Carpenter Bee Load

[cr2]

I'm pretty serious about killing carpenter bees around my shop. They bore holes in the fascia boards, and generally undermine the strength of any outside wood. The fly swatter has always been my favorite tool because it's light weight and quick. It swats them out of the air before they know what hit them. Most days I walk out on the deck and wait for them to come check me out. At first they are pretty dumb and hover right in front of me. Problem is, after 8-10 kills they get smarter and stay a few feet out of reach. A few years ago I made a spring loaded wooden gun that shot a light weight disk with about 50 nails protruding from it. It wasn't completely successful, but I did manage to impale a few bees with it.

My latest weapon of choice is low tech shotshells in my 357 magnum revolver. I use my usual 38 special powder load, pack it down with a wad over it, then add 75 gr. of #9 bird shot covered by another wad. A rolled up piece of paper surrounds the shot in the case. After crimping the case, I drip 5 drops of wax from a burning candle on top to seal it all up. The wax runs under the crimp so the ball of wax is captured making a pretty neat package. The picture below shows the pattern I'm getting at 8 ft. I still use the fly swatter when I can...those are freebies. But when they are out of range, it's well worth the nickel it costs to shoot them down.

Yeah, I know...there's something that's just wrong about blasting bees out of the sky with a 357 magnum revolver....but it sure is fun!

[Jupiter7]

Nice. Sounds like good medicine for wasps too.

[bruce drake]

You need to change your avatar to BeeKiller...

[Bonz]

I use a kids tennis racket

[Mumblypeg]

Daisy Red Rider BB gun. It sharpens your rifle skills....

[Pb2au]

I have been at war with those suckers for years. Every time i think I have cleaned them out, here they come again. Apparently my garage tastes great to those this beasts.
As discharging firearms is illegal in the city limits, I use cardboard tube I found. I am lousy at baseball, but have a pretty good batting average on carpenter bees.

[rsrocket1]

I love the Black Flag bee/wasp killer spray, it kills them in mid flight. I don't know what type of toxin it uses, but until this type of stuff came out, I've never seen an insecticide work so quickly.

[Shiloh]

I love the Black Flag bee/wasp killer spray, it kills them in mid flight. I don't know what type of toxin it uses, but until this type of stuff came out, I've never seen an insecticide work so quickly.

Where's the fun in that??:kidding:

Shiloh

[osteodoc08]

I just use the same brake cleaner I use to clean my molds.They have been boring into my deck posts. Pesky bees.

[owejia]

I live in a log house and like you have been at war with them for years, to old to swing a badmitten racket. Instead of lead shot I load .5cc scoop of powder, over powder card board wad and fill the case with tumbling walnut media and then use another over shot card board wad, and use finger nail polish to seal the wad to the case. I've loaded 45 acp for my 1917's and 38 spl and 45 colt. I just buy my wads from circle fly wad. I load and shoot a couple of thousand a year, and they keep coming back every spring. About the longest shot I take will be 6 ft. Even made a set of dies to compress the wads and walnut media with. About the only shooting I do anymore. That walnut media really polishes the bore of my revolvers.

[uscra112]

Gee, this sounds like so much fun that I could wish I had some here. :popcorn:

[bangerjim]

Looks like fun, but aren't you making more holes than the bees do??????????????? HA.....ha! :Fire:

I load 38spl and 45lc with similar loads but use #4 & 7 shot with 4-5gn TightGroup. And cap it off with a reversed Al GC with a tiny crimp.

Fun to shoot from my Judge also.......and MUCH cheaper than those pesky 410 shells!

banger

[webfoot10]

I use a Spanish .50 cal smoothbore muzzleloading shotgun I got from Dixe Gun works. A half thimble of 3f bp a card wad and a thimble full of
uncooked rice, works well out to 10 ft range, Not to loud and no chance of hitting anyone down range. A light loaded .410 loaded the same would
also work, I would try it with just the primer for propellant till I found out what works, The primer could be noisy in the city limits, as you don't
want to draw any attention to your sport.

[trys357]

Build one of these last year and caught @ 30 of them

[DougGuy]

If you got a garden, leave them bees alone! They are great pollinators. I have them all in the 2x4s in the roof of my lean-to and if it starts falling in I will just give them $20 worth of fresh Douglas fir to work on.

Yesterday I was putting up chicken wire on the corner of my enclosed garden, and they are right there in my face, right within inches of my hands, curious little buggers!

[rsrocket1]

Honey bees are good. Carpenter bees and yellow jackets (meatbees) are not good. Yeah, we leave the good bees alone. In fact, we have a big patch of lavender that they love and we love to just sit and watch them work.

[HABCAN]

Seed tapioca is the charge-of-choice..........it doesn't penetrate hard surfaces, just dusts. And, you don't really need to seal that top wad. BTDT.

[Nueces]

I heartily recommend the Bug-A-Salt, a pump action pneumatic salt gun:

http://www.amazon.com/Bug-A-Salt-Fire-Your-Swatter-Original/dp/B00AB88UDA

I've used it in the house against house flies and fruit flies and outside against wasps. It's light weight and long enough to give good aiming sense without sighting down the thing. Like shooting a long barreled Winchester 97.

Also sets the 'tone of the house' when visitors see it for the first time sitting on the kitchen counter.

[dondiego]

Don't know about carpenter bees but bumble bees are better pollinators than honey bees as they come out when it is raining while honey bees won't. I think I lost my hive of honey bees this spring though.

[BNE]

I thought my family was the only one who did this. It is great fun. Kind of like miniature sporting clay shoot. Just be careful because toes bees tend to dart around so fast you might end up shooting your house!

[kopperl]

Think I'll try salt in my air rifle.

[StrawHat]

Here is some additional information!

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/archive/index.php/t-30536.html

[labradigger1]

He he, i'm glad i am not the only one who does this. POW!
lab

[David2011]

My load for rattlesnakes is very similar. The differences are that I use .45 Colt and don't seal the top wad but roll crimp it. The bottom wad is teh black foam from a grocery store meat tray. The top wad is a .45 caliber gas check. It's deadly on snakes to 15 feet.

David

[Screwbolts]

Instead of lead shot you can use the very fine pasta that is used for salads. Acini di-pepe

[Lee]

Been doing the same thing for years. A Lee scoop of 3-4 grains of mixed up mystery powder, (floor sweepings, leftovers, etc) in a .45 Long Colt case, primer hole enlarged so the primers don't back out. A styrofoam wad on top of the powder, then corn meal, corn cob, or ground walnut hulls, then a larger styrofoam wad on top to hold it all in place. Shootin' in a replica Peacemaker, it's deadly on them buggers out to about 6'. Hit dead center they disappear in a yellow mist. Great fun. (Color the bases to keep 'em seperate from your normal loads. Oh, and not as easy as you think. Sobers ya up real quick to your shooting/aiming/reaction time skills!!!!
Deadly on carpenter bees, don't hurt windows, house, siding.(Unless you do point blank!, never tried it!)
Side benefit is that anyone driving past sees this nut out there waving a gun around and shooting it off.
I haven't been bothered by Jehovah Witnesses since I started doing this.................. Heh Heh

[cr2]

Glad to see so many have already thought of this. I really like the idea of using something other than lead shot. I've got some walnut shell, and am gonna try rice and pasta. This will give me something to do when I follow my wife into the grocery store. Also gonna try reducing the powder way down to 1 or 2 gr.

[GP100man]

I use grits over 2gr. of clays , has enuff to reseat the primer .

I think I`m gonna try drilling a few cases & try a shotgun primer by itself .

PS: with grits, at 12" from a painted facia board it did`nt ruffel the paint ! Don`t ask how I know ! LOL

GP

[leftiye]

Try something like cornmeal. I've wiped out whole paper wasp nests with some bullseye and cornmeal, wax over mouth of case. Course I let 'em have all six as I didn't want any escaping to sting me. Maybe plastic pellets (small balls)?

[jonp]

this board and site sucks. Everytime I make plans for the weekend along comes a thread like this with tons of interesting things guys have done and my weekend is shot again.

Walnut media and wax? Seed tapioca? Uncooked rice? Cornmeal? Grits? [smilie=w:

[Texantothecore]

Daisy lever action bb gun works well on red hornets. They blow up real good. Lol.

Lots of fun on a slow Saturday afternoon.

[N4AUD]

We used to catch them when I was a kid by knocking them down with a broom. The other day I was at the reconstructed fort at Wilderness Road State Park, and there were white faced carpenter bees everywhere. One of the female interpreters (re-enactor) was clearly alarmed by them but I showed her they can't sting. She thought they were bumble bees, but I told her to look for the white face, and that bumble bees had a black face and can sting. I have some around my outbuildings but I've never tried killing them.

[Mumblypeg]

We used to catch them when I was a kid by knocking them down with a broom. The other day I was at the reconstructed fort at Wilderness Road State Park, and there were white faced carpenter bees everywhere. One of the female interpreters (re-enactor) was clearly alarmed by them but I showed her they can't sting. She thought they were bumble bees, but I told her to look for the white face, and that bumble bees had a black face and can sting. I have some around my outbuildings but I've never tried killing them.

Hummm..... I had one sting me.... maybe he was an infiltrator.....

