# Bees drilling holes and making themselves at home.



## thomask (Jun 3, 2010)

I have just started restaining my cedar siding with Cabots Oil and note a number of small holes in the fascia and soffit boards.  

These bees have found them a cheap place to stay and are eating at my home.  

Is there a good way to send them to another hotel ?


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## Blue Jay (Jun 3, 2010)

Sounds like carpenter bee's you can get an insecticide to spray on that will slow them down a bit and then you just plug the holes with caulk.


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## jimioc (Jun 21, 2010)

the bees will not eat the wood if it has been treated with a clear silicone sealer - that is if the house is unpainted - is your house is natural cedar ?
 if so here is the solution 

the first thing to do is to clean your siding with   M-1  roof cleaner mix it 5 gallons water to 1 gal of m-1 

(M-1 can be found in the paint section of depot with the power washers - use only roof cleaner - as m-1  siding wash is not powerfull - if depot does not have it you can order direct at Jomaps Contractor Grade Cleaning Products

use a cheep pump sprayer to apply - i buy the $ 10. one from home depot or lowes - spray it on the siding  let sit for apout 45 min
spray water on the house to re-wet it as it dryes - use a 1200 to 1500 psi power washer with a turbo tip to wash the siding down - the M-1 is an acid so it burns off the mold and not bleaches it - once the siding drys out you will notice it looks like new again - after about a week of drying out you can apply silicone with the pump sprayer again - check with building chemical companys in your area - as  i buy from a company in atlantic city - what your going to buy in depot of lowes will not give you many years of protection

feel free to contact me with any questions


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## Wuzzat? (Jun 21, 2010)

Blue Jay said:


> plug the holes with caulk.


I've heard steel wool.


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## thomask (Jun 21, 2010)

Thanks for the info.

I would beware of steel wool in that it may cause rust staining.


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## Wuzzat? (Jun 29, 2010)

thomask said:


> I would beware of steel wool in that it may cause rust staining.


I stand corrected.


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## dealfiles (Jul 6, 2010)

I had a client who had a honeybee problem. A local beekeeper removed them at no charge. Not sure if that's your situation, but you never know.


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## djurgensen (Jul 6, 2010)

We had one heck of a problem with carpenter bees some years back on our cedar house way out in the woods. We tried everything imaginable including the various expensive and toxic professional sprays done by exterminators and caulks, caulks, caulks. You name it. We tried it. The bees chuckled at our feeble efforts and kept on buzzing/boring/swarming/krapping/occasionally stinging.

Even got out the badminton rackets and started whacking those little buggers one and two at a time... sometimes many hundreds per day. Tennis elbow anyone? 

I thought I was making real headway with the racket until I observed about 60 bees pour out of a single hole one day... and we had thousands of holes under the eaves mostly... but in the siding too. Very discouraging.. and the bee poop and detritus was overwhelming.

On a hot summer day, we might have swarms of bees buzzing everywhere. We thought about replacing the beautiful siding.... and then the answer.

Aluminum screen wire, bronze in color to blend in with the siding, carefully and painstakingly tacked seamlessly under the eaves with a staple gun.  Nearly invisible. The bees could not enter or leave and they couldn't eat thru the wire.

Anytime we found an active nest in the siding itself, we tacked a small 4 in  by 4 in patch right over the hole and checked it from time to time to make sure that the bees inside had not bored a new exit around the patch... and sometimes they did. Tricky little devils. Another patch in place. No more active nests. The bees that hatched out after the screen wire was in place died painful deaths trying to get out from underneath the barrier and I rejoiced at their pitiful plights, feeling ever so smug!!! 

Victory over insects! Those buggers can really propagate exponentially!

At some point, I may try to remove the patches and restain and recaulk the previously infected areas, knowing that the bees are no longer inside the siding and eaves propagating the species.

The problem only gets worse. Go after them early and aggressively using a barrier approach. 

Otherwise, if ignored or tolerated, they come back year after year in larger and larger numbers. 

It took us about 10 years to realize that we had a serious problem and about another 5 years  to find the solution. 

