Carpenter Bee Traps (UPGRADED)

[gary s]

Looks like the bee traps work pretty good,  You need to come up with Fire Ant traps for us down here

Gary

 

[Bearcarver]

 
Looks like the bee traps work pretty good,  You need to come up with Fire Ant traps for us down here

Gary

I just looked closer after I mowed the yard.

There looks to be approximately 40 Carpenter Bees in my traps right now.

I never saw Fire Ants up here, but I've seen traps on the Internet. It was some kind of a plastic lid covered with Borax, with honey in the middle. Then they mix a very little bit of Borax in with the Honey, so the worker Ant doesn't die before carrying it back to the Queen Ant.

Makes sense to me.

Bear

 

[mjtaa2015]

I found a 10 ft. rough sawn Cedar  4x4 post at Menards for $16.00! They look great using this wood!

 

[Bearcarver]

 
I found a 10 ft. rough sawn Cedar  4x4 post at Menards for $16.00! They look great using this wood!

Sure!!   That'll work Great !!

At the sizes I used, you could get at least 22 traps out of a 10 footer.

Bear

 

[Bearcarver]

OK Guy & Gals, time for a Bee Update:
I just took my Carpenter Bee Traps down last week & got the count for 2015.
It seems the count went up this year. I hope that doesn't mean I'm losing the battle here. The count was going down annually until this year.


2009-----------------Over 200 Carpenter Bees.
2010-----------------Over 200 Carpenter Bees.
2011-----------------140 Carpenter Bees.
2012-----------------105 Carpenter Bees.
2013-----------------51 Carpenter Bees.
2014-----------------49 Carpenter Bees.
2015-----------------74 Carpenter Bees.


We also had to fill a few areas where a woodpecker found some old plugged holes. This time we used PC-7 Epoxy. Maybe that'll help. Those plugged holes were from before I had any Bee Traps (Pre 2009). They found them & opened them up, looking for larva!! That PC-7 might be hard on their Beaks!!!


Bear

 

[gary s]

Nice Post ------ Just Bee careful 

Gary

 

[HalfSmoked]

  Saw this some time ago and said man I need to make some of those well good intentions pasted by and now I see the bees so I got to try this. Better late then never I guess so here I go with another Bear project only this one won't be to tasty. Bear had you of mounted your hooks on the back and not in the end grain they may have held up longer but do like the key hole bit.

Warren

 

[Bearcarver]

 

  Saw this some time ago and said man I need to make some of those well good intentions pasted by and now I see the bees so I got to try this. Better late then never I guess so here I go with another Bear project only this one won't be to tasty. Bear had you of mounted your hooks on the back and not in the end grain they may have held up longer but do like the key hole bit.

Warren

Thanks Warren!!

I put my bottom 6 traps up about a week ago, but I still gotta get one of the climbers to put the top 5 up.

If you look at the picture of Smokey inspecting the traps, you can see the very top trap has the hook screwed to the back. That one pulled out too, because the screws have to be so close to the end. Plus I had to Mortise the tabs for the hooks that way. The Key hole is the way to go.

Bear

 

[Bearcarver]

 
OK Guy & Gals, time for a Bee Update:
I just took my Carpenter Bee Traps down last week & got the count for 2015.
It seems the count went up this year. I hope that doesn't mean I'm losing the battle here. The count was going down annually until this year.


2009-----------------Over 200 Carpenter Bees.
2010-----------------Over 200 Carpenter Bees.
2011-----------------140 Carpenter Bees.
2012-----------------105 Carpenter Bees.
2013-----------------51 Carpenter Bees.
2014-----------------49 Carpenter Bees.
2015-----------------74 Carpenter Bees.


We also had to fill a few areas where a woodpecker found some old plugged holes. This time we used PC-7 Epoxy. Maybe that'll help. Those plugged holes were from before I had any Bee Traps (Pre 2009). They found them & opened them up, looking for larva!! That PC-7 might be hard on their Beaks!!!


Bear

It's that time of year again, Guys!!
If you got them, you better put them up, If you got Carpenter Bees & no traps, better make some.
I put my 6 low ones up about a week ago, and yesterday when we put the 5 high ones up, there were already 6 Carpenter Bees in my low traps.

Bear

 

[HalfSmoked]

Do you smoke them or just use them on top pizza. 

Warren

 

[Bearcarver]

 
Do you smoke them or just use them on top pizza. 

Warren

LOL---Too Bitter!!

Bear

 

[alelover]

I made 2 of those Bear and hung them in the garage. Haven't seen any yet.

 

[Bearcarver]

 
I made 2 of those Bear and hung them in the garage. Haven't seen any yet.

They do best on the sunny side of the house, and usually the higher the better.

Do you have that much Bee activity inside the garage? I never get any inside my garage, but a lot right outside the garage, because that's part of my South side.

Keep me posted.

Bear

 

[alelover]

The garage faces west so lots of sun gets in there. I do get most of the activity in the garage. Many holes in the beams over the years.

IMG_8774.jpg

• alelover
• Nov 28, 2015

 

[Bearcarver]

 
The garage faces west so lots of sun gets in there. I do get most of the activity in the garage. Many holes in the beams over the years.

OK Scott,

If they go in there, you'll get some.

I put my the 6 low ones up a couple weeks ago, and when we put the 5 high ones up (5 days later), there were already 6 Carpenter Bees in the low 6 traps, and 5 of them were in the one trap on the SW corner of my house, next to my Lookout Bear. Been cold & raining for the last week, and No Bees around. They like it Hot & Sunny!

Bear

 

[gary s]

That's a pretty big bee trap disguised as a smoker    

Gary

 

[alelover]

I caught a bee yesterday in my trap. Oh, that is a smoker Gary.

 

[Bearcarver]

 
I caught a bee yesterday in my trap. Oh, that is a smoker Gary.

Now you broke the ice.

Once it gets "Stinkin' Hot" out, you'll get a bunch more!!

Bear

 

[Bearcarver]

Bee Trap Pics

Pics taken on June 4, 2016.

Here’s an update on the 2016 Carpenter Bee Season Situation.

Bear



Here’s the trap that is currently doing the best (SouthWest Corner of my house). There are at least 15 Carpenter Bees in the bottle already:

Here’s a closer look at the bottom of the trap bottle:

Here’s another trap on the South side of my house. This one is up at the peak. Looks like about 6 Carpenter Bees in it.

 

[Bearcarver]

2016 Update!!

OK Guys & Gals, time for a Bee Update:
I just took my Carpenter Bee Traps down last week & got the count for 2016.
It seems the count went down a little this year, from the spike of last year.
My best trap was as expected, the Facia Peak Trap on the South Side had 24 Bees Total.


2009-----------------Over 200 Carpenter Bees.
2010-----------------Over 200 Carpenter Bees.
2011-----------------140 Carpenter Bees.
2012-----------------105 Carpenter Bees.
2013-----------------51 Carpenter Bees.
2014-----------------49 Carpenter Bees.
2015-----------------74 Carpenter Bees.
2016-----------------65 Carpenter Bees.

I sure would like to get it down to 20 per year or less, but my Log House is probably drawing every Carpenter Bee in the Macungie Area!!

Bear

Edit:

2017------------------56 Carpenter Bees.