[gwpercle]

No wonder the bee population is in decline. What with no daily limit, and no season you guys are wipeing them out.
I prefer to let them pollinate my garden and fruit trees.
Gary

[cr2]

The honey bee population is in crisis....not the carpenter bees.

[tiwimon]

This is very cool, going to have to put my Mr Miyagi chopsticks down and load up some 38 or 357 for one of my Wiley Clapp GP100's

103122

[Pb2au]

No wonder the bee population is in decline. What with no daily limit, and no season you guys are wipeing them out.
I prefer to let them pollinate my garden and fruit trees.
Gary

I will have to check the ODNR regs to see what the legal season on them is, plus bag limit.
My dog seems to enjoy them. He is also not the brightest bulb in the pack......

[Pb2au]

Wait, shouldn't this thread be in the Hunting with CB's section?

[Blammer]

Well a great reminder for me! I had a few "shot" loads all ready to go!

First I took the kids BB gun out and killed two after about 20 shots. It was fun, but then I wanted to get proficient.

Out came the 357mag and pop pop pop, thinned it out quick! :)

[mac60]

We used to catch them when I was a kid by knocking them down with a broom. The other day I was at the reconstructed fort at Wilderness Road State Park, and there were white faced carpenter bees everywhere. One of the female interpreters (re-enactor) was clearly alarmed by them but I showed her they can't sting. She thought they were bumble bees, but I told her to look for the white face, and that bumble bees had a black face and can sting. I have some around my outbuildings but I've never tried killing them.

I believe the males can't sting, but the females can.

[beagle]

Fellers, you're reinventing the wheel here. Several years ago there was a thread on shooting carpenter bees with the .45 Colt, paper wads and grits. Gave loads and all. It went on for about a month but someone more computer savy than I will have to dig it out. I have a shootable population as well and need to load some./beagle

[Digital Dan]

I'm pretty serious about killing carpenter bees around my shop. They bore holes in the fascia boards, and generally undermine the strength of any outside wood. The fly swatter has always been my favorite tool because it's light weight and quick. It swats them out of the air before they know what hit them. Most days I walk out on the deck and wait for them to come check me out. At first they are pretty dumb and hover right in front of me. Problem is, after 8-10 kills they get smarter and stay a few feet out of reach. A few years ago I made a spring loaded wooden gun that shot a light weight disk with about 50 nails protruding from it. It wasn't completely successful, but I did manage to impale a few bees with it.

My latest weapon of choice is low tech shotshells in my 357 magnum revolver. I use my usual 38 special powder load, pack it down with a wad over it, then add 75 gr. of #9 bird shot covered by another wad. A rolled up piece of paper surrounds the shot in the case. After crimping the case, I drip 5 drops of wax from a burning candle on top to seal it all up. The wax runs under the crimp so the ball of wax is captured making a pretty neat package. The picture below shows the pattern I'm getting at 8 ft. I still use the fly swatter when I can...those are freebies. But when they are out of range, it's well worth the nickel it costs to shoot them down.

Yeah, I know...there's something that's just wrong about blasting bees out of the sky with a 357 magnum revolver....but it sure is fun!

You will fare better with #12 shot, aka "rat shot" or "dust".

Spent more that a few rounds of that on carpenter bees.

[fastfire]

With paper wasp nests I don't mess around 12ga 7 1/2 shot. Stand far enough away to get the pattern the full width of the nest and no more nest!

[leftiye]

I believe the males can't sting, but the females can.

Lefty, commie, socialist bees!

[Blammer]

It's a male dominant heirarchy ran by the females. :)

[dale2242]

Are carpenter bees also known as Mason Bees?.....dale

[N4AUD]

Don't know about how to tell a male from a female, but the ones with that white or yellow face CAN'T sting. Black face yes. Maybe the white face ones are males? I don't know. Or maybe we are talking about different bees. I'll see if I can get a picture of one today.

[beagle]

A 30/06 with the old military blanks works best. Hold muzzle 18" from nest and the muzzle blast pulverizes nests big as softballs and no survivors./beagle


With paper wasp nests I don't mess around 12ga 7 1/2 shot. Stand far enough away to get the pattern the full width of the nest and no more nest!

[Jeff H]

Carpenter Bee-Blasters will be coming out of the woodwork - or closet as the case may be and I am one of 'em.

Those things can be very aggressive and I have used so-called "kills on contact" Wasp and Hornet Spray and they literally shake it off and come after me like they're going to take the can and pound it into some highly sensitive orifice.

Carb Cleaner or Brake Cleaner sprayed in the hole they made, after you see them go in, will stun them enough to stomp them.

I keep badminton rackets lying about and I can mince them on the wing.

When they get on to my game, I have to resort to .22 LR shot-shells or .44 Special shot-shells.

They're big and have a terrible attitude. If I thought I could afford to lose a trap or two each season, I'd consider placing Conibears over their holes.[smilie=f:;-)

[jonp]

It's a male dominant heirarchy ran by the females. :)

Sounds like my house

[jonp]

I think that this thread proves one thing. Any problem solving by casters and reloaders involves gunpowder of some sort.

[gwpercle]

Are carpenter bees also known as Mason Bees?.....dale
No they are different type. Carpenter bees can bore holes and sorta look like bumble bees . Mason bees only use existing holes, they don't bore their own. They look more like a honey bee than a bumble bee . They will nest in a hollow reed, or any small hole. Carpenter bees also drill a hole into the wood then turn a right angle and bore with the grain to make their nest. Mason's lay an egg, with food in the hole and seal it with mud, hence mason name. But they are not dirt daubers, them are wasp. Mason's are good pollinators and don't damage wood fascia boards or exposed rafters so don't shoot them. How I came to know so much useless information is beyond me.
Gary

[Charley]

You want to protect your property from carpenter bees? There is the really neat invention, called PAINT. Paint the wooden surfaces the bees typically bore holes in, and it will repel them. The females check the taste/texture of the surface they are interested in, a layer of finish will stop the boring.
Males have no stinger, but are the ones that act aggressively, they will buzz around you, sometimes even bumping you, to try to get you to leave the nesting area. Females don't act aggressively, but do have stingers. Unlike honeybees, it is a smooth stinger, so they can sting multiple times. They do pack a decent punch.
Carpenter bees and bumble bees are often confused, similar size and coloration. Look at them in sunlight, on carpenters you will see light reflected from the abdomen, because it is a smooth surface. Bumble bees have a hairy abdomen, don't reflect. When I taught pest management, I would teach the following line...carpenter bees have a shiny heinie. Bumble bees don't.

[psychicrhino]

Folks giving me a lot of what my wife would call "bad ideas" on here :)

[leftiye]

It's a male dominant heirarchy ran by the females. :)

America? Oh, I forgot, America is female dominant too.

[SSGOldfart]

Build one of these last year and caught @ 30 of them
damn I need a couple of these I tried a wax over primer load but I kill one and three more move in they are eating the roof off my shed, I've been thinking about a old training round we used in the Army .22 pellet over primer in a m16 mag primer was enough to cycle the bolt, pretty good to 40 feet

[Garyshome]

What do you mean? Yeah, I know...there's something that's just wrong about blasting bees out of the sky with a 357 magnum revolver....but it sure is fun!
I don't think so!

[bbqncigars]

The Flyshooter (http://smile.amazon.com/Martin-Paul-100-75-Flyshooter-Original/dp/B0001UZUW2/ref=pd_sim_lg_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=093MYF50BEY5EM043R9S) works well too if they're in range of the tether string. Once you get a handle on your maximum tether range you can freak a kitty out by shooting them just out of range. hehehe

[.429]

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/04/27/vu6a3y2y.jpg.8815" OAL

[Mal Content]

103311Ruger .45 2.5 gr clays under a .030 card wad, 2cc grits under another .030 card wad. Body count at 96 for today.

[gandydancer]

I believe the males can't sting, but the females can.

who has time to check?? lol

[Grendel99]

I noticed these carpenter bees really digging into my fence and picnic table. I just looked on wikipedia and the males do NOT have stingers but the females do. It did say the females are generally pretty docile though. Also said they are great pollinators so I will be leaving them alone unless they get into the house.

[44man]

Neighbor has a log house and it is covered in window screen to keep squirrels out. The place was sprayed with some preservative long ago and the tree rats ate the wood. Doesn't keep the bees out and at the corners, the screen sags from tons of sawdust.
Things are eating holes all through my wood bin and barn insides. Tried no 9 shot once but the patterns suck. Have to try the grits, etc.

[Texantothecore]

This thread ought to be stickied as a public service.

I will be using this when I teach some friends to reload. Part of the chapter entitled "the fully employed gun", different bullets and different loads for specific uses, etc.

[Eddie2002]

I've a old Crossman BB gun which knocks them out of the air out to 5-6 feet. I pump it up and "muzzle Load" it with saw dust from my table saw and a little WD 40 to hold the charge together, tamp it down with a brass rod. It also works great on the Wolf and Coconut spiders that sometime invade my shop.
Maybe a pinch of walnut media over just a little greendot would work for my little .380 LCP. hee hee

[Pb Burner]

103311Ruger .45 2.5 gr clays under a .030 card wad, 2cc grits under another .030 card wad. Body count at 96 for today.