Now not a single carpenter bee around this year.... well maybe one or two!

No problemo!

dick jurgensen


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## Todd-Beaulieu (Jul 6, 2010)

I could go on and on about the bees and Terminix' unwillingness to treat for them on our barn (despite their unsupervised claims to have been!).

In the end, the woodpeckers came in and in one week's time rid of of our bee problem. Of course, in their wake was left riddled fascia boards. 

Don't ignore them. I hired a local company to use a bee pole to dust under each slat of siding where they go under the fascia.

Have to repeat it next Spring... and replace the fascia boards.

I like the idea of screening ... will consider that as a long term solution.


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## thomask (Jul 6, 2010)

Todd-Beaulieu said:


> I could go on and on about the bees and Terminix' unwillingness to treat for them on our barn (despite their unsupervised claims to have been!).
> 
> In the end, the woodpeckers came in and in one week's time rid of of our bee problem. Of course, in their wake was left riddled fascia boards.
> 
> ...




I heard that.  

A friend showed me what those birds can do to wood when going after those bees.

Those bug companies are like too many other "service" companies.  

They want to pick and choose the easy way it seems and provide less service and ask for more $$$.

"OH, you meant 'those' kind of bugs, that will be extra...."


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## Todd-Beaulieu (Jul 6, 2010)

4 conversations starting late last summer about the bees. Yep ... we'll take care of them. This spring: they're here! Please come! Ok .. we took care of them. CHECK. 

The next day: ARG! They're everywhere! Come back!

(I'm home this time) Oh ... we can't get up there .. we're not allowed to use ladders. Huh?! But you said you took care of them last week. Well, I kinda misted in their general direction and just said I did actual work. 

Terminix: F I R E D !


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## djurgensen (Jul 6, 2010)

Todd-Beaulieu said:


> I could go on and on about the bees and Terminix' unwillingness to treat for them on our barn (despite their unsupervised claims to have been!).
> 
> In the end, the woodpeckers came in and in one week's time rid of of our bee problem. Of course, in their wake was left riddled fascia boards.
> 
> ...



Woodpeckers attempt to keep the bees under control on our outbuildings doing considerable damage to the exterior. No big deal. Outbuildings are supposed to be a bit funky looking. The bees hide deep, deep, deep in the interconnected holes as the peckers pursue them, splinters aflying.

BTW, we tried the fiberglass woven  screen (easier to work with) before the metal screen..... and the bees eat right thru it. 

We also has some interesting encounters with exterminators who know darn well how to get rid of the bees using much stronger chemicals than EPA allows... but tend to hesitate... for good reason probably.

Creosote works if you can stand the smell.

d.j.


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## joecaption (Feb 18, 2011)

A real exterminater would have sprayed a soloution of hot water and boric acid over the whole house.  Any home owner can do the same thing. Just go buy some Roach Away, it's 95% boron. It kills the bees by dehytrating them.
We pretreat all or cedar before installing it. Clear silicone sealer will not get rid of them, just plugging the hole will do nothing because there's a larive in side the hole. When it hatches it's going to just bore another hole to get out.


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## djurgensen (Feb 18, 2011)

joecaption said:


> A real exterminater would have sprayed a soloution of hot water and boric acid over the whole house.  Any home owner can do the same thing. Just go buy some Roach Away, it's 95% boron. It kills the bees by dehytrating them.
> We pretreat all or cedar before installing it. Clear silicone sealer will not get rid of them, just plugging the hole will do nothing because there's a larive in side the hole. When it hatches it's going to just bore another hole to get out.



The problem anyone faces, homeowner or exterminator, is getting chemicals on the bees or lavae hiding/hatching deep in the siding in order to kill them. You may be able to get a little bit of chemical on the bees as they come and go... but very little.

Pretreating is a great idea. It may deter the initial boring. However, once the hole is bored into the siding going deeper and deeper into the wood, the more difficult it is to contact the bees in order to kill them.

Dusting or squirting anything into the labyrinth the bees create I found to be futile.

dick jurgensen


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