# bumble bees boring into my house



## city boy gone country (Apr 3, 2010)

Ive got bumble bee's or carpenter bee's or whatever they're called but they are boring into the wood at the entrance of my garage. I sprayed the wood down with wasp spray and even hit a few with the spray as well but it doesn't seem to faze them or not right away like it does with wasp's. Is there a product that I can spray to keep them away? I hate to keep dousing the house with poison.


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## Sunshine1 (Apr 3, 2010)

Good luck, I'd love to know the answer to this too. My boys love to hit them with tennis racquets.


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## Mirvin 264 (Apr 3, 2010)

*Re: Carpenter Bees*

I feel your pain when it comes to the hole makers- Having been in the paint industry for alot of years, I've seen many structures almost get destroyed by these critters- If you see one go in a hole it has bored previously, you can sometimes fill the hole with a good caulk and sometimes it will trap them, but sometimes they will bore back out through the caulk, which will probably prevent them from flying anymore if the caulk hasn't cured (it messes their wings up)- I don't know of any spray that will keep them from further boring, but I do know of a paint additive called Di-All that you can mix with finish paint, and when applied, will prevent many insects from contacting the surface (i.e. webs, dirt dauber nests, boring bees, wasp nests)- The label on the bottle does not mention bees, because many species are federally protected, but it does work! Hope this might be of some help to you............. (By the way, a bottle of this product treats one gallon of paint) You can try spraying them with mineral spirits out of a pump sprayer, that will probably do the job if painting is not an option.


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## winchester1970 (Apr 3, 2010)

Try covering the hole with regular old scotch tape. They will bore back through it either to get out or in and ingest the tape. They cannot process the tape and it kills them. I tried it once on the front of a house I was living in. When I got home that evening the tape had been bored through and the carpenter bee laid dead on the porch. Give it a shot and let me know how it works for you!


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## jimbo4116 (Apr 3, 2010)

you need a cypermethrin based insecticide.  Spray the area they are attacking and spray into any holes that have started.

I have a problem every spring in my cedar siding.  I have learned to spray the areas under the eves and carport in late February.  The will still show up and buzz around and fight each other but they don't do any boring.  Some will actually die.

Look at this.

http://www.doyourownpestcontrol.com/cynoff-cyperwp.htm


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## bigbird1 (Apr 4, 2010)

Just wait until it gets dark and you know they are in the holes and just spray them with a good insecticide.


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## NCHillbilly (Apr 4, 2010)

There is a borax-based product on the market that you can treat the wood with to repel them. They are so bad around here that when I built my porch a few years ago, I used pressure-treated wood for rafters and all. They won't bore in PT. And I prefer a tennis racket to a whiffleball bat for whackin' em.


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## KDarsey (Apr 4, 2010)

I like to catch them right after they go in and hose 'em down with some WD-40. 
  Seems they don't like it so much....


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## tommyjoe (Apr 7, 2010)

Diesel fuel in a pump-up sprayer works for me.
Spray in the holes and walls. They cant stand it.
Tom


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## shakey gizzard (Apr 7, 2010)

NCHillbilly said:


> There is a borax-based product on the market that you can treat the wood with to repel them. They are so bad around here that when I built my porch a few years ago, I used pressure-treated wood for rafters and all. They won't bore in PT. And I prefer a tennis racket to a whiffleball bat for whackin' em.


Ive seen them in pressure treated! whack'em an stack'em, is the only way!


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## Vineyardhunter (Apr 7, 2010)

thompsons water seal will keep them away, they hate that stuff!


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## city boy gone country (Apr 8, 2010)

I got a bunch of with a shop vac as the either went in the holes or were coming out of them. they make a nice thump when they hit inside the canister.


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## flintdiver (Apr 8, 2010)

Google " Do it yourself pest control " . They are right here in GA and with priority shipping can get you product in a day or two. I just bought a product called Cyonara (sp?) it's used to control many insects including Carpenter bees. Just mix it and spray it to saturate as much wood as possible. It's pretty safe stuff according to the labels . It's a pyrethrin based product.


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## Point Blanks (Apr 8, 2010)

One gallon of bleach and a tablespoon or two of dishsoap.Shake in a pump sprayer and wear rags while spraying!

Check on siding,wood,paint.If ok like our shack,spray and watch the results!! Much cheaper than any listed and works VERY good....They come a runnin!!


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## bfriendly (Apr 13, 2010)

Bengal product claims to kill/prevent them(ACE has it).......it kills them but they will come back.........this year I got the tennis raquest on the front porch.........have killed about 25 so far between the kids, the wife and myself.........


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## Hooked On Quack (Apr 19, 2010)

A Woody's member and good friend of mine recommended a carpenter bee "trap" sold at a local feed store.  It's a small square box with a couple of small holes drilled in it with a clear plastic bottle attached to the bottom.  The bees enter the hole and when leaving go out to where the light is (plastic bottle) and can't get out.  They are guaranteed to work, or your money back.

I'll have to agree though, whacking them with a badminton racket, or hitting them with wasp spray is more fun!!


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## wrogers (Apr 19, 2010)

I like to shoot at them with a bb gun. But that messes up the paint on the house. The best thing to do is spray some glue in the hole. They can't get out then. They start moving slower and slower and then they kinda freeze. Really cool.


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## Throwback (Apr 19, 2010)

city boy gone country said:


> I got a bunch of with a shop vac as the either went in the holes or were coming out of them. they make a nice thump when they hit inside the canister.



Now I have to try that one! 


I'd get me some kids and give them tennis rackets and pay them a quarter a bee. 


seriously. 


T


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## Son (Apr 20, 2010)

Try this. Hang a couple cricket baskets near where they're drilling. They go into the baskets and can't get out. That's how I trap em and keep their numbers down in my sheds.