Any one have any advice or detailed info on assembling loads like these? Will these work with no powder? Would enlarging the primer flash hole be beneficial, powder or not? If so, how much?
I'm an experienced reloader, just never tried or made any of these loads. I'm going to try some of these very soon. Probably for 357mag. Have a 3" and 4" revolvers.
I've got the carpenter bees... And they are a problem. Sounds like some good practice and fun too.
Advise? Suggestions?

[gwpercle]

Charley must be right about the painted surface deterring carpenter bees. There are a lot around my house right now but since the eaves and fascia boards are painted, they don't seem to be boreing holes there. I started looking around and found a lot of round holes in the trunks of two or three dead trees. These are out back near a garden, citris trees and a live tree, with a hollow in it , with honey bees living in it. These tree trunks aren't painted so thats where they are boreing....that's okay with me. Got mason bees too they live in the cane and bamboo and unused carpenter bee holes. Amazing what lives back there. And I thought there were only honey bees and bumble bees. Haven't stumbled on any bumble bee nests yet!
Gary

[Mal Content]

Pb Sent you a pm.
Mal

[hornady308]

Red Ryder bb gun! As a kid I used to spend hours shooting carpenter bees out of mid air. Just wait until they hover, then drop 'em. The Red Rider is quick on follow up shots and very quiet. Now that I'm an "adult" I pay my kids a $2 bounty for each body they show me. This is good parenting since it teaches the kids to work and earn their own way in the world.

[Pb Burner]

I was thinking the "grits" loads might be safer, as in short range, no collateral damage. BB's can go for some distance. I'm in a rural area, don't want to be shooting bb's while aiming in the air.

[Charley]

Charley must be right about the painted surface deterring carpenter bees. There are a lot around my house right now but since the eaves and fascia boards are painted, they don't seem to be boreing holes there. I started looking around and found a lot of round holes in the trunks of two or three dead trees. These are out back near a garden, citris trees and a live tree, with a hollow in it , with honey bees living in it. These tree trunks aren't painted so thats where they are boreing....that's okay with me. Got mason bees too they live in the cane and bamboo and unused carpenter bee holes. Amazing what lives back there. And I thought there were only honey bees and bumble bees. Haven't stumbled on any bumble bee nests yet!
Gary
Wait until you see leaf cutter bees. What they can do to roses is unreal, looks like someone took a giant paper punch and punched out a bunch of perfectly circular holes in the leaves about 1/2 inch in diameter. Lots more hymenoptera than most people know of...

[gtgeorge]

You want to protect your property from carpenter bees? There is the really neat invention, called PAINT. Paint the wooden surfaces the bees typically bore holes in, and it will repel them. The females check the taste/texture of the surface they are interested in, a layer of finish will stop the boring.
Really, I guess the paint on my shop has them illiterate bees boring holes that didn't read they was supposed to go find unpainted wood. :?

[Pb Burner]

Yeah gtgeorge, paint doesn't stop them at my place either.

[Any Cal.]

Some of these loads look neat, but a bit of searching found http://bugblaster.net which looked pretty good also...

[dondiego]

Wait until you see leaf cutter bees. What they can do to roses is unreal, looks like someone took a giant paper punch and punched out a bunch of perfectly circular holes in the leaves about 1/2 inch in diameter. Lots more hymenoptera than most people know of...

There are a lot of hymenoptera out there! There are some diptera that mimic certain hymenoptera and I have amazed my friends when I catch one in my hands and don't get stung. I did make an identity mistake one time though and got stung........just once!

Don


Straight "A"'s in both field entomology courses.

[Charley]

I've seen those "mistakes" as well. Won't admit to making one like that....

[jaystuw]

I solved a yellow jacket wasp problem once, at it's source. The hive was inside a 6 inch wide hole in the trunk of an oak tree, about 4ft off the ground.

I ran up to that tree, stuffed the muzzle of a tokarev pistol as far into the entrance as I could get it. and emptied a magazine of 7.62x25 PPsh submachine gun ammo into it.

The bullets probably didn't do much but the flash and muzzle blast of that PPsh ammo out of a pistol and inside that small space seemed to get their attention.

No flyers, but the yellow jackets that crawled out were slow, groggy and disoriented to say the least.

The following morning I found the nest to be abandoned, must of been a little to much excitement for them! Jay

[cr2]

This past week I experimented with barley and rice. The barley seems too light weight, and the rice doesn't give enough 'pellets.'. Haven't tried grits yet. So far my favorite non-lead shot is this pasta called Acini de Pepe that Screwbolts suggested. I had never heard of it. One pound bag was $2.50, and I figure it will make 500 rounds...so 1/2 cent per round. The pellets seem to be about the same size as #9 shot. I filled up a charged 357 mag case, then counted the pellets. It holds about 100 which gives pretty good coverage. One thing I really miss about using the lead shot is that it gives a little bit of recoil which feels good. You don't feel this other stuff at all. I've reduced the powder to 2.6 gr. of SR 7625, which is the smallest hole on the lee auto disk powder measure. I tried less powder, but it went from a mouse fart to a flea fart...not much fun. And also, when I miss one of these suckers, I want him to at least know he's been shot at.

103527

[FLHTC]

I'm pretty serious about killing carpenter bees around my shop. They bore holes in the fascia boards, and generally undermine the strength of any outside wood. The fly swatter has always been my favorite tool because it's light weight and quick. It swats them out of the air before they know what hit them. Most days I walk out on the deck and wait for them to come check me out. At first they are pretty dumb and hover right in front of me. Problem is, after 8-10 kills they get smarter and stay a few feet out of reach. A few years ago I made a spring loaded wooden gun that shot a light weight disk with about 50 nails protruding from it. It wasn't completely successful, but I did manage to impale a few bees with it.

My latest weapon of choice is low tech shotshells in my 357 magnum revolver. I use my usual 38 special powder load, pack it down with a wad over it, then add 75 gr. of #9 bird shot covered by another wad. A rolled up piece of paper surrounds the shot in the case. After crimping the case, I drip 5 drops of wax from a burning candle on top to seal it all up. The wax runs under the crimp so the ball of wax is captured making a pretty neat package. The picture below shows the pattern I'm getting at 8 ft. I still use the fly swatter when I can...those are freebies. But when they are out of range, it's well worth the nickel it costs to shoot them down.

Yeah, I know...there's something that's just wrong about blasting bees out of the sky with a 357 magnum revolver....but it sure is fun!

Coarse sugar works great in 38 special cases and they're just as dead

[cr2]

how far away can you be with the sugar and still kill them?

[StrawHat]

cr2, if you use non-organic pasta, your price per shot will drop even more.

[cr2]

Thanks for that. I looked at everything in the pasta section and this was all I saw. I will keep an eye out in other stores.

[BloodGroove4570]

I have used 22 snake shot, 410 & 12ga. I like the bad mitton raquet, BUT, now I HAVE TO try some of these rice/media/etc loads in the 44!!! Man good fun is a comin!!! [smilie=w:

Thanks for the insight and push... LOL
BloodGroove4570

[hornady308]

WARNING......carpenter bees are anti-2nd amendment!!! I was at the range today and a carpenter bee landed on the butt stock of my Target Classic 38-55. The stock was hanging off a picnic table and the bee flew over to the rifle, hovered next to it for a few minutes then landed underneath. I brushed it away, but it came right back within a couple of minutes. This time I smacked it down and was about to grind it into the earth with my heel, but it flew away. Typical liberal....

[BloodGroove4570]

I guess I'm gonna declare war on'em too! My dad loves swattin'em with the badmitton (sp?) but when I told him about these "BEE Killer" loads he just smiled and said, Did'ya make'em yet?!!!? :mrgreen:

I will be loading them in 44mag or 44spl cases and use either the rice or media...?

Shot from SS Ruger SBH 4 5/8" bbl and a S&W 29-2 6" bbl ...

I will use beer box for wads, cutout with a 45-70 case.

Have to see what/if a crimp works..?

Should I seal with wax? What type crimp is best suited to this type load?

Thanks for a Great Idea and post!!!! :2gunsfiring_v1: :awesome:
BloodGroove4570

[TXGunNut]

Just proves the old adage the there are few problems that can't be solved with the proper application of explosives.

[Polecat]

Well I must have caught a female cause it hurt big time.

[StrawHat]

Well I must have caught a female cause it hurt big time.

Bee or human?

[altheating]

Well, just for something to do I tried to cut wads with my Freechex checkmaker tool in .358". I cut them out of Winchester bullet box cardboard. One cardboard wad over 3 grains of bullseye compressed tightly, filled the 357 mag case with pasta, a second wad over the pasta and a good crimp. First bee was a shot at about 12', I loaded 60 more rounds. Bring on the bees!

[Michael J. Spangler]

Loaded 6 rounds today.
38 special case
2.5 grains of clays
Cardboard wad
Crowned the case with quinoa (all I had)
Inverted 38 cal gas check on top
Crimp.
I'll report back this afternoon I hope.
You guys are going to get me into trouble

[luvtn]

Loaded 6 rounds today.
38 special case
2.5 grains of clays
Cardboard wad
Crowned the case with quinoa (all I had)
Inverted 38 cal gas check on top
Crimp.
I'll report back this afternoon I hope.
You guys are going to get me into trouble
I am awaiting your report impatiently!!! :)
luvtn

[Michael J. Spangler]

great results.
used 4 shots and killed 2. one was too far away, the other showed signs of being hit but flew away.

i need load some more. there was another half dozen hovering around the same area. i picked up some ancini de pepe today to try also.
i thin the 357 cases will help seeing as they have room for more "shot" the pasta should be denser than the quinoa too.
can't wait!

