Carpenter Bees And This Season
It’s springtime! Flowers are blooming, grass is growing and for some unlucky property owners, carpenter bees are waking up and marking their territory, which YOU are mistakenly thinking is your home or business! These wood damagers emerge from their winter nesting in April and May. If you’re just reading this, they’re already awake!
Carpenter Bees And Your Wood
There is nothing more attractive to carpenter bees than untreated wood. If you have an untreated wood fence, you may see small (or large) perfectly round circles in your wood planks. Before you accuse the neighborhood kids of a childish prank, look closely. A carpenter bee family may be visiting you. To keep these bees from wreaking havoc to your wood pieces, you must act immediately.
Do Carpenter Bees Sting?
Often, they will leave you alone if you leave them alone. They are territorial however, so you may encounter them guarding YOUR property as their own. Female are able to sting more than once and their stingers are filled with venom. They protect their eggs and you probably can tell you’re near their nest if they attempt to attack you. They only sting if they are directly provoked.
Protect Your Wood!
So what can a property owner do to protect their wood items from being destroyed? One simple solution can easily make things better. Staining or painting wood will keep many of these pests at bay. Removing any rotting wood is extremely important as these bees are drawn to it. Not sure where all your unprotected wood items are? A Clearcut Pest Control audit will help you identify any problem areas on your property.
Natural Methods Of Avoiding Carpenter Bees
Let’s be clear. Carpenter bees ARE good for our environment. They are important pollinators of flowering plants in our farms and gardens. But most of us want to control WHERE they populate.
Almond oil and any Citrus oil are natural carpenter bee repellents. These bees detest the smell of citrus and will avoid it at any cost.
If you have a nest, making citrus water and spraying the nest (using a spray bottle with a stream nozzle) will start to get carpenter bees out. Precautions should be taken to spray the nest at night when the bees are not active.
Almond oil and citrus oil are both carpenter bee repellents. The focus should be on the female who stings. The male can move towards humans but the female is the one who stings. The best way to keep females from nesting is to spray a layer of a citrus and water mixture OR an Almond oil and water mixture. Spraying this on the potential problem areas throughout the spring time, will encourage the bees to nest elsewhere.
For Big Problems, Call The Pros!
Like a lot of small pest control issues, a carpenter bee or two MIGHT be something you can handle on your own. But for a significant population of bees, potential problem areas OR your inability to locate nesting surfaces, a call to our team at Clearcut Pest Control is the way to go. Our experience in finding bee nests in North Carolina will save you time, money and potential discomfort from bee stings.
Give us a call or fill out our contact form and let’s talk about getting rid of the problem, SAFELY!
