not agressive and very rarely sting. If you drill a block of wood 4x4 with I think it is 5/16" holes about 3" deep and a inch or so apart and hang it in the shade on the warm side of your house or shop they will use it. They are very good at pollenating orchards. Spray every wasp you see they are mean.
Bob

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Wood bees are not agressive and very rarely sting.

My experience with the females is they are very aggressive.
Interesting idea about the bee house.

[Tim Wagner]

I too have been plagued by wood bees. Like Lee my daughter and I go play bee Batting with badminton racket. We can do some damage to the population if 15 or 20 minutes, then they go all wary on you. I had found some spray last year on the web but it was very expensive.I have some new stuff to try. If it works I will post an update.

Roger

Can of brake cleaner and a lighter works well.:rolleyes:

[Bill Lewis]

We have this old wooden building at work that is the "home" to carpenter bees. Every spring they show up and start fighting for their piece of the building. the females (the ones with the white face) will hover in a certain area and protect it from any other intruders. They seem to stake out thie territory, but could also be looking for a mate at the same time. Any other bee that enters the area they will attack and chase off, then return to the same place to hover again. Take a small stone or bee sized pebble and toss it in to the area, and they will quickly go for it as if it were another bee. I've antagonized them enough to know they are hardly aggressive to humans, but they certainly are destructive little buggers.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Take a small stone or bee sized pebble and toss it in to the area, and they will quickly go for it as if it were another bee.

I gotta try that~!!

[Dennis Peacock]

........is a badmitton racket and a good back hand. Works most of the time and the twang as they hit the strings is quite satisfying too. For some reason they like to hover and check you out from a distance of about 3 feet, which is perfect for a good back hand swing.

LOL!!!!! Ok Lee....had to catch my coffee on that one. :eek: :D

[Jim Becker]

What Lee said!

[Ed Garrett]

My father-in-law has lots of carpenter bees. He screws spark plugs into the entry holes. He's got several sheds and a dock bristling with spark plugs. He also enjoys the sport of whacking the bees with a tennis racket.

[Michael Morgan]

You might be a redneck if you and your twelve year old son can entertain yourselves for hours with two red rider BB Guns and house with carpenter bees hovering all around. Guilty! My house is sided with T&G Cedar with cedar soffit and facia. We are down to about one confirmed kill for every twenty shots. Not bad considering we are shooting at bees about 25 feet away. Only a few dimples in the gutters:rolleyes:

[mark page]

Michael,

now that's funny. I can relate to that as I'm in a new housing area that used to be a corn field. Do the same thing with field mice in the yard. At times you can see them hopping around like kangaroos.

[Kyle Kraft]

I can't believe this!!!! I thought I was the only one playing B-Badminton!!!

[Ryan Cathey]

My shop is just a small shed and the overhang of its roof is capped with two 2x4's. As you know wood bees will bore deep tunnels. So I thought what better to traverse the tunnels and kill the bees but...BOTTLE ROCKETS!! They never stood a chance!

[Jim Becker]

Ryan...I hope you're joking... ;)

[Ryan Cathey]

Not in the least. If you try I suggest an off-brand as the Black Cats must have a little more umph and tend to send flying wood shrapnel.