[Texantothecore]

Man, this is an epic thread. So many ideas.

[threewheels]

I find for paper wasp it is best to wait till dark when they all have returned to the nest then light the thing up with my propane torch you get a big ball of flame but ya get them all

[dondiego]

...............or try this - Dave’s Bee Butter
You need:
 1 tub of clear odorless grease (Amazon - “White Lightning Crystal Grease Biodegradable, Non-Toxic Grease, 1lb Tub”, about $17.00)
 1 bottle 10% Permethrin (Tractor Supply - Gordon's® Permethrin-10 Livestock & Premise Spray, 8 fl. oz., SKU 2212873, about $7.00)
 1 large syringe (Tractor Supply - Probios® Equine One Gel, 30g , SKU 500330499, about $8.00 – has a nice dosage adjustment ring feature on the plunger). Squirt the horse medicine in the trash and clean the inside of the syringe. The larger syringe shown below does not have the dosage ring.
 1 small bathroom Dixie cup
 2 plastic picnic spoons – 1 spoon for grease, 1 spoon for Permethrin
 1 large picnic cup to hold greasy tools when done
 1 lot of popsicle sticks/craft sticks
 1 short length coat hanger wire – say 8” long
 1 good workbench surface for mixing
 Newspaper to work on
 1 box Kleenex tissues, or roll of paper towels, for occasional cleanup/wipeoff
1. Fill the small Dixie cup roughly 2/3 full with grease
2. Add 3 picnic spoonfuls of Permethrin
3. Stir thoroughly with the coat hanger (don’t use a spoon or popsicle stick to stir or else the Permethrin will gush out of the cup during mixing)
4. Consistency should be thick enough to “stick” in a vertical (under-the-eave) bee hole – if too thin, add more grease to the mix
5. Pull the plunger out of the now empty syringe
6. Insert mixed butter into the syringe tube using the popsicle stick – fill about ½ full
7. Reinsert the plunger
8. Cleanup all using Kleenex or paper towels
9. Inject a ¼” bead of bee butter into each bee hole – bees that come in contact with the butter will die and fall to the ground, typically in about 1 hour or less.
10. I got 24 bees on Day 1! This is a lot better than building “bee trap loads"

[labradigger1]

Ok thrifty booliteers, shoot the bees with whatever load you prefer ( my preference is #13 shot in 44 mag).
1 shoot as many as you can
2 find and gather as many as you can
3 dry the carcasses
4 use the bodies for flux next time you smelt.
Recycling at its wierdest.
lab

[Down South]

I used to make loads for my 357 mag and 44 Mag. My books are back in Louisiana but it doesn't take much powder. I used a gas check as a bottom wad, filled the cases with rat shot, #12. Used another gas check to top it and ran it through the crimp station. Makes a pretty cartridge and is Hell on bees.

[Garyshome]

"there's something that's just wrong about blasting bees out of the sky with a 357 magnum revolver"...Who Said?

[BNE]

I tried this and it works! I think it is easier than using the blue plastic capsules. WAY cheaper also.

Thank you for posting. It is just fun.

[Hamish]

Years ago we noticed that the holes the borer bees made would accommodate either a .38 special or .45 acp case.

dondiego, I fear for your sanity,,,,,,,,"this is better than building bee trap loads",,,,,,,,,,,,,:veryconfu

[Newtire]

I just use the same brake cleaner I use to clean my molds.They have been boring into my deck posts. Pesky bees.Now we're talking! I used Brake Kleen back in Kalifornistan on the yellow-jackets that used to congregate whenever I used a drill or a dremel. Kinda put the dampers on my motorized case trimming. Up here in Idaho now, we have hornets. I find it works just as well on them. I think I would like an adjustable choke on the spray tube though. Junior42 had a load he used on those bees if I remember. I think his was out of a .44? A Crosman smoothbore multi-pump BB gun loaded up with a wad of paper towel and a small amount of brass shavings from the case trimmer and another wad on top is OK but can leave some wounded and P.O.ed! Don't ask me how I know. Works great on Non-dangerous "insect game" like moths though. Use Enough Gun!

[ghh3rd]

Last house I lived at I had them and they were drilling away constantly on the front of the house. I had recently picked up one of those electric fly swatters that look like a tennis racket with wires criss crossed and thought why not?

I would wait until their curiosity kicked in and they got close (they always did) and give them a gentle nudge with the wand... pzzzzzt! Their legs would stick to the thing and they would sizzle to death in a few seconds. The only problem was the nasty smell..

[Texantothecore]

I was laughing about this thread today and my wife asked me what was so funny.

So I told her and her response was:

"Bad idea".

So I will have to keep it to myself in the future. Sigh...

[Catshooter]

Who can figure women?


Cat

[owejia]

Cool and wet this year not as many wood bees out yet. Have shot more than 500 bee loads through my Ruger security six so far this year. Have plenty more loaded in 38 spl and 45acp for my s&w Brazilians. A couple of times reminded me of a good dove shoot, fast and furious shooting. So any other carpenter bee killer out there this year.

[Down South]

Man, this one got drug up from a long sleeping period.
My cedar sided house that I had so many problems with burned down from a lightening strike a couple yrs ago. My new house is brick and stone and I don't have any more problems with carpenter bees.

[CPL Lou]

Gettin' to be that time of year again, isn't it ?
Last summer, my shooting club had a really bad infestation of the guys in the rafters. They were literally destroying the support braces for the roof.
Well, I have NAA 'magnum' BP pistol and I got to thinkin' "Why not load it up with some COW and top it off with loob?".
Did a fantastic job of getting rid of a bunch of them, only problem was I had to get really close to the nest.
Unfortunately, by the time I got to thinning them out, the roof had to be replaced. So this year I plan on swatting them with 'Smoky Pete' just as soon as the buggers show up. Had loads of fun while waiting for rifle barrels to cool BTW.

CPL Lou

[Digital Dan]

A .38-55 Win with about 20 grains of BP/cardwad/grits/wad works well.

[Michael J. Spangler]

I need to try some of these in a 45/70. I've always used handgun cartridges. Not sure why it didn't occur to me to load up a 45/70 before. That would really do the trick. Lots of shot in there.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[rrob692326]

Not to ruin anyone's fun, but if you want to get rid of them try Onslaught. It is a microencapsulated poison that does not kill them right away. Either spray their nest or when they are flying around to get some on them. They get it on themselves and it contaminates everything eggs larvae queen In a few days everything is dead. Works great with yellow jackets too just mix the two parts and add to a can of cat food poof, all gone.

[Digital Dan]

Chemical warfare was banned at the Hague Convention as I recall. :bigsmyl2:

[ARKANSAS PACKRAT]

Tapioca makes great "shot" for bee loads.

[victorfox]

When I was a boy my father brushed and squirted used motor oil inside their holes. Probably killed or disturbed them highly because they usually are not seen anymore. We had a big deal of them in the pig pens. My father who is of Spanish ascendence, used oil for everything. Aceite es media maquina, as the saying goes. Another "great" idea I had to disencourage our dog from passing under the fence to the house was about half the powder load and the rest of pinto beans in my 32ga. Was great at about 15ft. A sting in their rear ends no wounds no penetration but they stopped digging under the fence.

[bruce drake]

Hmm....I've got a 50-70 Trapdoor in the safe...


I need to try some of these in a 45/70. I've always used handgun cartridges. Not sure why it didn't occur to me to load up a 45/70 before. That would really do the trick. Lots of shot in there.


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[Spector]

if you are unarmed, in the traditional sense, any slender light weight 2 1/2' long or longer piece of sturdy wood will do. I found a heavy duty yard stick about perfect...until I shattered it. Then I bought some multiple layered hobby plywood and crafted a narrow ''bee butt basher'' out of that. It produces so little air pressure buildup in front of the fast approaching wood that they do not sense to leave the premises in time to react to the devastating ''thwack'' that is coming. I just carried it behind my truck seat. Even had a rubber taped handle on it. They were down for the count after contact with that.

I have sent them down range with a blast of black powder from an old 50 caliber muzzle loader only later to see them struggle to the top of a blade of tall grass or weed and manage to relaunch themselves into flight. Troubled, but flight none the less.

They are less of a problem since the club has erected a new treated wood and steel canopy over our shooting range, but there is still a population of them present at times. Their curiosity leads to their demise. Just swing anything in their vicinity and here they come to investigate. If you provoke them enough they love to hover looking you straight in the eyes at a distance of 4' or less. They never seem to learn. Don't show up armed with only a stinger at a ''gun fight''. grin

I even have hummingbirds occasionally challenge me like that at my home. Little pecker-woods don't seem to realize I'm the guy who keeps those feedesr full of sugary nectar for them. They seem to become really violent little cuties around southern Indiana in August and September.

