Carpenter Bees?

[JSnover]

I caught one in the act last summer. Looked a fat bumblebee. Never heard of them before then, I just called it "what the hell is this??" He was off to a good start; the hole was as big around as my little finger and almost 1/4" deep.
A squirt of carburator cleaner did him in.

[Scrounger]

Here's some pictures from Google. Apparently like humans, they come in different sizes, shapes, and colors. Good rule, If it flies, kill it.

[rockrat]

Instead of '06 brass, could you use 444marlin brass? Its my understanding that it is nothing but a rimmed '06

[schutzen]

One thing I've found effective is to spray the holes with pesticide. I adjust my pressure sprayer to a straight stream and insert the wand in the hole. Give it a good squirt of Malathion and the carpenter bees are looking for a new area.

Now out to the reloading bench to make up some shot shells for the flyers.

[StrawHat]

I have used a variety of cartridges to try to get them down to a controllable level.

Lately, I have used one of the large paint stir sticks from Sherwin & Williams (the other S&W).

Whack them out of the air and my malamutt thinks they are treats. He used to snap them out of the air but at 14 he is slowing down. I don't mind helping him and it is kind of fun.

Previously used a Ballard in 32 Long with blanks but had it reworked to 22 WCF and we now have neighbors on both sides AND in front AND behind.

[10-x]

This just goes to show anything can and will come up for discussion here!
When I was a kid we used to find old fence boards and make kind of a paddle out of them to "bat" the carpenter bees with. These varmits can and will eat any wood. Remember hearing them chewing their nests in the barn.
Later on we tried .22 rat shot, worked real good just had to be careful what was behind the bee, like not to shoot the tractor!

[PatMarlin]

We got the ones in the lower- righthand corner of Art's pic.

Don't have them at the 40th paralell. Only farther north, close to the Oregon border.

[Mumblypeg]

Yep that's a good line- up. That's "Him" in the lower right! I would recognize him anywhere! If it flys, it dies...

[OBXPilgrim]

Whoa! Got alot more response out of this than I expected. But, I figured I wasn't the only one that was pestered by the little jokers.

The lower right corner photo in scroungers post is my main target as well.

I've hit them with shoes, plastic bats, tennis rackets, towels, pellet pistol shots, etc, but this is definetly more fun.

With the current 1.0gr it's as quite as my pellet rifle. But much easier to hit 'em.

[Linstrum]

For descriptive article and more photos see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpenter_bee

Like Scrounger says carpenter bees come in several "flavors", in different parts of North America I have seen black and yellow, black, metallic blue, metallic green, and reddish bronze. The article in Wikipedia uses a lot of scientific words but the pictures are great.

Like a lot of the bee/wasp family members, they attack the face and eyes when disturbed.

I use a barrel full of corn meal in a Benjamin air pistol for flies in the house, it is great practice for keeping good hand eye coordination in my old age. It does require cleanup, though, corn meal all over the floor doesn't look so good, glad I'm not married anymore.

[PatMarlin]

I've never seen them- from S Cal all the way up to the north state.

Our fixer is about 30 miles from the Oregon border at about 1500' in elevation. They sure to thrive there though...

[bc3660]

here you go. Pic of both bumbel bee and carpenter bee

[ridurall]

I am an Entmoligist and have been killing bugs for over 30 years. Carpenter bees look much like bumble bees and bore hole in wood and lay eggs in that hole. They can be pesky when defending the hole. When they law the eggs they first eggs in hatch last. They put some pollen in the hole for the larva to feed on once they hatch. One thing that works well is taking some permethrin and mixing it with an oil stain. Painting the wood with that will stop the carpenterbees but it's not as much fun as shooting them.

[Lee]

Oh the mind is swirling with streaming rivulets of .............

Now I've got several ounces of various smokeless floor sweepings collected over the past several years. I was always planning on a big 4th of July firecracker, but now this thread turned on a dim light in the back of my mind.

Pushing a few grains of walnut/corncob/kitty litter/whatever from a styrofoam crimped straight wall cartridge probably could not result in an overpressure situation if one used 1-2 grains of floor sweepings as a propellant now could it???( Now come on, don't tell me you guys don't all have a jar of black floor sweepings lying around, do you??)
Now I'm not asking for an endorsement here, just thinking out loud if this could be an outlet for scrap powders used to harass the carpenter bees. (And yes I'm asking because I have them out the ying-yang. Tennis rackets, carburetor cleaner, Raid, etc have only a temporary effect on the little Bas*****. They keep sending their cousins out to visit..............Lee

[Down South]

They give me fits here. I use what I call my bee bat mostly, a 4" wide board about 3' long with a handle carved on the end. I've shot em flying with a 12 gauge and with my judge and have put a .25 bounty on them too. That was for the grandkids. It sure is funny to watch the kids running around with paddles trying to knock em down.

[Wandering Man]

Carpenter Bees invaded the cedar siding of a little shed in my back yard a couple of years ago.

I spent all summer fighting them, though I never considered trying to shoot the things.

I batted at them.

I filled their holes with Malathion.

I filled their holes with Malathion and topped it with wood putty.

I spent a good $100 at the local hardware store on pesticides.

When I noticed that they were starting to attack the main house, I finally called an exterminator.

For $30 he came out and sprayed the holes in the shed and in the house. He sprayed the rest of the house for roaches and ants (a bonus).

The bees are gone now.

As much fun as it is to try to deal with the critters yourself, if you really wanna get rid of 'em, just call a professional ... its cheaper that way.

WM

[beanflip]

Has anyone ever tried using the DAWN DISH SOAP blue in color in a sprayer. It kills all kind of creepy crawlers, flying things and the box elder bugs that I fight every year. I use an end of the hose sprayer. Use 50/50 soap water mix in a hose sprayer its safe for all and cheap. Remember use the blue color.

[chickenstripe]

The holes are destructive, but in my neck of the woods, the woodpeckers go after them. They create a hole in the side of the beam that looks like an exit hole from a varmint round.

[beemer]

I bought several boxes of the Winchester ratshot. A lounge chair, a 22 rifle and a cold Bud ah ah I mean Coke usually takes care of them.

beemer

[Baron von Trollwhack]

Warning! warning! There is a bee in eastern NC that resembles the big fat CBs we have locally but it is in 1/2 scale. It does not drill holes but does nest in rough buildings if there is an entrance crack, like in my reloading palace/skinning shed. It is a mean one and defends its nest for about 20 yards if disturbed. It also posts a guard bee close to the nest entrance to give the alarm and then it will attack and sting you. Even with the jet stream wasp spray shooting 20+ feet it is hard to blast the nest entrance crack without taking a couple of hits. BvT