If you have bald, buzzing bees around your wooden deck or eaves, you most likely have carpenter bees. While carpenter bees fill important roles as pollinators, wood-boring pests that leave holes in your home can mean extensive damage. In this blog, we will explain how to get rid of carpenter bees, what carpenter bees actually do, if carpenter bees can sting, and how to keep carpenter bees away naturally.

What Are Carpenter Bees?

Carpenter bees are large, solitary bees that are similar to bumblebees but are shiny and black on their abdomen as opposed to having hairy bodies like bumblebees. They don’t live in hives, they tunnel into wood and lay their eggs.

Carpenter bees prefer bare, soft, unpainted wood. If your home has exposed wood, like a porch or wood fence, siding, or wood garden furniture, you may find carpenter bees there, especially if that wood is untreated or weathered.

Are Carpenter Bees Pollinators?

Yes, carpenter bees help different flowers and crops bloom meaning they are important pollinators. Carpenter bees don’t live in hives and don’t make honey, but they gather pollen and nectar just like honeybees do.

Do Carpenter Bees Sting or Bite?

Only female carpenter bees can sting, and are not likely to do so. Males do not have stingers, but they will aggressively hover around people. Most adults, especially males, are not aggressive to humans and actually prefer to avoid interaction with humans.

In addition, they do not sting humans. Their chewing attacks are limited to wood, where they bore tunnels – not your skin.

What Do Carpenter Bees Do to Your Home?

They will bore near-perfect circle holes in wood and tunnel inside to make their nests. While a few holes may not seem that important, over several years of repeated nesting, the structural stability of wood is weakened, especially when multiple bees use the same locations.

How to Get Rid of Carpenter Bees?

Here is a step-by-step plan on how to remove carpenter bees in an environmentally safe manner:

1. Wait Until They Leave – The best time to apply treatments to carpenter bee holes is late fall when the bees leave.
2. Fill the Holes – If you have holes, filled them in with wood filler or caulk. After the holes are filled, then sand and paint the wood. Painted wood is less likely to be used by carpenter bees.
3. Apply Insecticides (if Necessary) – If you must use an insecticide, use a dust or foam insecticide made for carpenter bees. You can also use WD-40, although there are no official solutions. If you want to kill carpenter bees on contact, quick-action sprays labeled for carpenter bees will kill them with contact if you follow all of the safety instructions.
4. Use Carpenter Bee traps – You can purchase or build a bee trap using a wooden box and a plastic bottle. The bee will go in through a hole you drill and become trapped.

Natural Ways to Discourage Carpenter Bees

If you would like to avoid using toxins, these are some possibilities:

• Citrus oil spray – bees do not like the smell.
• Almond oil – this is a natural repellent.
• Loud vibrations – sometimes a loud vibration from a speaker or a tool will scare them away.

You can also make your own trap using DIY plans and common household items.

How to Prevent Returning Carpenter Bees?

Once you have eliminated the carpenter bees, you will want to make sure they don’t come back:

• Regularly paint or stain your wood surfaces
• Use hardwood or treated lumber for your exterior work
• Seal holes and openings, especially cracks
• Hang a few fake nests – carpenter bees will avoid making nests in the same area if they think one is already built.

If you are wondering how to control carpenter bees over the long haul, using repellents, treatment to wood and prompting contractor maintenance is a good start.

Quick Answers to Common Questions

• How do I get rid of carpenter bees in wood? Apply insecticide to the hole, and then seal and paint the wood.
• What do carpenter bees eat? Nectar and pollen – not wood.
• How long do carpenter bees live? About one year, and they may reuse tunnels
• What kills carpenter bees instantly? A targeted insecticide spray or foam.
• How do you keep carpenter bees away from wood? Apply natural oils like citrus or tea tree oil, paint seal all natural surfaces, and fill entrance into old tunnels.
• How do you repel carpenter bees naturally? Try a homemade citrus spray, almond oil, or peppermint oil.
• How to build a carpenter bee trap? Build a wooden box with a angled holes and attached a clear plastic bottle.
• How to repel carpenter bees? Regular maintenance, sealing wood, and strong smelling natural oils
• Are carpenter bees good? Not for the environment, but yes for untreated wooden structures.

Conclusion

Carpenter bees and their swarm may seem scary, but they are all simply doing their job to pollinate. Still, carpenter bees present a risk for tunneling into harmful pests into wood. Careful use of natural oil or chemical use is fine and the key is to do so early and seal up entrance points.

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