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## paratrooper202 (Apr 20, 2010)

I have the same problem, I have found out that raid ant spray will knock them down really fast... I also found out that the hole they cut spray it the bee comes out and drops to the ground... I ENJOYED MY DAY WITH THIS SPRAY! GOOD STUFF! Been killing bee's all day!


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## bat (Apr 24, 2010)

Like the previous wd40 will drop them pretty fast also.  Spray in the hole and out they will come shortly.  use the little red stem on the spray to poke into the hole...  or just stick a nail in there and hammer it in "quickly"!


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## BowArrow (May 2, 2010)

I like the tennis racket, a long handle minnow dip net or a 22 rifle with bird shot (mustard seed). You get to practice your tennis game, practice dipping that big bass and shooting that deer.


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## bilgerat (May 2, 2010)

mix a bottle of tacasco hot sauce and a gallon of water  in a sprayer and spray the house and the bees wont bore in it, they dont like hot peppers, just dont stand under the spray while doing it.


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## Dill Weed (May 3, 2010)

Seven seems to work pretty good!


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## southwind (Jun 11, 2010)

*bees*

tennis raquett to heavy...badmitten raquett just riight....nickel apiece to the kids for each one....at a quarter I'd be broke.  I have cedar siding house and barn so I had hundreds....


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## jbrooker (Jun 11, 2010)

Liquid seven works pretty good


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## donald-f (Jun 11, 2010)

I use liquid nails that I have loaded in my chalk gun. Fill the holes after dark and they dont come out. Use a piece of cardboard to smooth the glue and when you repaint the surface is smooth.


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## CL shoer (Jun 11, 2010)

wait until the woodpeckers show up.they are tearing my fence up.tearing the wood apart for the bee larva.


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## ted_BSR (Jun 11, 2010)

Badminton racket.  Airsoft gun is fun, but hard to hit them with.


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## tjl1388 (Jun 11, 2010)

CL shoer said:


> wait until the woodpeckers show up.they are tearing my fence up.tearing the wood apart for the bee larva.



The woodpeckers showed up on my porch. They were BIG woodpeckers, they sounded like they were taking down my porch.


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## shakey gizzard (Jun 12, 2010)

CL shoer said:


> wait until the woodpeckers show up.they are tearing my fence up.tearing the wood apart for the bee larva.



You've waited tooooo  long!Pileated woodpeckers will find em if they are there!


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## mudpuppy928 (Jun 12, 2010)

i use spray adhesive in the hole or catch them on the fly .ps its really fun.that glue hits and they drop


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## BuckHunter31 (Jun 15, 2013)

When I finished up my pergola they were somethinng fierce. You coupdnt barely enjoy the evening outside with all the raquet they were making drilling holes in it and it was PT and stained. I soaked it down with a flying insect killer then filled the holes with cement patch. I tried caulk and LN first but they drilled through that easily. The cement put a stop to it. Then I re stained and done.


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## Killdee (Jun 15, 2013)

Home depot is now selling a Spectracide product that on the label states for carpenter bee's comes with a straw to spray in the holes. Google carpenter bee trap, they work and are easy to build or buy if you want, they do need to be hung a certain way for them to work. Yall are cheating with a tennis racket, for pure sport use a fishing rod or an old antenna, sharpens your reflexes and aiming ability!!!!


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## Cabin creek man (Jun 15, 2013)

Pump up sprayer with cynora twice a summer and you will have no bees spiders scorpians ants or any other creepy crawly criters this stuff really works.


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## whchunter (Jul 18, 2013)

*Not*

Built some of those traps and they don't work. Don't remember any even going into the holes. Yep I drilled the holes right size and right angle...........I believe that the boxes are a scam.


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## win280 (Jul 18, 2013)

whchunter said:


> Built some of those traps and they don't work. Don't remember any even going into the holes. Yep I drilled the holes right size and right angle...........I believe that the boxes are a scam.



May not have worked for you, I made one and have caught 30 plus this year.I plan on putting up 2 more by next year.
I try not to spray any more chemicals as needed because of a bored well.


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## TigerMt (Jul 18, 2013)

They don't like WD_40. Spray in a hole, if there is one in there it will back out and die.


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## Killdee (Jul 18, 2013)

whchunter said:


> Built some of those traps and they don't work. Don't remember any even going into the holes. Yep I drilled the holes right size and right angle...........I believe that the boxes are a scam.



They dont work if you dont place them correctly, move them around a bit, and I think they work better when placed earlier in the season before they already get their on holes bored.Plenty of info re placement and peoples success using them if you google and read a good but. I sent the info to a buddy last year and 2 days later he sent me a picture of several bees in his newly built trap.


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## whchunter (Jul 19, 2013)

*Hmmm*

I've had mine up 2 years now and no bees.  Don't know what I'm doing wrong. I have one in the front and one in back.  Maybe the holes I cut with a wood bit are too rough as I've noticed the ones they bore are real smooth.


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## win280 (Jul 19, 2013)

whchunter said:


> I've had mine up 2 years now and no bees.  Don't know what I'm doing wrong. I have one in the front and one in back.  Maybe the holes I cut with a wood bit are too rough as I've noticed the ones they bore are real smooth.


Don't use pressure treated and the hole has to be 1/2"dia 3" from the top drilled at a 40-45 degree angle upward . Make sure you have an overhang on the front of 2-3". I also put a little sugar water in my bottle container to help get them started. Needs to be minimum
6' off the ground but not any higher than you can reach to empty the bottle on the bottom with ease.
Hope this helps


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## whchunter (Jul 19, 2013)

*ok*

Thanks I'll try it


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