Bee Damage (Why Bee Traps)

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Bearcarver

Gone but not forgotten RIP
Original poster
OTBS Member
Group Lead
Sep 12, 2009
45,279
18,182
Macungie, PA
Bee Damage (Why Bee Traps)



OK Guys, I’ve been showing you my Traps & how to build them for years, but I never showed you any of the worse damage they’ve gotten away with on my Log Home.
It’s high time I do just that:

First I’ll refresh you on what the little smart-asses do. They drill holes in wood to lay their eggs inside the wood. They don’t eat the wood, so no sense trying to poison them. So when your house is 100% WOOD it’ll be like a Super Party for them.
So they usually drill in about 3/4” deep, then make a right angle turn inside the cell structure of the wood, and follow the direction of the grain within the cell structure. This is why they don’t bother my Logs—Every Log is from the center of one Tree, and since it is the heart of the tree, the bee can’t drill there, because the cell structure is tight & too small for them.
They like the wood from boards, like the 2” thick X 12” wide Fascia boards on my house, because those boards are from the outer parts of the Tree.
So they drill holes 1/2” in Diameter, and if you don’t get to them, they’ll keep going within the cell walls, and find places to drop off some eggs along the way. Those eggs will Winter there, warm & dry. (Well Dry anyway!). Then along comes Mister Destruction. Mister Woodpecker just loves the Larva that The Carpenter Bees left in the wood, so He gets to pecking, to tear open the wood & eat the Larva. Remember the Cartoons with "Woody Woodpecker" in them?? Well I no longer laugh at those cartoons,
and I understand when the guy blows his house apart with a shotgun, while trying to get that Pecking Menace!!!

So in the beginning, I was dealing with them in the prescribed method, which was to squirt some white powder into the hole. Then after waiting 48 hours, so they can all get the powder on them, I’d plug the holes shut with either a dowel or wood filler. Then I ran into problems, like the bees would push the filler back out of the holes over night. So I added a trick by putting a Drywall screw into the hole before the wood filler. This would keep them from pushing the filler out, and play hell with the Woodpecker’s beak if he still decides to tear up some of my wood!!!

So I needed other methods of eliminating these critters. I was batting them around with a badminton racket. That was good for the ones I could reach, but I turned to Bear Jr’s old BB gun for some of the others hovering around at up to 22’ in the air.

Then I got a bright idea, and took a couple cut-off pieces of construction lumber (2 X 12s), and drill a bunch of 1/2” holes in them, about halfway, and left them sit out a few days, with the holes on the bottom sides. It didn’t take long for some Bees to move in & make the right turn & continue drilling. So I waited until all the holes were active, and just after dark I put tape over the holes & roasted them all in a nice woodfire.


This was all Time consuming, and I didn’t have an endless supply of throwaway Lumber pieces, so I made my Traps. First they were like little wren houses, with bee holes in the sides. However these had room in them for wasps to build nests in them, so I changed my traps into solid wood blocks with bee holes in them. These work Awesome, and you can see them & how to build them BELOW!!

Link to Bee Traps (Step by Step)
Upgraded Carpenter Bee Traps


Thanks for looking,
Bear





Here is a picture of what happens when they get out of hand. This was more than 20’ up, and the method of overhang makes it very hard to get there. Most of the holes got there before I had traps made. Then as you can see the Peckers started tearing it all up. So Bear Jr put a bunch of Drywall screws in the holes & filled everything with “PC Woody”, which seems to be harder than wood. All we have to do is get some stain on it, before it gets it’s next coat of Woodguard in about 3 or 4 more years.
unnamed 2.jpg


After Fixing (needs stain & Woodguard):
0.jpeg



Here’s one where the Idiot Bee thought the wood was thicker, and drilled right through my 3/4” thick soffit. Then a Piliated Woodpecker came along and widened the hole, and it looked like he was planning on making it an entry hole to living in my attic. So we cut out a whole section from lookout to lookout & replaced it with a piece I had saved when the house was being built.
DSC03968.JPG


Close-up Shot:
DSC03969.JPG
 
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Nasty Looking John, Please keep them in PA.

