Carpenter Bees

Products For Elimination and Control

**    Skip down to carpenter bee elimination products.  **

Carpenter bees look like bumble bees but have the nasty habit of drilling perfectly round, 1/2 inch holes in wood structures.  Although they prefer older, weathered lumber, carpenter bees wreak havoc with log homes, cedar siding and any other unpainted wood.  This article deals with eliminating carpenter bees from your home and other wood structures.  For more information on carpenter bee biology and habits, go to our Carpenter Bee Article.

• To control carpenter bees, do not concentrate on the adults. The annoying male bees are easy to kill with a wasp freeze such as PT515. However, killing the male will do nothing to stop the cycle. You must treat the nest with a product which will have a long residual killing time. If you spray liquid residuals in their hole, you may kill the female bee. The eggs are protected, however, and six to twelve months later the larva will emerge. Since liquids are absorbed by porous wood, they will be gone when the larva hatch. This means the larva have a strong chance of survival.
• To insure complete control, use a dust called Drione. It has a desiccant action and can remain active up to 3 months in the nest and the nest galleries. When the larva emerge they will be dehydrated by the Drione Dust. Apply the Drione to the nest openings and deep inside the cavities drilled by the carpenter bees. This will kill any emerging carpenter bees and larva in the future. Since the holes can penetrate several feet, you should use an applicator like the Crusader Duster. This tool will help you to apply the dust with enough force to reach deep in the nest where the eggs and larva will be living.
• You should also treat any wood surface that you wish to protect with Suspend SC, Tempo WP or with Cynoff WP.   These products (Suspend SC, Tempo and Cynoff ) are used extensively by pest control operators throughout the United States for most of their monthly, quarterly or once-a-year pest control accounts.  These insecticide concentrates are active against many pests including carpenter bees. Choose the product that best suits your overall needs for pest control in and around your home or business.  Tempo and Cynoff are wettable powders (powder concentrates that are mixed with water for spraying for various insect pests) which are odorless and give at least 90 day residual action indoors.   Mix Suspend SC at the rate of .75 or 1.5 ounces per gallon of water, Cynoff or Tempo at the rate of 2 scoops per gallon when controlling carpenter bee infestations; spray on any wood surface you wish to protect from carpenter bees or where they may want to bore holes and create galleries. One gallon can treat up to 1000 sq./ft. This application rate works well when treating cedar homes and log cabins. These structures are particularly subject to carpenter bees.
• If you tend to have recurring carpenter bee problems every Spring or Fall, may have to do more spraying. This will deter future infestations of many pests, including carpenter bees. Apply Suspend SC once every 4 weeks in the spring when they are most active. Once a month outdoor applications throughout the summer will probably provide protection but do not forget your fall application. Although rain and humidity will break down the chemical, it is active enough so that even trace amounts will help chase carpenter bees, wasps and hornets away.
• Use a pump sprayer to do the treatment. Start treating high on the siding under the eaves. Since the product will run down the side of the home, you will get the best coverage this way. The most economical way to spray is with a garden pump sprayer. Our Chapin Sprayer is capable of reaching up to 20 feet high. Product comes out slowly and it may take a couple of gallons to treat your home. However, the pump sprayer avoids excessive waste.
• If you have a lot a area to treat and are not concerned about wasting some product, use a Dial-A-Mix hose end sprayer with a liquid concentrate Cypermethrin (Demon EC, Cynoff EC or Cypermethrin EC 4 Oz..) This hose-end type of sprayer is used by filling it with the Cypermethrin product, hooking it to your garden hose and then depressing the trigger. This releases the water from your hose which in turn siphons out the required amount of Cypermethrin to provide the correct solution. This type of application is much easier to use than a pump sprayer. Many times the water pressure is able to spray higher than the pump sprayer which could prove important if trying to reach high places on your home. Expect a small amount of waste when using the hose end sprayer. On a special note, do not use a "Miracle Gro" or other "no-clog" hose end sprayer which lets water mix with the concentrate. These sprayers are designed for water soluble fertilizer and will not work for this application.
• When Spring has sprung, insects will rebound from a long and cold winter. The carpenter bee is one such pest. Treat their nests directly with Drione to insure long term control. Use Suspend SC, Cynoff WP or Tempo WP on decks, overhangs and fence posts in the Spring to stop further nests from starting. A little prevention will go a long way in reducing the amount of unsightly damage caused by carpenter bees.