Carpenter Bees!
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by tkhooper on April 22, 2005 04:53 AM
I didn't know there was such a thing as carpenter bees. Sounds bad. I hope you are able to get help.
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by Amigatec on April 22, 2005 05:17 AM
I too had that problem I found thier holes and pumped them full of bug killer made for wood boring insects.
I then covered the holes with sheet metal.
The holes may be 12" to 18" deep you have to treat the nest, the adults will return to the nest they were hatched in and lay their eggs.
So far this year I have not seen any.
By the way ONLY the females can sting you.
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One OS to rule them, one OS to find them:
One OS to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Redmond where the shadows lie.
I then covered the holes with sheet metal.
The holes may be 12" to 18" deep you have to treat the nest, the adults will return to the nest they were hatched in and lay their eggs.
So far this year I have not seen any.
By the way ONLY the females can sting you.
* * * *
One OS to rule them, one OS to find them:
One OS to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Redmond where the shadows lie.
by afgreyparrot on April 22, 2005 06:27 AM
...and here's my organic method of carpenter bee eradication...
TENNIS RACKET!![[thumb]](im/graemlins/thumb.gif)
![[grin]](im/graemlins/grinnnn.gif)
![[Big Grin]](im/biggrin.gif)
You have no idea how far you can hit one of those big suckers!
Actually, my badminton racket was much better.......lighter.
A good backhand will send those suckers into the next county!
Cindy
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Buckle up! It makes it harder for the aliens to suck you out of your car!
TENNIS RACKET!
You have no idea how far you can hit one of those big suckers!
Actually, my badminton racket was much better.......lighter.
A good backhand will send those suckers into the next county!
Cindy
* * * *
Buckle up! It makes it harder for the aliens to suck you out of your car!
by SharonSEVirginia on April 22, 2005 09:15 AM
Here's a link that will give you more info on the Carpenter Bees and how to get rid of them . . . it sounds easy enough - but we have more of them and more nests than ever before this year - because of the way they build the nest and encapsulate the eggs they are very difficult to eradicate.
http://muextension.missouri.edu/explore/agguides/pests/g07424.htm
And we did get a tennis racket too (a titanium one) it's lighter weight - it takes a good whack and a stomp - if they are just stunned when they go down, they will get back up and fly away - it's satisfying to get the durn things that way - but it doesn't do a thing about the nest - and simply pluggin the hole doesn't stop them - they just bore their way out another tunnel.
We're trying again this year - but niether of us realized we should have got the nest before they started mating - so glad you posted the problem and I found this excellent site - hope it helps.
http://muextension.missouri.edu/explore/agguides/pests/g07424.htm
And we did get a tennis racket too (a titanium one) it's lighter weight - it takes a good whack and a stomp - if they are just stunned when they go down, they will get back up and fly away - it's satisfying to get the durn things that way - but it doesn't do a thing about the nest - and simply pluggin the hole doesn't stop them - they just bore their way out another tunnel.
We're trying again this year - but niether of us realized we should have got the nest before they started mating - so glad you posted the problem and I found this excellent site - hope it helps.
by Dixie Angel on April 22, 2005 04:50 PM
Thanks for the replies, Gang!
Amigated, wonder why it is always the females that get the bad reputation? I don't think I will be getting close enough to check their gender! Thanks for telling me what you did to get rid of them. I hope we can find the nests if there are any more besides the shed.
Cindy, I like your idea, but....I am afraid to stick around to find out if it is a bumblebee or a carpenter bee. I am allergic to bumblebees. I can see me now (and have before when I was younger)...swat a bee and it gets back up madder than a hornet! Payback to them would be sending me to the hospital swollen as a little crick after a big storm and not breathing, too! If I could outrun the things, I would probably try that. I get tired of having to go into the house when the things start chasing me! A good whack would make me feel better if it killed them on the first try! ![[Wink]](im/wink.gif)
Thanks for the link, Sharon. Hopefully Jim will be able to use the information to get rid of the darn things!
Tammy, it looks like I found the help I need! You wanna play exterminator?
Dianna
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Amigated, wonder why it is always the females that get the bad reputation?
I don't think I will be getting close enough to check their gender! Thanks for telling me what you did to get rid of them. I hope we can find the nests if there are any more besides the shed.Cindy, I like your idea, but....I am afraid to stick around to find out if it is a bumblebee or a carpenter bee. I am allergic to bumblebees. I can see me now (and have before when I was younger)...swat a bee and it gets back up madder than a hornet! Payback to them would be sending me to the hospital swollen as a little crick after a big storm and not breathing, too!
If I could outrun the things, I would probably try that. I get tired of having to go into the house when the things start chasing me! A good whack would make me feel better if it killed them on the first try! Thanks for the link, Sharon. Hopefully Jim will be able to use the information to get rid of the darn things!
Tammy, it looks like I found the help I need!
You wanna play exterminator? Dianna
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by tkhooper on April 22, 2005 05:09 PM
Picturing me in a Arnold Swartenager suit.
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
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hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
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by afgreyparrot on April 22, 2005 05:14 PM
Dianna...
I'm allergic to them, too. Have to carry that stupid Epi-Pen all the time. But, that just makes it more of a "sport". Kind of evens the playing field.
Plus, you get extra points for being allergic. That adds to the "degree of difficulty" when regarding (fantasizing) bee-whacking as an olympic sport.
