Kind of a strange situation here.
I built an overhead trellis and small roof over a patio next to our detached garage about five years ago. Nothing really complicated, and all of it was done with pressure treated lumber.
Over the last few years I’ve noticed it attracting bumblebees. It happens every year now. Mostly at the enclosed roof portion over the door to the garage. They’re not building a nest, or trying to get into the garage. There’s an exposed knot in one place that they climb into every now and then, but it’s only big enough for one of them to get inside. They just hover around the wood like there’s something they’re interested in.
They don’t particularly bother anyone, but it feels like they’re dive-bombing you when you walk underneath. And it’s only bumblebees . . . not other bees, wasps, hornets, etc.. The kids use the patio underneath, we barbecue there, have patio furniture set up there, and I’m in the process of putting in a new sidewalk and fence along the garage this summer (took out some problem metal fence posts with a new Porter-Cable Tigerclaw reciprocating saw the other day, whoo-hoo). Anyway, they’re starting to get annoying. They’re not really aggressive, but I don’t want anyone getting stung all the same. And, unfortunately, the kids’ wiffle ball bats have become convenient bee-swatters for me. Has anyone else had this problem, or know what causes it?
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If all you have going on there is an open knothole that holds their interest you're lucky.
You might want to put an oil base sealer on the trellis and see if that will make them move on to easier pickings.
Bumble bees and carpenter bees are two different things. The carpenter bee which is similar in looks to a bumble but narrower will drill holes thru out PT wood and core it out from the inside chewing tunnels throughout the wood.
So much for the poison aspects of the old CCA PT wood, aye?
half of good living is staying out of bad situations
Pretty sure they're bumblebees. Yellow and black, big and fat. I thought they might be digging holes as well, and have tapped on the wood. It still feels solid, and haven't seen any debris (like with termites).Didn't know if there was anything in the pressure-treatment that might be considered sweet. Like how radiator fluid is attractive to animals. And I can't remember if the wood was the old-style pt, or the newer stuff.maybe they're just design critics . . . .
big and fat no problem then.
You sure there's not plants around that keep them going and the heat reflection off the trellis gives them something to do in their sparetime?
You really have to rile a bumblebee up to get a sting.
As kids we use to scoop them up off the clover and hold them tight in our fists for a few seconds feeling them buzz in there before we thru them at each other.
Never got stung but no, I don't do that now.
bee butt tho' I've been tempted to a few times when in a weak moment
Beware. RFID is coming.
When I was real young and stupid I used to clap my hands - hard - on honey bees. Quit that when I miscalculated the clap and the bee got stuck between my fingers. Stuck me good!
I have the carpenter bee infestation in my shed rafters and the rafter returns on the front of my house. The returns are unsheathed (long time unfinished remodeling) and are drilled through and through and definitely structurally unsound.
The local exterminators don't help the situation, either. You know they're on the job when they wake you before the alarm goes off in the morning. Rat-a-tat-tat. These red headed suckers must be at least a foot tall and you should see the splinters fly as they go after their breakfast.
I'm gonna let them and the bees duke it out a little longer and then finish my remodel - starting with a wee bit of demolition first. I gotta change the look of my house anyway.
yer a good man ralph to let the birds have their breakfast.
Sounds like time for some metal sheathing aye?
I just recoated my redwood/cedar walls with a linseed oil stain after last year finding a couple round holes up high, center of board, not a knot hole.
Next day they were buzzing around in a panic as there was no where for them to comfortably light.
Now that you mention it, I'd found some drilling on a facia of a shed out back last year. Always on the south in the heat.
Don't let them get in that stack of osb on yer back deck.
be now you got me a weebee bit concerned
Beware. RFID is coming.
My experience is that linseed oil won't slow them down for long unless you reapply at least yearly. I'm experimenting with a cheaper oil now, used (diesel) motor oil. Gotta see them go through that to believe it. If you don't like black wood, never mind.
One thing that does work is sacrificial wood. For instance, they love cedar. If you leave out some cedar they'll pretty much ignore everything else. They prefer soft.
