GIMME SHELTER- Busy bees: Big black borers love wood

Matt Yeager, Brown Extermination Company

Q. Those giant carpenter bees at my house are driving me crazy! They're so aggressive and they burrow holes in my deck. I even got stung by one. How do I stop them?

A. First, a little bit about carpenter bees. The female looks like a honeybee with a shiny rear end, while the male is shinier, black, and aggressive. The male's job is to draw a predator's attention away from the female feeding on the ground, so that's why they'll fly right in your face.

Ironically, it's the females that will sting you, not the males; they just fly around trying to intimidate you. Carpenter bees are also great pollinators, but they don't get much sympathy because they also eat your house!

Carpenter bees will drill a perfectly round hole in any exposed wood, usually about a quarter-inch deep, and then directly to the right or left they will bore a seven-inch chamber in which to lay their eggs. They begin laying their eggs at the end of the chamber and continue until they've filled it all the way to the entrance. Oddly enough, the last egg laid is the first one to hatch. This is so the bees hatched at the back of the chamber don't destroy the eggs in front of them trying to get out. 

Each bee will build one of these nests in the spring, so the best way to deter them is to get started before they become active– around March– by spraying your exposed wood with a bee pesticide. 

The more exposed wood you have, the more likely you are to have a carpenter bee problem. Barns are particularly vulnerable to infestation. When it comes to spraying, you can either do it yourself or hire an exterminator. Ideally, you'll want to keep spraying every other month to keep them away. You can also deter the bees from burrowing by painting over the exposed wood.

If you already have a bee problem, you'll need to put boric acid dust (available at CVS or Lowe's) directly inside the hole they're coming out of. 

And don't worry, if you catch them inside the hole they won't normally come out. Also, remember-– ignore the male and watch out for that female!

Matt Yeager
PHOTO BY DAVE MCNAIR

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