...I have a "killer" backhand!
Cindy
* * * *
Buckle up! It makes it harder for the aliens to suck you out of your car!
I'm allergic to them, too. Have to carry that stupid Epi-Pen all the time. But, that just makes it more of a "sport". Kind of evens the playing field.
Plus, you get extra points for being allergic. That adds to the "degree of difficulty" when regarding (fantasizing) bee-whacking as an olympic sport.
quote:Mine usually does...
A good whack would make me feel better if it killed them on the first try!
...I have a "killer" backhand!
Cindy
* * * *
Buckle up! It makes it harder for the aliens to suck you out of your car!
by loz on April 22, 2005 05:22 PM
I could use a few tennis rackets myself....There are literally so many outside around my yard it's kind of scary.....right at the bottom of my yard my neighbors have a really old garage and they always swarm around that. Every year there is always this one that hovers around the bottom of my back steps near the hose.....That one is going down this year!!!!
![[Razz]](im/tongue.gif)
Usually I spray down the wasps and bees with the hose set on the jet spray, then I go stomp it....Plus we have an old built in BBQ that we never use and I'm sure it has some kind of nest in it....I see yellowjackets going in and out. We need to have the grill removed, but it's concreted in with a gas line running to it from the house so I guess we'll have to have the gas company come out and do it.
by RugbyHukr on April 26, 2005 07:36 AM
There is a sneaky way to eradicate bees taught in survival courses.
1) hang some bee food -- they like sweets, ever notice that they swarm your soda can at picnics??
try letting soda evaporate to leave a gummy substance on popsicle sticks.
2) place a tub of water underneath that food source
3) bees will come to eat the sweets. They will continue to eat until they are so heavy that they fall into the water and drown.
* * * *
I love the sweet scents wafting in the breeze. I stop to admire the vibrant colors of all living things. And people think me odd. Then ODD I am!!!
http://community.webshots.com/user/flugnash
1) hang some bee food -- they like sweets, ever notice that they swarm your soda can at picnics??
try letting soda evaporate to leave a gummy substance on popsicle sticks.
2) place a tub of water underneath that food source
3) bees will come to eat the sweets. They will continue to eat until they are so heavy that they fall into the water and drown.
* * * *
I love the sweet scents wafting in the breeze. I stop to admire the vibrant colors of all living things. And people think me odd. Then ODD I am!!!
http://community.webshots.com/user/flugnash
by Dixie Angel on April 26, 2005 03:00 PM
quote:I don't think I am into sports that much, Cindy! I am too afraid I am gonna get stung.
Originally posted by afgreyparrot:
Plus, you get extra points for being allergic. That adds to the "degree of difficulty" when regarding (fantasizing) bee-whacking as an olympic sport.
Cindy
Just call me Chicken Little! They take home the gold around here! Laura, the yellow jackets would send me running, too! Those are nasty little buggers.
Rugby Hukr, I hate discovering that some kind of insect is sharing my drink without my permission. I have taken a swallow of a drink and found a bee in my mouth before. Luckily it was drowned before it hit my mouth. I know that your ideas will work.
Dianna
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by plants 'n pots on April 27, 2005 12:13 AM
You guys should have seen me 2 weeks ago!
I was having a great tennis match up on my second story deck with 4 carpenter bees. I'm sure my neighbors thought I was certifiable (no comments from the peanut gallery! ![[Embarrassed]](im/redface.gif)
![[perplexed]](im/graemlins/confused.gif)
). I eventually won - 3- 1 !
But you're right... you cannot just hit them which just stuns them to the ground... you have to mash them into a pulpit so they can't get up again!
TAKE THAT! AND THAT!! AND THAT AND THAT!!! ![[scaredy]](im/graemlins/scaredy.gif)
Now... if I can just get that last one, so I can sit peacefully on the deck again...
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Lynne's knitting journal 
"I'm spayed, declawed, and housebound - how's YOUR day going???"
I was having a great tennis match up on my second story deck with 4 carpenter bees. I'm sure my neighbors thought I was certifiable (no comments from the peanut gallery!
). I eventually won - 3- 1 ! But you're right... you cannot just hit them which just stuns them to the ground... you have to mash them into a pulpit so they can't get up again!
TAKE THAT! AND THAT!! AND THAT AND THAT!!!
Now... if I can just get that last one, so I can sit peacefully on the deck again...
* * * *
Lynne's knitting journal "I'm spayed, declawed, and housebound - how's YOUR day going???"
by loz on April 27, 2005 01:47 AM
I know how you feel Lynne....I have one that hovers on my back porch as if it owns it, and I'm the one intruding--kind of hard to sit out there when you are being continually dive bombed..... I told my neighbor if you see me in the yard jumping around looking like I'm dancing I'm just trying to fend off the carpenter bees......
by Dixie Angel on April 27, 2005 05:10 PM
I have been chased in twice off my deck by the bees. Whether they were carpenters or bumble, I don't know. Didn't stick around long enough to thoroughly check them out.
Dianna
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Dianna
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Anyway, they are going up into a little hole in the shed and we are wondering how to get rid of them. We don't want them making an appetizer out of our shed, entree of our deck, and finishing up with dessert as our gazebo.
The deck and the gazebo are made out of treated wood. The shed on the inside, however is not. Help!
Dianna
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