Mike

[Down South]

I always kept my bee bat handy when I lived in a ceder sided house during bee season. It consisted of a board about 4" wide, about 3' long with a handle carved on the end.
The problem was some of the smarter bees would hover about 6' over me just out of reach for my bee bat. That's when I would draw my trusty Ruger GP-100 W/6" barrel and give them a blast with a bee load.

[Michael J. Spangler]

My English pointer spent a good 15 minutes trying to eat a couple that were flying in and out of my fathers shed last weekend. She managed to catch one and she opened her mouth back up a little surprised and it flew away.
Her head was getting about 10' in the air jumping up for them.

Going to have to load some 45/70s.
Maybe 5 grains of bullseye.


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[Frank V]

A lot of years ago I had to clean out a cook shack. It had become infested with black widow spiders. I sprayed a few, then thought heck I've got a perfectly good .22lr handgun & a box of .22lr shotshells. I found that a .22 shotshell would scatter a black widow spider over about a half acre & was fun to boot. Would that work on your bees?

[Down South]

A lot of years ago I had to clean out a cook shack. It had become infested with black widow spiders. I sprayed a few, then thought heck I've got a perfectly good .22lr handgun & a box of .22lr shotshells. I found that a .22 shotshell would scatter a black widow spider over about a half acre & was fun to boot. Would that work on your bees?
Yes, but probably not as good or as far as a 357 or a 44 mag bee load. Those mentioning rifle loads, Those would be long range killers for sure. Never tried a rifle load, only 357 and 44 Mag.

[FredBuddy]

Well, you enablers got me to working after my friend was complaining about the bees. So I made up some 357 with 'steel cut oats' and tapioca. Took 'em over yesterday with my TC 10" barrel. The boys were blasting 'em out of the air.

'Spose I'll get my TC back with the empties tomorrow.

[Frank V]

Yes, but probably not as good or as far as a 357 or a 44 mag bee load. Those mentioning rifle loads, Those would be long range killers for sure. Never tried a rifle load, only 357 and 44 Mag.


Uher you are right black widows don't fly they are pretty much confined to the web!8-)

[Ural Driver]

I use one of these. Y'all might not wanna get this close to a critter that has the ability to chase ya down and sting you, but it does work.
https://youtu.be/JmqTHLn1JWg

[FredBuddy]

Update to recent post:

Got the empty brass back, but not the TC.

[websterz]

Quick question for the guys using grits in their bug buster ammo. When you touch off a load do you yell "Kiss my grits!"? Gotta be at least 40 to get the reference. :-)

[C. Latch]

I didn't read the whole thread, but will simple blanks work for close-range bees?

Maybe a grain or three of fast-burning powder, then 5-6 grains of something slow like 296, in a .45 colt case.....would that make a fireball long enough to reach a carpenter bee from 8'?

[dverna]

I didn't read the whole thread, but will simple blanks work for close-range bees?

Maybe a grain or three of fast-burning powder, then 5-6 grains of something slow like 296, in a .45 colt case.....would that make a fireball long enough to reach a carpenter bee from 8'?

Wait till dark and touch one off.

[baogongmeo]

Oh man... you don't want flaming carpenter bees flying around your barn do you?

[C. Latch]

I'm thinking that if you burn their wings off you can stomp them for the coup de grace.

Cheaper and, in some ways, safer than using shotshells.

[C. Latch]

Well, I tried just that - with 4 grains of 700-x and a 0.7cc Lee dipper full of 296 - and at 8' it didn't even make a mark on the paper. At 2' it left a nasty mark and the wadding penetrated the paper.

I only loaded two of them. Honest to goodness, I'm walking back across the deck to come back inside and a carpenter bee buzzed me and my unloaded .45.

:/

[C. Latch]

Tried again. Useless at six feet. 296 doesn't even ignite, best I can tell.

[Muskrat Mike]

I live in a log house and like you have been at war with them for years, to old to swing a badmitten racket. Instead of lead shot I load .5cc scoop of powder, over powder card board wad and fill the case with tumbling walnut media and then use another over shot card board wad, and use finger nail polish to seal the wad to the case. I've loaded 45 acp for my 1917's and 38 spl and 45 colt. I just buy my wads from circle fly wad. I load and shoot a couple of thousand a year, and they keep coming back every spring. About the longest shot I take will be 6 ft. Even made a set of dies to compress the wads and walnut media with. About the only shooting I do anymore. That walnut media really polishes the bore of my revolvers.

May I ask .5cc scoop of what Powder?
Thanks

[owejia]

Muskrat Mike usually use what ever powder I have on hand. Some one gave me some old 12 ga shotshells that were split and I opened them up and saved the shot for my snake loads in the 45 acp and used the powder to make bee loads with. This year using IMR 4198 because I have a surplus of it. Any powder will work , but I use long barrel revolvers, tried some in my Ruger sp 101 stubby but powder didn't burn good. The walnut media is so light there is little resistance to make the powder burn, so no problem with high pressure. There is a thread in the muzzle loading section about using black powder, which I may try . Love the smell of black powder smoke, I compress the over powder wad in my press before putting walnut media in. Loaded 700 357 mag to shoot in my Ruger security six and only have about 40 left this year. Note this is a great way to practice point and shoot, and is kinda like wing shooting flying birds, you have to learn to lead them. Buggers are fast flyers.

[Frank V]

Well, I tried just that - with 4 grains of 700-x and a 0.7cc Lee dipper full of 296 - and at 8' it didn't even make a mark on the paper. At 2' it left a nasty mark and the wadding penetrated the paper.

I only loaded two of them. Honest to goodness, I'm walking back across the deck to come back inside and a carpenter bee buzzed me and my unloaded .45.

:/


Never shoot your gun dry!!!!:o
Just as you do you will get attacked!

[ohiomadman]

What fun it is shooting them out of the air. I have got about a dozen of them in the last three days.

My load is 3.7gr. of unique,wad,about 14gr. of rice,wad with a wax seal.

[W.R.Buchanan]

I have been resisting the Bug A Salt for a year or so but after my wife saw the video she went and ordered one from the Mfg. (always order direct from the Mfg if possible)

She will no doubt take this one over as she is the designated "Varminator" in the house. Our Cats are useless, when it comes to dealing with Rodents, and a big triumphant kill for them is a lizard.

Anyway Flies getting in the house while doors are open (usually pushed open by said Cats) is a constant issue and being able to deal with them in a decisive manner will be a welcome addition to our on going quest to rid the planet of pests.

Here's three of her recent victims. She takes her Flower Beds very seriously!

She is well known Locally,,, and now "Internationally,,, as "Gopher Slayer!"

Randy

[big bore 99]

Got a bunch of them around here eating holes in my treated wood porch. There is a wasp around here that goes into the hole and eats them. Salt works good in a slingshot. Deadly quiet or you can say 'bang' if you miss the effect. The white faced males don't sting. Back in grade school we used to catch them and keep them in your mouth. It really used to freak out the girls when you open your mouth and one flys out.

[Frank V]

Got a bunch of them around here eating holes in my treated wood porch. There is a wasp around here that goes into the hole and eats them. Salt works good in a slingshot. Deadly quiet or you can say 'bang' if you miss the effect. The white faced males don't sting. Back in grade school we used to catch them and keep them in your mouth. It really used to freak out the girls when you open your mouth and one flys out.


:mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen:

[RP]

I didn't read the whole thread, but will simple blanks work for close-range bees?

Maybe a grain or three of fast-burning powder, then 5-6 grains of something slow like 296, in a .45 colt case.....would that make a fireball long enough to reach a carpenter bee from 8'?

I was given a few packs of 9mm planks a few years ago and if i got within a foot of the flying carpenter bee mounting my kill was out of the question. They were fun while they lasted. You may want to let others around know they are blanks, seeing someone waving a pistol around shooting at things they cannot see may cause some concern for your mental health lol.

[Frank V]

I was given a few packs of 9mm planks a few years ago and if i got within a foot of the flying carpenter bee mounting my kill was out of the question. They were fun while they lasted. You may want to let others around know they are blanks, seeing someone waving a pistol around shooting at things they cannot see may cause some concern for your mental health lol.


These days someone is sure to call the Police & you REALLY don't want to be waving a gun around when they arrive.
A "man with a gun" call is taken VERY seriously!

[W.R.Buchanan]

OK guys the solution has arrived! last Saturday I ordered a Bug A Salt gun. It arrived today.

This thing is so cool I almost soiled myself. I read the instructions, filled the magazine with table salt as set forth around my insect infested home.

There were many casualties! and will continue to be for some time to come.

It is a pump action gun with an auto safety and is well made and bright yellow so you won't be cornfused with an armed felon.

My first shots to check sighting were at Roses from 3 feet. The pattern is about 2" dia. and the salt perforated the flower petals in a nice even pattern. Max Range is about 3 to 3.5 feet. at 2 feet it blows small Garden Spiders to bits. One Black Widow which had a body about the size of a pea took about 5 shots to completely annihilate. heh, heh,,,

Flies have no chance ! it blows them away ,,, literally,,, but it doesn't necessarily blow them apart because they are too light and just get blown away with the blast. I can see being able to wing shoot them as long as you are quick.

Haven't shot a bee yet but I have no doubt it will work just fine. If the thing has landed and you can get within 2 feet it will blow them away for sure.