Chris
 
Wow bear those little buggers can do alot of damage.
Yes they can, but most of them can be dealt with, and don't get like these in the pictures. They got like this because they were hard to get to, and were left go too long.

Bear
always a battle against mother nature and her critters!
Sure Is!!

Bear
 
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That's a never ending battle. I lived in a house that had pine siding and was always fighting woodpeckers and replacing siding. Even had them pecking the gutters, that'll get you up in the morning. Evidently they like to peck on something loud to mark their territory and call in a mate
 
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A couple of years ago we had a sun room built on a raised deck added to our home and immediately the carpenter bee's were attracted to it. I put these up and caught a few last year but none this year. They seem to have moved on.

IMG_20221028_095339.jpg
IMG_20221028_095313.jpg



We have wood pecker's in our neighborhood big time. Our home is steel sided (no exposed wood anywhere) so we're good, but they do peck on the gas fireplace flew. Makes the damnedest racket you ever heard. 😆
 
A couple of years ago we had a sun room built on a raised deck added to our home and immediately the carpenter bee's were attracted to it. I put these up and caught a few last year but none this year. They seem to have moved on.

View attachment 647244 View attachment 647245


We have wood pecker's in our neighborhood big time. Our home is steel sided (no exposed wood anywhere) so we're good, but they do peck on the gas fireplace flew. Makes the damnedest racket you ever heard. 😆
Nice Job, Colin
They look neat !!
The holes look a little large. I've found 1/2" diameter to work best.

Bear
 
That's a never ending battle. I lived in a house that had pine siding and was always fighting woodpeckers and replacing siding. Even had them pecking the gutters, that'll get you up in the morning. Evidently they like to peck on something loud to mark their territory and call in a mate
LOL---Peckers in my gutters---I know the sound!!
I also had one time in my 2600 sq ft Cabinet Shop.
One time when I shut my planer off, I heard this loud pecking. I looked around, and found a couple Turkey's pecking bugs off my basement windows!!


Bear
 
Thanks Chris!!
You mean you don't have them up there?!?!

Bear
We have bees up here, but I've just never seen them do damage like that before. I can say that the woodpeckers do a number on my maple trees. Little ba$tards.

Chris
 
A couple of years ago we had a sun room built on a raised deck added to our home and immediately the carpenter bee's were attracted to it. I put these up and caught a few last year but none this year. They seem to have moved on.

View attachment 647244 View attachment 647245


We have wood pecker's in our neighborhood big time. Our home is steel sided (no exposed wood anywhere) so we're good, but they do peck on the gas fireplace flew. Makes the damnedest racket you ever heard. 😆
Maybe add a lime and they will drop in :emoji_laughing:
 
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A couple of years ago we had a sun room built on a raised deck added to our home and immediately the carpenter bee's were attracted to it. I put these up and caught a few last year but none this year. They seem to have moved on.

View attachment 647244 View attachment 647245


We have wood pecker's in our neighborhood big time. Our home is steel sided (no exposed wood anywhere) so we're good, but they do peck on the gas fireplace flew. Makes the damnedest racket you ever heard. 😆
Those bastards peck on my aluminum covered cladding on my house...and always 2 hours before I want to get up.
 
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Reactions: Colin1230
Those bastards peck on my aluminum covered cladding on my house...and always 2 hours before I want to get up.
Yup---Lots of noise they cause!!
Some of those Peckers were protected, so I lifted their protection within 10 feet of my house.
So in the morning we hear the following:
Peck--Peck--Pick--Pick--Peck!!!!
Then some texting going on.
Then the sound of a 12 ga Shotgun going off.
Then the sound of a Ram 2500 leaving my house, as Bear Jr goes back down the driveway to his house.

Bear
 
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Reactions: Colin1230
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