Carpenter Bees Still A Threat To East Tennessee Homes

Carpenter Bees Still A Threat To East Tennessee Homes

When we think of bees, or just insects in general, it’s no surprise that we think about the warmer spring and summer weather. That’s because most insects don’t survive through the fall and winter months. Bees, in particular, will gather within their hives to hibernate while they wait for spring to turn up again. Carpenter bees shouldn’t be any different, right? Well, while these problematic pests are similar to other insects in the fact that they prefer to avoid the winter weather, the fact is, here in Tennessee, our weather tends to stay warm well into early fall. This means that these fuzzy black bees will continue to do their work until the temperature actually starts dropping.

Carpenter bees look similar to their bumblebee cousins, who never really bother anybody. Often, this means that homeowners don’t realize they have a problem until the damage becomes extensive. You may see what looks like a bumblebee buzzing around the exterior of your home and don’t really think much of it because a bumblebee will do no damage to your home. Unfortunately, carpenter bees cause a lot of damage, especially if they choose to build their nests in the structure of your home.

Of course, one carpenter bee won’t cause much of a problem. It’s when carpenter bees continue to come back and lengthen those tunnels that they start becoming an issue. Additionally, carpenter bees will visit year after year to nest, continuing to drill deeper into the soft wood of your home to create structural damage within. Warping, bending, and breaking of wooden structures is not uncommon for homes where carpenter bees have invaded. Wooden staircases, railings, and roofing are all in danger of being bored into and damaged. Carpenter bee larvae even draw woodpeckers to your home, which can create even more damage if left unchecked.

There are several ways to help prevent carpenter bees from deciding your home is a good nesting site, ranging from eliminating moisture to closing holes you find in the exterior of your home with a professional grade wood filler. However, if you’re already experiencing problems with carpenter bees, professional pest control is always the safest and quickest way to rid your home of these insects. DIY methods of removal can often result in failed efforts and wasted money, but at Russell’s Pest Control, we promise to protect your home and eliminate carpenter bees living inside. Our pest control experts will come to your home, identify any pest problems you have, and provide you with a plan to keep your home and family safe from damage and harm. Contact Russell’s Pest Control today to request your free estimate.

Carpenter Bees Will Be Active Soon

Carpenter Bees Will Be Active Soon

When spring temperatures warm up, all the creatures in Tennessee will become active again. Some of them will just crawl around in your backyard, dig tiny tunnels under your lawn, and hide under your rocks (and only be a nuisance every once in awhile when heavy rains make the ground saturated, or extended days of drought make the ground too dry.) Some will build nests on eaves and overhangs and leave painful welts on the skin when we accidentally come in contact with them. Some are wood-destroying pests that will damage our homes. There are many ways bugs can become pests. Of the three we’ve mentioned, what kind of pest do you think carpenter bees are?

If you said that these insects leave painful welts on the skin, you would be half right, because only female carpenter bees are able to sting. Male carpenter bees, though sometimes aggressive, are not able to sting. All of the dive bombing and excessive buzzing is just posturing, they can’t actually hurt you. Females, on the other hand, can give you a painful welt, or worse if you have an allergy to her venom. But a female carpenter bee doesn’t want to sting you. Her focus is on building a nest and making babies. That is how she has earned her pest status.

Female carpenter bees chew tunnels in wood to make their nests. While these tunnels aren’t all that extensive at first, they can grow quite a bit over the course of several years. These bees are prone to using and extending existing tunnels. When they do, these tunnels can cause quite a bit of damage.

Tunnels made by carpenter bees can be frustrating to repair because it is hard to know how much tunneling is present just beyond the tiny circular hole they leave in the wood they are attacking. If these tunnels are being created in a sensitive area, like a stair leading up to a balcony, a railing, or a support beam, serious injury could result if the damage isn’t properly addressed.

If you have carpenter bees appearing on your property this year, it is important to have a professional pest control technician take a look at your issue and give you some actionable input on how to protect your home. Identification of carpenter bees is quite easy. They look like a big bumblebee with an entirely black abdomen.

Don’t let carpenter bees damage your property and cause the potential for injury. This is an issue you should address when it first appears.

Carpenter Bee Identification

Knoxville, Maryville, Lenoir City, and many other parts of the greater Knoxville area took a beating from the recent storms. Our thoughts are with our neighbors, and we hope that the cleanup work is coming along. We thought that, since many people are doing work around their houses, our readers might appreciate information about a pest that can be treated with some simple home repair work. Today, let’s look at carpenter bees.

Carpenter bees are very large, and they have the unpleasant habit of hovering near their nest sites and chasing anyone who comes too close. You probably started to notice them zinging by your head in mid-March when the weather started to warm up. Still, they are rarely aggressive and will only sting if threatened. Unlike their bumble bee cousins, carpenter bees are not hive creatures. They build solitary nests by drilling through wood and creating a cavity in which eggs and larvae are protected. These bees do not eat the wood as termites do, so a common indicator of carpenter bees is small piles of sawdust on your back deck or on the porch below your wood siding.

If you want to treat for carpenter bees, here are some tips to consider. Using an over-the-counter product in the holes is a start, but it won’t eliminate your problem. If possible, use a flashlight and treat the holes at night when the bees are inactive. If that idea is not practical in your case, bring a spray can with a product that you can use to knock down and kill the adults so you don’t get stung while you work (I have a friend who uses a wiffle ball bat for this portion of the work, but I don’t recommend it). Then, use a product that leaves a residue in the holes so that your treatment lasts longer. Remember, most of the spray cans for bees and wasps are only for immediate contact use; they will kill a bee that you spray but will not leave lasting protection against the bees. Many over-the-counter products are labeled to last up to three months, and you’d be better off trying one of those in the holes. Always use products that are labeled for the pests you’re treating, and only use them in ways that the label allows. Also, remember to position yourself carefully if you’re treating high places; you don’t want the product that you use to fall back down on you while you work.

Treat the holes in early spring and again in summer to make sure you’ve contacted all the bees with the product. Then, in the fall, fill the holes with wood putty. The bees won’t want to chew through the putty and will not be able to re-use the same holes. Finally, if you are doing some home repairs in the coming weeks, we recommend that you put a coat of paint or varnish on the affected wood. Pressure-treated wood is still vulnerable to carpenter bee attack, but a coat of paint will frustrate a bee’s chewing efforts and may make it think twice about sharing living space with you.

We get many calls about carpenter bees because they can be tough to treat. Their nests are often hard to reach, so many homeowner’s don’t want to deal with the trouble. At Russell’s Pest Control, carpenter bee treatments are done with a large sprayer or blower that can more easily reach the affected areas to alleviate the problem. Sound like a service you could use? You know where to find us, and you can always call us for more information.