Spiders are easy as they sit still so you can blast them.

This thing is something that people who live in bug infested place should be issued at birth. I immediately considered this gun to be a mandatory part of any serious shooters arsenal after 15 minutes of firing about 50 shots. Best $50 I've spent in along time and I will get many hours of enjoyment out of it.

Off to the store to pick up some nice coarse Kosher Salt for big game!

Randy

[Frank V]

W.R. I like that sounds like having fun while ridding the place of pests.
Sounds like a nice pattern too, wonder what the velocity is just wondering probably no way to chronograph it.

[ohiomadman]

OK guys the solution has arrived! last Saturday I ordered a Bug A Salt gun. It arrived today.

This thing is so cool I almost soiled myself. I read the instructions, filled the magazine with table salt as set forth around my insect infested home.

There were many casualties! and will continue to be for some time to come.

It is a pump action gun with an auto safety and is well made and bright yellow so you won't be cornfused with an armed felon.

My first shots to check sighting were at Roses from 3 feet. The pattern is about 2" dia. and the salt perforated the flower petals in a nice even pattern. Max Range is about 3 to 3.5 feet. at 2 feet it blows small Garden Spiders to bits. One Black Widow which had a body about the size of a pea took about 5 shots to completely annihilate. heh, heh,,,

Flies have no chance ! it blows them away ,,, literally,,, but it doesn't necessarily blow them apart because they are too light and just get blown away with the blast. I can see being able to wing shoot them as long as you are quick.

Haven't shot a bee yet but I have no doubt it will work just fine. If the thing has landed and you can get within 2 feet it will blow them away for sure.

Spiders are easy as they sit still so you can blast them.

This thing is something that people who live in bug infested place should be issued at birth. I immediately considered this gun to be a mandatory part of any serious shooters arsenal after 15 minutes of firing about 50 shots. Best $50 I've spent in along time and I will get many hours of enjoyment out of it.

Off to the store to pick up some nice coarse Kosher Salt for big game!

Randy

Our local Bass Pro ad shows the A-Salt gun on sale for $39.95

[W.R.Buchanan]

Frank: the usable range is less than 4 feet with 3 feet generating a pattern of about 2" in Dia. I am going to try some coarser Kosher Salt to increase my shot size from like #6's to #4's and see if that increases the range slightly.

The whole idea here is to not get into the bugs Visual Flight Distance. With Flies, being 2-3 feet away doesn't seem to alarm them at all, so you can get a good shot on them, and bees would be more of the same.

The sights are regulated to 3 feet so a dead on hold works great.

I swear you feel like the "King of the Jungle" when hunting your garden with this thing. Alley Oop would be proud!

Randy

[Nueces]

I've used pneumatic salt guns on flying insects for years now and have found that a slow approach of the muzzle to 6 inches or less seems to leave the little buggers unaware of their impending doom. Haven't tried them on crowds in the grocery store yet.

[lightload]

I was trained as a zoologist but taught and did not practice. Carpenter bee adults spend the winter inside their caves and tunnels. Plugging entrance holes will help reduce local populations, and you can always spray insecticide inside these areas. Painting wood surfaces discourages boring there--more so than does staining same. Males lack stingers but not females. This group is not aggressive.

[Down South]

I think that one of you guys with your high powered salt guns needs to sneak up on a big red wasp nest and and give it a blast. I'd bet you would kill every one of them!!!

[Down South]

I was trained as a zoologist but taught and did not practice. Carpenter bee adults spend the winter inside their caves and tunnels. Plugging entrance holes will help reduce local populations, and you can always spray insecticide inside these areas. Painting wood surfaces discourages boring there--more so than does staining same. Males lack stingers but not females. This group is not aggressive.
Back in the day my 44 & 357 mag bee loads with rat shot did the trick. The real fix was when my house burnt to the ground from an electrical storm. Boy, that really took care of them. I live in a brick house now with very little wood trim that is well painted and I don't seem to have a problem with the carpenter bees now. I do miss the fun of blowing their butts our of the air though.
For flys, I use a common old fly swatter.

[Frank V]

Frank: the usable range is less than 4 feet with 3 feet generating a pattern of about 2" in Dia. I am going to try some coarser Kosher Salt to increase my shot size from like #6's to #4's and see if that increases the range slightly.

The whole idea here is to not get into the bugs Visual Flight Distance. With Flies, being 2-3 feet away doesn't seem to alarm them at all, so you can get a good shot on them, and bees would be more of the same.

The sights are regulated to 3 feet so a dead on hold works great.

I swear you feel like the "King of the Jungle" when hunting your garden with this thing. Alley Oop would be proud!

Randy



This sounds like a lot of fun. Sometimes we have wasps that will chase Humming Birds away from the feeders. I'm betting a nice salt gun would do the wasps?

[JSH]

I have a fair bit of shotgun powder I was gifted. No load data available for it(Winchester 500HS and 473AA)so I am tempted to give these loads a try.

[thegatman]

Solved the problem with corks.

[Gtek]

Saw a hole today, started paying attention to front porch. Being smack in the middle of a neighborhood powder on the front porch would bring more unwanted guest. Carb cleaner = DRT, but I am sure not as much fun!

[dougader]

Brake cleaner melts their wings on contact and kills immediately. Shots in midair are not that hard...

[W.R.Buchanan]

I had a friend I worked with once who was a Champion USPSA shooter. My bench was right next to him and one day a fly flew past and he picked up a can of Contact Cleaner and shot the thing out of the air. It was one quick squirt and the fly dropped strait down DRT! :target_smiley:

I was impressed!

My Salt Gun is working well but so far I have not shot any bees with it simply because in Drought Ridden CA there aren't that many bees around. Usually this time of year we have Yellow Jackets but I haven't seen a one yet. So far Spiders have been the main targets of opportunity.

Randy

[Gtek]

Update- Inspection revealed them things had made two holes. Sprayed carb clean in both and got three more that were in them. I have been in this house for almost twenty years, no bore bees. I see this thread on here and days later I have holes and bees. Hmmmmmm!

[casper_zip]

I use a 38 special with fixed sights. I resize, prime, use my smallest Lee dipper with Red Dot, usually, put in wadded toilet paper, fill with rape or mustard seed, another tiny bit of paper, and seal with beeswax. After a lil practice, this load is deadly. Takes some practice, they will usually come in, hover and then zip away. Shoot when he is hovering, if you want to nail him.

This is cheap and fun, and targets about unlimited.

Casper_zip

[Frank V]

Casper I'm thinking that would be great fun, but you'd best be in a place with few neighboors to see someone pointing a gun.
The "man with a gun" call is one that really gets the Police attention.

[RP]

Yes the man with a gun will get called in for the most part but a few of us are lucky the ones around me are aware of my hobbies and I shoot often in the back yard heck even in the front yard when I am after some pest. The only one that can see into my yard will even yell out here comes one lol and has borrowed a rifle to rid a few pest in his yard. Not many cop callers in my area at all which is great for all.

[Frank V]

RP that is great. Sounds like a lot of fun.

[Down South]

Pretty much the same for me. My old house that burned down a couple years ago, I had my own shooting range. The house that I now live in, the next door neighbor has a shooting range just across the road.
One of neighbors is the sheriffs deputies that takes care of our neck of the woods. He comes over and shoots with us at times.
The good problem is that I don't have problems with carpenter bees in the brick house that I now live in.
Living out in the country "Sticks" has its perks.

Now, where I stay in Houston when away from home, if I fired off a shot, I probably have a Swat Team surrounding my place within minutes.

[W.R.Buchanan]

A House Fly and two spiders paid the ultimate price for their invasion of my home today!

Kosher Salt is like #4 shot!

Randy

[Frank V]

WR, what kind of spider was it? I hate black widows!!!!!:x:x

Morning all did I start a new page??????:-):-):-)

[W.R.Buchanan]

Frank It was just a medium sized Brown Spider that the cat was about to eat. You never know if it will make them sick, so I blasted it. The Black Widow I shot the other day took about 3 good hits to splatter it completely.

The cat was kind of miffed, but she was just recovered from eating something else that poisoned her a few months ago which cost us $300 in Vet bills and two weeks of hand feeding and IV water injection to get over.

I need to work on a permanent hanging place for the gun so I can quickly access it in times of need.

The Salt Gun was $50 including shipping and as far as I'm concerned it has already paid for itself. OMMV

This is a completely different level of Vermin Control, and as such, requires Specialized Equipment to deal with effectively.

Randy

[Down South]

The Salt Gun was $50 including shipping and as far as I'm concerned it has already paid for itself. OMMV
Randy
You can order them from here for $40 W/Free Shipping.
http://www.kotulas.com/deals/bugasalt-2.0-new-stronger-version?&utm_source=google_PPC&utm_medium=Gifts+%26+Gadgets&utm_campaign=Bug-A-Salt&utm_content=bug%20a%20salt%202.0&mkwid=sQHTSBdgp&pcrid=70458784155&mtype=e&devicetype=c&gclid=CNCVqszgoM0CFQkNaQod2SkKtw

[Frank V]

I'm pretty serious about killing carpenter bees around my shop. They bore holes in the fascia boards, and generally undermine the strength of any outside wood. The fly swatter has always been my favorite tool because it's light weight and quick. It swats them out of the air before they know what hit them. Most days I walk out on the deck and wait for them to come check me out. At first they are pretty dumb and hover right in front of me. Problem is, after 8-10 kills they get smarter and stay a few feet out of reach. A few years ago I made a spring loaded wooden gun that shot a light weight disk with about 50 nails protruding from it. It wasn't completely successful, but I did manage to impale a few bees with it.

