After writing, how to get rid of fruit flies?, how to get rid of mosquitoes?, how to get rid of bees?, and how to get rid of ants?, we are now writing the best ways to get rid of carpenter bees fast. Carpenter bees are large insects that are shiny black in color. These bees are called carpenter bees because they built their nest in dead wood. You can easily find them hanging around in your garden. They can also be mistaken with bumble bees. The sign of identification is their long black tail. Carpenter bees do not live in hives like honey bee do. If you leave this problem untreated then they can destroy your building structure. In this article, we will explaining the best ways that can be used to get rid of carpenter bees fast. Carpenter bees are irritating and can hurt you as well. They can sting, but it is to be noticed that only female bees can sting. You do not have to worry so much as they sting only, if provoked.
Best Ways to Get Rid of Carpenter Bees Fast:
Contents
1.) Use The Vacuum Cleaner
A vacuum cleaner will be available at your home or you can purchase it as it very helpful to get rid of carpenter bees really fast. By using a vacuum cleaner, you can easily remove carpenter bees from woods.
- Make sure to use a strong vacuum cleaner and put it over the holes or openings. It will vacuum up the bees. If the nest is a new one, then this remedy works very well.
- For best results, you should try this remedy in the evening. During that part of the day, bees live in their nest and thus will be killed easily.
2.) Make Some Noise
Making noise works magic when it comes at getting rid of carpenter bees. Carpenter bees can not bear noise. So, make loud noises to get rid of carpenter bees. Use a sound box or boom box to set up to the places where they are found the most. This method is safe and effective for removing carpenter bees.
3.) Use The Petrol Spray
Petrol has a pungent smell that can help to kill them.
- Spraying petrol or diesel in the burrows will kill the carpenter bees.
- Be careful while using it as it may damage your skin.
- Wear gloves, N-95 respirator and goggles while spray petrol in the burrows.
- Label your spray bottle and keep it aside.
4.) Block The Holes
Closing or blocking all the entries and the openings of their nest is the best way to get rid of carpenter bees. Use steel wool to block or close the opening since they won’t be able to enter through the steel wool. You can also use putty and caulk instead of using steel wool. It is better to use this method after spraying the insecticide.
5.) Badminton Rackets Will Help
In the spring season, carpenter bees fly in search of burrows to feed their larvae. That means they become active for at least 2 to 3 weeks. Badminton racket is electrically used to smash them down. Use it daily to kill the carpenter bees.
6.) Make Your Own Citrus Spray
Spray citrus product to the affected area. Use a citrus based spray which is specifically made for carpenter bees or you can make it on your own.
- Use any of the citrus fruit such as orange, lemon, grapefruit or lime and boil it in a pot which is filled with water. Now use this prepared citrus solution and pour it into the spray bottle.
- Spray it on the opening of the woods or where you think they have their nest. Just like other insects carpenter bees don’t like citrus products.
7.) Use The Diatomaceous Earth
Diatomaceous earth is yet another effective remedy that will help to get rid carpenter bees. It is a soft, crumbly and porous sedimentary soil like various other powders that are formed from the fossil remains of diatoms, which is a type of algae. It is a popular and natural pesticide. The sharp edges of microscopic diatoms present in the diatomaceous earth tend to shred the outer shell of bees and other insects as well. It will kill them by drying them out.
Diatomaceous earth is one of the beneficial home remedies to get rid of carpenter bees infestation. Diatomaceous Earth is a talc-like powder and it acts like a poison for insects. That’s why it is used to kill the carpenter bees. Before using this powder wear gloves and fill the openings made by the carpenter bees. Then close the opening with the putty. When you have done this work, remove the gloves. Wash your hands with soap and water.
8.) Aerosol Carburetor Cleaner
Aerosol carburetor is one of the best products to get rid of carpenter bees faster. You can buy this cleaner from any pest control store.
- Spray aerosol carburetor cleaner on the carpenter bees or on their nest. It is the most effective remedy to kill the carpenter bees.
