If you want to know how to get rid of carpenter bees, it is imperative to detect their presence and use one of the solutions that we are going to offer you below.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!I- Physical identification
First, note that the most common carpenter bee. It is with nearly 500 species in the world that we find carpenter bees all over the world.
As for other wasp breeds that are wood eaters, we find a few such as the wasp disastrous and the bee keratin.
The latter build their nests in dead wood of all kinds of wood, such as timber or bamboo.
The carpenter wasp is called by several names in France: carpenter bee, wood-boring bee, wood-boring bee, purplish woodworm, black bumblebee, blue bumblebee, carpenter wasp, etc.
Also called Xylocopa (Xylocopa violacea), the carpenter bee is quite imposing in its corpulence, massive and hairy, with a length varying between 25-30mm with a wingspan of 55mm.
During its flight, its buzzing is quite audible and it is not difficult to recognize it visually. With its body whose dominant color is bluish-black.
Other details about the carpenter bee
Carpenter bees (Xylocopa violence) are rather peculiar despite their physical resemblance to other bees in both form and color.
They are distinguished by their passivity, or rather their low aggressiveness. As in many other breeds of Hymenoptera, males are stingless, unlike females.
The latter only use it in cases of extreme emergency, when they feel threatened by disruptive elements.
It is also the latter who dig the wood to settle there, their nests, and their colony. This tendency to hide under the wood, therefore, earned them this name.
Over time, carpenter bees become a big plague on wood, forcing people to find a way to get rid of them.
The most effective way to achieve this is to use insecticides. This does not put aside powdered products that are even more suitable for woods.
II- How to get rid of bees that eat wood?
-
The essence is effective:
With gasoline, insects are eliminated immediately. Moreover, to get rid of the multiple nests of carpenter bees that have sat in wooden galleries, one of the most effective and immediate methods is to spray these galleries with gasoline or diesel.
Like a double-edged knife, diesel will also tend to damage the structure of the wood and therefore destroy everything in a single spray.
It is with this in mind that it would be preferable to use it as a last resort, and even, with great caution.
In addition, gasoline has a very intense and potentially toxic odor for humans and pets.
Wearing protective elements for the hands and the respiratory tract (nose and mouth) will prove to be very useful in protecting you from the toxic emissions of the product.
The container that contains gasoline should only be used for this purpose. Because gasoline remains a material that never comes off completely even after several washes.
-
Try carburetor cleaner
The carburetor cleaner is also a good product for getting rid of bees that eat wood, carpenter bees.
Like gasoline, carburetor cleaner also has a downside when it comes to using it to get rid of carpenter bees.
It is the fact that it is not 100% effective. But beyond this characteristic, it remains an effective way to overcome carpenter bees.
Indeed, the installation of the latter in the wooden foundations of the house very quickly becomes unpleasant and somewhat for those who live there, especially those who are allergic to wasp stings.
It is in this sense that we can use the carburetor cleaner. It is easily accessible in stores for automotive products and has the shape of a bomb with a long extension at the end in order to insert it easily into a hole.
The impact of the product on insects will depend on the product itself. If some limit themselves to repelling bees, others eliminate them just as quickly.
As always, when vaporizing, it is recommended to protect your eyes with goggles.
Other conditions may also be required to get rid of carpenter bees, depending at that time on the cleanser itself.
Do not forget to read the precautions for use.
-
Barricading their holes can be a great solution
Carpenter bees are easy to locate in an area made of wood.
Because when they enter the wood, they dig galleries, letting them perceive on the surface of the orifices.
A study of their life cycle reveals that, during the spring season. They go outside, in the open air to search for their food.
This is the time when bees abandon their nests, come out of their holes. It is once spring has arrived that it is advisable to fill the holes in their nests with materials much stronger than wood: iron straw for example.
No longer able to access its nest, the carpenter bee will be forced to go elsewhere.
The hole left uninhabited can, therefore, be sealed with wood filler or mastic.
Be careful to ensure that the condition of the wood used matches the paste applied. And then varnishing or painting the wood will give it its original appearance again.
-
Treat the wood
If the carpenter wasp always chooses wooden shelters to settle there and create its nest. It is not all the types of wood that are concerned by this choice.
The woods selected for the establishment of its nest have not yet undergone treatment. Paint and varnish are products that these animals dislike to the point where they will never touch wood coated with them.
It is therefore essential to repaint and varnish all the wood that is exposed to any activity by bees. We will then have the benefit of having furniture that in addition to being protected against insects, has a particularly bright appearance.
If the frame, ceiling, or beams of the latter are all made of wood, make a point of treating them before the arrival of the carpenter bees.
-
Start by getting rid of insect larvae
It is obvious that getting rid of these carpenter bees requires long hours of work and a fairly substantial cost in acquiring equipment.
And it would be heartbreaking to find that soon after your treatment the situation remains unchanged and you find that all your efforts were totally wasted.
Because if you don’t focus on the larvae with the same intensity as you do with adult carpenter bees. You will never end with their infestation.
To achieve this, therefore, you can use a special powder insecticide to kill the larvae. This powder will be directly applied to the galleries of the larvae and will eliminate them.