My latest weapon of choice is low tech shotshells in my 357 magnum revolver. I use my usual 38 special powder load, pack it down with a wad over it, then add 75 gr. of #9 bird shot covered by another wad. A rolled up piece of paper surrounds the shot in the case. After crimping the case, I drip 5 drops of wax from a burning candle on top to seal it all up. The wax runs under the crimp so the ball of wax is captured making a pretty neat package. The picture below shows the pattern I'm getting at 8 ft. I still use the fly swatter when I can...those are freebies. But when they are out of range, it's well worth the nickel it costs to shoot them down.

Yeah, I know...there's something that's just wrong about blasting bees out of the sky with a 357 magnum revolver....but it sure is fun!


Guess you'll have to tell us just what's wrong with blasting bees/wasps out of the sky with a .357????:p
Now load one with wadcutters & it'd be tricky!;)

[Down South]

After giving the Bug-A-Salt some deeper thought. I figured it would be cool to have when I BBQ on my patio at home. House fly's are bad as we all know when the BBQ pit gets cranked up.
I could have had a blast with it today, actually a lot of blasts when we had boiled Crawfish for lunch, "Crayfish for you Yanks".

Not long ago several family members made fun of me when I ordered a dozen fly swatters from Amazon. I had tried to find fly swatters at hardware stores, grocery stores and dollar stores. The seem to be almost non existent.
I ordered to old fashion ones that were wire mesh with wire handle. They didn't hold up as well as I remember when I was a kid but, that was a long time ago and the newer old fashion swatters just don't cut it.

[fastdadio]

I shoot my Sheridan .22 pump pellet gun loaded muzzle loader style. Small paper wad in first, small dipper of tumbler media, small over shot wad. 5 pumps seems to work just fine. I even shoot 'em out of the air some times. The problem is that now there is tumbler media scattered all over every thing in the garage.

[Grapeshot]

I love the Black Flag bee/wasp killer spray, it kills them in mid flight. I don't know what type of toxin it uses, but until this type of stuff came out, I've never seen an insecticide work so quickly.

Try checking the antidote for accidental ingestion. If it says atropine, then the toxin is NERVE GAS, diluted, but still nerve gas. Found this out about 30 years ago when talking to an army bio chemist. Nasty stuff.

[DLCTEX]

A friend of mine let his five year old son shoot flies with a salt gun. He turned his back for a moment and the kid popped his little brother with salt. From the howls it brought forth it probably hurt.

[Frank V]

Salt in a wound would hurt, bet Dad didn't do that again....[smilie=1:
Heh When Down South BBQs he could salt the meat with his salt gun????:Fire:

[Frank V]

Wohhhh a day without a post,,,
Morning everyone. Guess I'll start it off for today.
It's sprinkling here...

[Down South]

It's sprinkling here...
Salt?

[Down South]

I shoot my Sheridan .22 pump pellet gun loaded muzzle loader style. Small paper wad in first, small dipper of tumbler media, small over shot wad. 5 pumps seems to work just fine. I even shoot 'em out of the air some times. The problem is that now there is tumbler media scattered all over every thing in the garage.
Found this on You Tube when researching Salt guns.
If you want to use your Pellet Rifle, this is a good idea.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-u5mPDdQRw

[Frank V]

Salt?


Naw water!!!:2gunsfiring_v1:

[Michael J. Spangler]

I told one of my customers about this last year. He overnighted a bug a salt. We played with it a little the next day. He thought it would be a good idea to shoot me in the leg from about a foot away. It stings.

[Frank V]

I told one of my customers about this last year. He overnighted a bug a salt. We played with it a little the next day. He thought it would be a good idea to shoot me in the leg from about a foot away. It stings.


I'll bet get an electric cattle prod & zap him in the hind end. They sting too plus you get a nice zzzzzztt when you do.:smile:

[Michael J. Spangler]

Good idea!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[500MAG]

Found this on You Tube when researching Salt guns.
If you want to use your Pellet Rifle, this is a good idea.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-u5mPDdQRw
I'm definitely going to try this

[W.R.Buchanan]

Got a Mosquito last night. Probably one of those ZIKA ones! Never know for sure as there was nothing left to autopsy.

He made the mistake of landing on a light in the living room. pooft gone.

Very hot here today,,, Hiding in the house. :coffee:

Randy

[Certaindeaf]

Good thing you're not in California. There, you have to retreat 'til your back is against the Pacific ocean or the Sierras and then lay down precisely within a chalk outline.
I'm thinking you have to find where they're coming from and kill them there, but that's just me.

[W.R.Buchanan]

I am in CA and I do have my back against the Pacific Ocean, laying in the Chalk Outline... No room left here, visitors go home! Stay Home!

Randy

[Frank V]

I am in CA and I do have my back against the Pacific Ocean, laying in the Chalk Outline... No room left here, visitors go home! Stay Home!

Randy


That's kind of how I feel.
Saw a bumper sticker one time at a friends town it said if it's tourist season how come I can't shoot one?
Kind of laughed.


Hey did I start a new page?[smilie=w:[smilie=w:

[barney67]

Used to shoot them when they were in hover mode with my BB gun when I was a kid, now I want a salt gun.

Didn't read the entire thread, so forgive me if this has been mentioned before. WD 40 up the bore hole kills them PDQ, my understanding is that the non stinging males are the ones buzzing around outside the hole while the stinger bearing females are busy chewing away inside. The males have a yellow dot on their head and the females are slightly smaller without the dot, at least in my neck of the woods.

[mto7464]

kind of late to the thread and did not read it all but had the same problem and found that painting the raw wood stopped them from boring. I plug all the existing holes with caulk. They still tried a couple of times but stopped after just starting the hole.

[Frank V]

Hehe ten pages on Carpenter Bees.:popcorn:
The salt gun does sound like fun though, might leave a mess of salt indoors though??????[smilie=f:

[W.R.Buchanan]

It only shoots a small pinch of salt at a time. You have 1000's of times more dirt on your floors. Now if you shot it hundreds of times in your living room eventually you would start seeing some buildup, but if you had that many bugs in your living room you'd have much bigger problems than the salt.

Randy

[luvtn]

Hehe ten pages on Carpenter Bees.:popcorn:
The salt gun does sound like fun though, might leave a mess of salt indoors though??????[smilie=f:
Them carpenter bees are serious stuff! :)
Luvtn

[Frank V]

It only shoots a small pinch of salt at a time. You have 1000's of times more dirt on your floors. Now if you shot it hundreds of times in your living room eventually you would start seeing some buildup, but if you had that many bugs in your living room you'd have much bigger problems than the salt.

Randy



He he guess you are right......
A small puff of salt wouldn't hurt much. Wonder how it'd be to salt your eggs??? Probably ought to make sure the yolk isn't runny?:veryconfu

Never had experience with carpenter bees, Meat bees yes & they are really a pain. The salt gun should be great on either.:smile:

[Down South]

For you guys wanting to try the salt gun on carpenter bee's. You might just Pi$$ them off. I'm not sure one of these things has the horsepower to take one out even at close range. Fly's are a different story. The salt gun will take em out at 3-4 Ft. A carpenter bee is a lot tougher. A salt load out of a pellet rifle as mentioned in a previous post would probably work at closer ranges.
I use a homemade bee bat, "When the bee is in range" or a bee load from my 357 or 44 Mag.
Just my $.02.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Just my opinion here but isn't a .44 anything a little over-gunned for a bee? I can see if is was one of those Japanese Super Hornets that can kill you,,, but a regular sized bee?

I like the bat idea as it probably has a very satisfying splat accompanying connection, but it would certainly require much more skill to execute. They're pretty quick at getting out of the way.

Randy

[Down South]

Just my opinion here but isn't a .44 anything a little over-gunned for a bee? I can see if is was one of those Japanese Super Hornets that can kill you,,, but a regular sized bee?

I like the bat idea as it probably has a very satisfying splat accompanying connection, but it would certainly require much more skill to execute. They're pretty quick at getting out of the way.

Randy
Not really overkill with the 44. About the same powder charge, just a pinch of powder. It really depends on how you load them. I built a tool to drive a gas check down in the brass for a wad over the powder charge, fill with your favorite charge of seed, tumbler media, rat shot, etc. Place a second gas check upside down on the top and crimp. You can use cardboard wads if you like, Make a punch out of an old 44 case, sharpen the edge and go to work making wads. You can seal the top with cardboard, wax or other material.

[Frank V]

Not really overkill with the 44. About the same powder charge, just a pinch of powder. It really depends on how you load them. I built a tool to drive a gas check down in the brass for a wad over the powder charge, fill with your favorite charge of seed, tumbler media, rat shot, etc. Place a second gas check upside down on the top and crimp. You can use cardboard wads if you like, Make a punch out of an old 44 case, sharpen the edge and go to work making wads. You can seal the top with cardboard, wax or other material.