- Keep your face or eyes away from this cleaner. For your safety wear gloves and then spray it.
9.) Paint The Area
- Paints work well to stop the carpenter bees infestation without killing them.
- Paint your home or places, where carpenter bees are usually found.
- Insects will not come when you cover your wood or wall with paint.
- So use polyurethane paints for the best results.
10.) Use The Almond Oil
- Almond oil is not only used for your hair, but it can kill the carpenter bees as well.
- So pour some almond oil in their nests. This oil will keep the bees at bay.
- The best thing about this method is that it lasts really long. This process will work for 3 to 4 months.
11.) Boric Acid Will Help
- Boric acid works as a poison for carpenter bees. The best part about this remedy is that it kills the larvae as well.
- To kill the larvae of carpenter bees spray boric acid in the openings of woods or the holes made by them. Boric acid is an effective insecticide for killing any type of insects.
12.) Use Insecticidal Dust
If you witness active carpenter bees in or around your house, the best thing is to use the insecticidal dust. Using this will help you to protect your wooden structure from harmful liquid chemicals that may get absorbed into the porous wood and at the same time makes ensure that carpenter bees come in contact with this dust, finally getting eliminated without any fuss. Get these in order to get rid of carpenter bees, Insecticidal dust, Duster, Protective clothing like gloves, goggles, respirator, dust mask etc. and wasp or hornet spray if doing the task during daytime. Flashlight and red cellophane tape if working at night. Follow the steps given below:
- Preferably, do this during the night time so that you may avoid stings of the female carpenter bees. Simply cut a piece of red cellophane and stick it to the flashlight in order to make the light appear red.
- Bees are not able to see the red light but you will easily see the opening of their nest. When working during the daytime, make sure that you wear all the possible protective clothing and accessories.
- Also keep a wasp spray handy so that you can use it on any bees that fly around you to defend their nest. Always remember that the female carpenter bees can sting.
- When using the duster, simply apply the insecticidal dust directly into the nest openings of the carpenter bees that you must have witnessed around.
- The duster will tend to puff the dust up into the tunnel made by the carpenter bees and will also coats the sides.
- Immediately wash the clothes that you have been wearing and do not mix them with other household laundry.
13.) Use The Pesticides
Powders are the most effective and beneficial pesticides used to get rid of carpenter bees. Products boric acid (boric turbo aerosol) and carbaryl dust (Sevin) are effective for carpenter bees. These products kill carpenter bees instantly. So, using these pesticides you can prevent from carpenter bees fast.
How to Prevent Carpenter Bees From Coming Back?
Below are some of the tips for preventing the carpenter bees. These are practical and really helpful tips that will help you to get rid of carpenter bees.
- The best tip is to first exterminate the bees with the help of home remedies or with professional help.
- Then plug the holes so that these nests cannot be used in future again by any carpenter bee.
- Carpenter bees tend to easily carve and make holes in wood but cannot dig through the steel wool. Simply plug the holes of the bees with the steel wool once they are exterminated.
- Either stain or paint the outdoor wooden surfaces because these surfaces do not attract the carpenter bees. Untreated wood is mostly vulnerable to these bees in order to make their nests.
How to Identify Carpenter Bees?
Looking at a carpenter bee can make you think as if it is some cute and bumble fly. Why don’t you take a look below at some pointers that will help you identify the carpenter bees? After learning these facts your first step to get rid of carpenter bees. The below pointers also contain certain facts that will help you to distinguish between carpenter bees and those cure looking bumble bees that has no harm.
Carpenter bees appear large in size. They are about an inch long and on the other hand humble bees are 1/2 to 1 inch long. These carpenter bees have black shiny body mostly having yellow colored hair on their thorax. Sometimes the color of their hair can be white or orange too. Humble bees have black and yellow or black and orange body. Of course, these two bees are quite similar in appearance, why else they would be confused with each other.