Those are likely pileated woodpeckers. We have lots. The larger the bird, the louder the commotion. Love having them around.PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
"The carpenter bee which is similar in looks to a bumble but narrower will drill holes thru out PT wood and core it out from the inside chewing tunnels throughout the wood."Crap!!The last couple of days I've noticed a(?) carpenter bee(s?) hanging around my deck. I got down and tried to see if I could find a hole, but I didn't find one.Guess I'm gonna have to look harder.Rich BeckmanAnother day, another tool.
Yeah, last year I started watching them outside the window here on a 2x6 PT trellis affiar. Drilling nice little 1/2" holes. Over and over.
It was old CCA tho'.
Maybe we'll get lucky and the ACQ will kill the bees.
bee keeping fingers crossed
Beware. RFID is coming.
The last couple of days I've noticed a(?) carpenter bee(s?) hanging around my deck. I got down and tried to see if I could find a hole, but I didn't find one.
Guess I'm gonna have to look harder.
Do take a closer look, but there it is possible that the bee is "just looking". I've seen them do that, but if they don't find what they're looking for, they move on after a few days.
But don't drive yourself crazy trying to eliminate them if they are indeed making holes in the deck framing. It takes a really, really long time (if ever) for them to actually do structural damage. Mostly, their damage is cosmetic and the bees themselves are annoying.
Since they have homing instinct and if the new generation survives, in theory there will be more and more every year. Even though it takes a long time for them to do significant damage, it's a lot easier to do them in before there are too many.
-Don
The carpenter bees that hover outside the hole and dive bomb you are the males. The DON"T have stingers, so swat away! The females are in the holes...when you spray the insecticide in the hole, stand back and wait for her to fall out...she gonna be maddddd
I've got a log house rental property that I've been battleing carp bees for 7 years now. They were REAL bad when I bought the place but after several years of keeping up the pest control, their numbers are very managable. Pest guy dusts each hole and crevice. Under the protected eves, the dust lingers and I've seen new bees go in an old hole 1 year later and come out flying crooked from the lingering dust.Ithaca, NY "10 square miles, surrounded by reality"
Few years back I worked for a lady had a cedarshake siding house(10 times real fast) with 2x6 and 2x8 redwood trim boards.
Those bees had been having a party for years and years on the redwood but never touched the cedar shakes.
I had to remove the all the redwood trim and then replaced it with cedar. Coated everything with an oil base.
The first year I left one of the old trim 2x6s leaning in the back side of the house on the southern exposure as a sacrificial piece with the thought if any bees returned they would head for the red instead of the cedar and could be dealt with easier.
I started cutting the 2x redwood to see if any salvage was available and nada. A regular labyrinth of miner tunnels ran up and down inside the length of the boards from just a couple holes open to the outside here and there. And very lightweight.
Been several years now and no return of the bees.
That '20ft drops 'em dead in the air' spray is some good stuff. That and playing the occasional game of air-badminton.
be a killer
Beware. RFID is coming.
is the body of the bee completely black and rather shiny? if so, they are carpenter bees for sure. they will drill single holes into wood and excavate tunnels to lay their eggs. i had an infestation of these in the second story under the eaves last year, about 36 seperate entrances, and the bees were always hovering. it was too high for me to deal with, so i had it taken care of by a willing exterminator (most wouldn't deal with bees at all). he sprayed each hole with insecticide and then used wood filler to seal and repair. so far this year, no bees have returned. but it will be an ongoing battle, i imagine!
"is the body of the bee completely black and rather shiny?"Nope, black and yellow. And the wood still feels solid.
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http://www.pestproducts.com/carpenterbees.htm
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jt8
"A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love." -- Saint Basil
nope. furry all over with a big yellow butt (the bees . . . not me)
DAMN! When that came across my screen I nearly jumped out of my chair!
DAMN! When that came across my screen I nearly jumped out of my chair!
Just as long as you didn't swat your monitor. ;)jt8
"A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love." -- Saint Basil
Take and spray some lysol multipurpose cleaner in the knot hole first thing in the morning when they are slower to react. they want stay there long i guarantee you