[smilie=w:
I like .44s!

[jonp]

Can't believe I remembered this thread. We have a bunch of carpenter bees that have shown up and are boring holes in the fascia on the porch. My wife and I were trying to figure out what to do and I said "how about the shotgun, wait a sec...." and remembered this thread. Loading up some 38sp and trying some cornmeal first.

[jsizemore]

Southern Style with Mike

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=al1CAR96WIc

[GooseGestapo]

I think this is my first time on this thread, so here goes....
I use two .410 shotguns with .45Colt brass loaded with 5.0gr of Bullseye and card wads cut with a 7/16" punch.
I use a full case of Walnut hull media and crimped over-shot wad. From full choked .410, they're good to 20-25feet. For "longer" range, I was given some Turkish #10 (measures to US #11). its good to 50-60feet, but WILL damage facia boards!. Don't ask how I know. But then so do the Carpenter Bees.
I have out a half dozen traps, and have caught 40-50 so far this year. Killed that many more with a tennis racquet. Have gotten 61 with .410/.45 Walnut hull media. Corn cob or grits works too, but not as good as Walnut hull. Tried other powders. Nothing as good as Bullseye.
.45colt brass may need to be driven with out shell holder fully to rim in a sizer for easy extraction. I do this by using a 1/2" wrench laid over the shell holder to drive the case into a carbide .45 die with decapper assembly removed, then drive out with steel rod punch.
Ive got 30 dedicated cases. Need to run another batch as I shot them all up Tuesday am. I like to use corrugated cardboard over powder, primer sleeve cardboard over shot. No need for shellac sealant. Little louder than a cap pistol.

[Possum Lickaa]

I heartily recommend the Bug-A-Salt, a pump action pneumatic salt gun:

http://www.amazon.com/Bug-A-Salt-Fire-Your-Swatter-Original/dp/B00AB88UDA

I've used it in the house against house flies and fruit flies and outside against wasps. It's light weight and long enough to give good aiming sense without sighting down the thing. Like shooting a long barreled Winchester 97.

Also sets the 'tone of the house' when visitors see it for the first time sitting on the kitchen counter.

+1 on the effectiveness of the Bug A Salt. I live in city limits, and using a firearm on those buggers is out of the question. But seriously, If I could load and shoot my own bug ammo like some of you guys, that plastic pump-action salt gun would be in a landfill somewhere. I'm jealous!!!

[kyswede]

I decided to try my luck at carpenter bee loads. I used 2 grains of Red Dot, a disc cut from legal pad backing, 1.3 cc scoop of used tumbling media (corn cob), with a top wad cut from a foam plate, crimped. Worked great using a shoe box lid as a target. About 1 in 5 shots would set primer back and bind the cylinder in my 2" barrel 38 Special. So I drilled primer holes out to 1/8" and cut powder back to 1.6 grains. No primer set back. I will try to load pics.

[kyswede]

Too cool for bees today so I used shoe box lid as a target.

[GooseGestapo]

Up the powder charge to 3.0gr. This will set the case back reseating the primers and avoid the backed out primers. No need to drill a perfectly good case.
I used Speers data for their shotshell loads as starting data. 3gr of Bullseye did same thing in the .45colt. I use 5.0.

[gwpercle]

I solved my carpenter bee , drilling holes in the exposed rafters, problem by hanging up a couple Carpenter Bee Houses . We put up hives for the honey bee's so I thought I would do the same for these unloved guys. They do prefer the pre-fab bee house to drilling holes in my exposed roof rafters, so I guess it's working. They do a good job of pollinating, we watch them in the fruit , vegetable and flower gardens...I felt bad about just killing them.
Gary

[Smk SHoe]

Over here in the carolina's they don't like the prefab bee houses. They like my log cabin. Painting all exposed wood has helped but they little buggers will find any little crease to start boring. Gonna start loading some 44's with walnut media in the morning.

[kyswede]

Up the powder charge to 3.0gr. This will set the case back reseating the primers and avoid the backed out primers. No need to drill a perfectly good case.
I used Speers data for their shotshell loads as starting data. 3gr of Bullseye did same thing in the .45colt. I use 5.0.
I have several nickel plated 38 cases with scratches from a steel sizing die. I have had them for years and don't load nickel plated cases so these will be easy to keep separate.

[ohiomadman]

I am 12 for 14 shots the last couple of days. The weather finally warmed up and the big bees have come out.

I have been using 3.7gr of Red Dot with rice and a bit of walnut medium. Great fun and gets rid of the bees.

[wmitty]

.300 Win mag case sized to fit .375 H & H chamber, primed and loaded w/ 10 grains Bullseye and remainder of case filled w/ corn meal and case neck plugged w/ tissue paper wad will be effective and makes an interesting short necked wildcat case...

[bobthenailer]

Check out the BUG ASSULT gun, fires table salt to kill bugs about $50.00 or less

[ghh3rd]

I took a (crappy) video of my first attempt using ground walnut shells and a tiny amount of bullseye. The little wasp nest on my boat had a few wasps on it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eSuNXSSHAY

[crowbuster]

I am 12 for 14 shots the last couple of days. The weather finally warmed up and the big bees have come out.

I have been using 3.7gr of Red Dot with rice and a bit of walnut medium. Great fun and gets rid of the bees.

Very nice. I love it when they hover close.

[Down South]

Check out the BUG ASSULT gun, fires table salt to kill bugs about $50.00 or less
I have one of those. They are a blast for the common house fly out to about 3-4 ft. I keep one out on my patio to get rid of the flies and have some fun doing it.
All a Bug-A-Salt will do to a carpenter bee is make him mad.

[Nueces]

I've used a Bug-A-Salt indoors for years and find it a complete hoot on flies and other small critters. I agree with Down South that it would be too weak for serious use outdoors on wasps and bees. However, the Bug-A-Salt site is touting a new outdoor version that is designed to discharge a heavier salt blast. If I were getting my first one, that could be the ticket.

[rintinglen]

I have one of those. They are a blast for the common house fly out to about 3-4 ft. I keep one out on my patio to get rid of the flies and have some fun doing it.
All a Bug-A-Salt will do to a carpenter bee is make him mad.
:kidding:
They are dangerous when they are wounded.

[deadeye ruck]

I saw the salt shooter not long ago and I wonder how salt would do as a projectile in a "pseudoshotshell" load? Course salt for the range or fine salt for the coverage? :D

What would it do to the barrel in a revolver?

On a side note, we have a shed that is plagued with carpenter bees. They have nearly destroyed a couple of the joists. We got a product to eradicate them. It looks like white baby powder that you squirt into the holes they have bored. In some joists, you squeeze the powder into the holes and watch the powder "puff" out at the other end of the tunnel. It is a little tedious but is nasty medicine for them. It keeps them from coming back and kills them quick.

[Down South]

When I was a kid, a Blackcat Firecracker stuffed in the hole worked well.

[244]

The white powder is probably Boric Acid. It seems to be very effective on most insects.

There is a water soluble formulation of boric acid that is used to treat wood. Boric acid does not degrade over time, so if it can penetrate the wood it will keep working.

[Jack Stanley]

I don't think I've ever seen a carpenter bee but , what looks like a bumble bee is boring into the boards of my sheds . only seems to do it on the underside of horizontal wood though. Aren't carpenter bees rather small ?

Jack

[Wayne Smith]

No, Jack. Look like bumble bees, but burrow into wood. Sounds like you got them.

[centershot]

No, Jack, carpenter bees look like great BIG bumblebees! I've found the Bug-A-Salt to work pretty well on them. They like to hover, be slow and carefully line up the shot. They fall to the ground and get crushed by my boot. :)

[Michael J. Spangler]

Took out 4 last weekend with a tennis racket.
Two singles and a double. Not a bad day hunting. I haven't got around to making more loads yet though. I'm thinking now that I have a 44 mag that might be the new case of choice over the 357

[Jack Stanley]

Yes that guys sure do burrow into wood . I don't have the bug-assault ...... but I do have a S&W .44 that doesn't get used much .

Jack

[RED333]

Well I got in on this bee killing, 44mag, 5 grs of green dot, 3 paper cards, case full of billed corn( when a chicken eats ground corn it will kick a bit out on the ground with it beak, it is called billed corn) card on top and crimped so to hold the card in. Shot a red wasp nest with 10 to 15 wasps. Vaporized most of the wasps, found 3 or 4 still kicking on the ground. Nest was pulp and on the ground. Made the shot from about 3 feet. Went "hunting" and found 3 more nests that did not make it to sunset. :twisted::Fire::drinks:Thanks to all that posted and giving me the idea.:drinks:

[wills]

Don't confuse orchard mason bees (beneficial) with carpenter bees.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osmia_lignaria

http://gardening.wsu.edu/library/inse006/inse006.htm

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/ent/notes/Other/orn_t109/note109.html

http://www.beediverse.com/

http://www.knoxcellars.com/

http://www.farminfo.org/bees/mason-bees-m.htm

http://www.everythingabout.net/articles/biology/animals/arthropods/insects/bees/mason_bee/

http://www.virtualorchard.net/glfgn/february1998/masonbee.html

http://ag.arizona.edu/pubs/insects/ahb/inf29.html