In appearance, most of the top part of the abdomen of carpenter bees is hairless and is shiny black in color. On the other hand Bumble bees have their abdomen fully covered with hair, mostly yellow hair. All these differences will help you identify the differences between both the bees.
If you witness such large bees hovering around the eaves of your house or drilling in wood, try to make sure if these are carpenter bees or bumble bees. Bumblebees, on the other hand, can be seen traveling between their underground nest and the flowers from where they obtain their food. Yes, there nests are under the ground.)
You can also identify the male and female carpenter bees by simply looking at their heads. This is indeed an important identification because then you will get to know if the bee is capable of stinging or not This is because male carpenter bee does not sting whereas female carpenter bees ting really bad. The female bee is able to sting but will not do it until and unless theses bees are provoked extremely. Trying to demolish their nest is something that will tend to provoke the bees to bite you. So, in order to distinguish between the male and female carpenter bees, simply look at its head. Female carpenter bees will have black heads whereas the male carpenter bees will have white marks on their heads.
How to Find Carpenter Bees Nest?
Once you have identified whether the bees in your house are carpenter bees or bumble bees, you now know that there is also a nest of these bees which is either in or around your house. Your task now is to find the nest of the carpenter bees. Wondering how will you do this? Well, we will help you to find out how?
Locate the place where male carpenter bees tend to hover around. Female carpenter bees bore holes into rough and unfinished wood in order to make her nest so that it can lay eggs there. These holes are the nest of all the other carpenter bees. These holes are shallow or deep- as shallow as five to six inches and as deep as four feet inside the wood. This generally happens during the spring season when the adult carpenter bees mate and start cleaning and enlarging the old constructed tunnels. The bees may also excavate the new ones as brood chambers for their young members.
If you witness the male carpenter bees now you know how to identify them, hovering around the wooden structure, also check the ground or any other horizontal surface beneath that place. If you witness something like coarse sawdust, the carpenter bees nest is there itself, just above the frass. What is Frass? It is the sawdust that falls off from the wood, which the hole has been drilled.
While searching for the nest, you do not have to worry about the male carpenter bees that will intimidate you by flying at you and buzzing around your head. These male bees does not potent the ability to harm you in any manner. However, as told earlier, be careful about the female bees, they can sting.
Once you have located the carpenter bee’s nest, you can take required steps to get rid of them. But before knowing how to get rid of carpenter bees and their nests, let’s know why it is essential to remove the nest? After all, it is just a hole of about half a inch diameter!
Why Carpenter Bees Nest Removal is Essential?
The hole made by a carpenter bee in a wood is just a slight damage to the wood. However, think about the time and again when the carpenter bees work on old tunnels in order to make the brood chambers for their young ones.
The young adult bees hibernate during the winter season inside their tunnels in the wood. Every year, after the adult carpenter bees wake up from their hibernation, they tend to mate during the spring season. Then their next task is to start cleaning the tunnel. They make it large for the new members to accommodate. The bees also tend to excavate new tunnels in order to create brood chambers. Each of such chambers has ‘bee bread’ which is actually a mixture of pollen and regurgitated nectar. This is the food for the larvae. The female carpenter bees lay her eggs on the food and seals off each of the chamber. These laid eggs then develop into adult bees and then repeat the same life cycle.
Every year, these brood chambers keep on expanding until the new member finally hatches from the eggs. This also expands the tunnel through the branching activities and ultimately causes considerable damage to the actual wooden structure. The bees also tend to defecate on the wall or other surfaces that are directly below the opening of the tunnels and this causes stained and ugly looking walls.
Other Useful Tips to Prevent Carpenter Bees Infestation:
- Once the bees disappear, remove all the damaged wood.
- Killing the reproducing adult bees or females is not enough. You need to destroy their larvae in their burrows so that they can’t reproduce. So try to stop their reproduction cycle.
- Block all the holes or openings as soon as possible. Keep your wooden items well maintained and painted.
- Don’t use banned pesticides because banned pesticides can be very harmful to you and your children. Wear protective clothes while using any of the above remedies.
