Wood Bee problems

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phideaux

phideaux

Old fashioned
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Nov 24, 2017
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19,538
Location
West Ky
I have a few sheds where I park my Mowers, and my Tractor,
They are 3 sided sheds with open front for driving in and out.
Metal on roof and sides.

But , I find my Mowers and tractor covered in sawdust from wood bees boring holes in the roof rafters/2x4 s.
I've soaked them with burnt motor oil, sprayed hornet killer on them.
Swatted a few ,

This is driving me nuts..

Any idea's on how to eradicate these pests???

Jim
 
Bubble Bee has been following us around. There are about 3 of them here. While I wash dishes it stairs at me, gets in my face outside,same for hubby. Never seen such inqusitive bees.
Clone ? Just kidding , I hope.
 
If I walk into the shed and just stand....they will hover right in front of me....trying to stare me down.

Any movement, they take off , then come right back.

They got holes everywhere..this could become a real problem ,

Gotta do something.


Jim
 
phideaux said:
If I walk into the shed and just stand....they will hover right in front of me....trying to stare me down.

Any movement, they take off , then come right back.

They got holes everywhere..this could become a real problem ,

Gotta do something.


Jim
Click to expand...

Yeah just wait until the woodpeckers come and dig them out. I’m still repairing damage on my house from them. It’s. Ongoing.

A good post is from a friend on another site. http://www.smoked-meat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22104&highlight=Bee+trap Maybe that will help.
 
All my damage, is their holes drilled in the bottom of the 2x4 purlins under the metal roof.

Haven't seen any peckerwoods yet.

I can't plug all the holes...too many.

I need some kind of deterrent , I soaked the 2x4s with burnt motor oil...I think they liked it.

I have swatted a few... that's too much work.


Jim
 
Phideaux,
If I had your problem I would get my cheap Harbor Freight paint sprayer and some polyurethane (I use Varathane) Start by covering the inside of your shed with a HEAVY (dripping) coat and putting a decent coat on both sides of some 1/4" to 1/2" OSB. When the fumes allow you entry into your shed put the OSB panels up to cover the holes and the rest of the exposed wood. Use screws to attach it to the studs. When the panels are in place spray another "dripping" coat of polyurethane over all surfaces. Let it cure for a day or two and put your gear back in the shed.
The new bees won't hatch and the older bees will find some place easier to dig in. You could put up traps outside near your shed after making your shed hard to use to kill the stragglers and and new guests.
 
phideaux said:
All my damage, is their holes drilled in the bottom of the 2x4 purlins under the metal roof.

Haven't seen any peckerwoods yet.

I can't plug all the holes...too many.

I need some kind of deterrent , I soaked the 2x4s with burnt motor oil...I think they liked it.

I have swatted a few... that's too much work.


Jim
Click to expand...

Not sure if pesticide would work. I’ve been spraying them with brake cleaner and sealing them in with silicone as I go. Hopefully once the soffit and facia are done it will help.
 
I use Borax (laundry detergent) to get rid of them. Works great on spiders, bees, ants and similar size creatures.
I lay a bead of it in my floor joists in my house and buildings and just leave it there. Whatever goes across it dies.
It may get a little messy trying to get it in your rafters but it'll do the job. Just try to get some powder in their holes.
Borax has boric acid in it. When an insect gets it on its body, it licks it off. When they ingest the powder, it poisons them. It may take a couple days to kill the insect depending on its size and how much ingests.

Do an internet search for boric acid to control insects for more information.
 
Watching this with great interest I have a large nest of them under my front deck in the ground and can't get rid of them. I'm leery of using strong poison since it's close to my dogs pen
 
I heard of a fellow once, 2nd hand story. He replaced the 2x4’s in his tractor shed one winter with new one’s soaked in arsenic water, of course they were bowed all to Heck! Maybe arsenic and motor oil wouldn’t cause severe bowing. I heard it worked… no more carpenter bee problems for the guy.

From what you describe… a 2ft snow would collapse your sheds. Maybe a heavy coating of arsenic and polyurethane on new purlins. Don’t have to replace the old ones, just sister them up. Reaching for straws here. :dunno:
 
phideaux said:
If I walk into the shed and just stand....they will hover right in front of me....trying to stare me down.

Any movement, they take off , then come right back.

They got holes everywhere..this could become a real problem ,

Gotta do something.


Jim
Click to expand...
They are trying to warn you off. Next expect them to buzz around your ear or head butt you. Stinging is their last option but if one stings you others will smell it and will try to sting you also so get out of the area. If you try to swat them or brush them away you are likely to get stung.
 
I was looking to see about carpenter bee stings since I'm allergic to bumble bees and they are related so wanted to see if the venom was similar and found this.

https://www.thomaspestservices.com/blog/post/do-carpenter-bees-sting

One of the best things you can do to resist carpenter bees is paint or treat any untreated wood on your home. Carpenter bees target untreated wood, especially underneath. These insects most often tunnel upward first, then make a right angle turn and bore horizontally. Sometimes their tunneling efforts will cause them to accidentally chew through to the outside as they go, and damage will be much more obvious.
 
@Meerkat & @phideaux and if you are wondering why the bees are hovering right in front of your face they have facial recognition and they recognise who is a regular on their patch and they also recognise who is not a regular there too. This information comes from an apiarist and there have been studies done on this. They are actually saying hello to you.

As we have a few hives here we quite regularly get the bees following us around the yard and hovering in front of our faces and they also land on us to drink our sweat in summer if we are doing anything strenuous in the yard for a water supply too. If you closely watch and listen to them they have a calm buzz for when they are happy and a lower tone buzz when they are upset.

@phideaux I would go for a metal frame for your sheds if the wood bees are boring their way through the wood. We don't have wood bees here but a native small Australian bee with a bluish green tinge to them that you can set up a nest for with a hollowed out log with holes drilled in it. We do however have carpenter ants (member of the termite family) that burrow through wooden house beams and nest in them and cause a lot of damage and of course termites that can eat the house out from under you. We are going for a metal framed house when we build because of these reasons.
 
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Spray the wood with a penetrating concrete sealer. Basically petrified the wood just under the surface. Might be too tough for them to chew through
 
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