Friday, May 12, 2006

Carpenter bees

When we bought our house back in August of 2004, we had an insect inspection done. Unfortunately, the inspectors missed a fairly large infestation of carpenter bees. If you've never heard of them, you're in good company.

Visually, they look like bumble bees but are bigger and black. If you're brave, you might find yourself practicing your tennis swing on them or maybe even using a pan head shovel to swat them down. The bees aren't very fast moving -- just don't miss! ;-)

The bees tend to return to the same place each year and are really hard to get rid of. There's a good write-up on bee psychology at the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture website.

When the exterminator came to treat my infestation, they used 4 chemicals, some of which supposedly aren't available at retail outlets (i.e., only available to licensed exterminators). At the time I had the work done (in the Spring of 2006) they charged $80 and guaranteed results for this year. In other words, the following spring, they wouldn't guarantee results for any new larvae.

The products they used were:
  • Wasp Freeze - quick kill of stinging wasps and hornets . . .does not leave a long term residual (is absorbed into the wood).
  • Demon WP - longer residual effect than Wasp Freeze . . .3-4 months. Stops bees from smelling decay odor put off by wood and keeps them from boring new nests.
  • Intruder HPX - put in cracks and crevices to allow bees to carry into nests. Best sprayed in evening . . .causes bees to go neurotic and leave "safe places", which then subjects them to other listed poisons
  • Drione Dust - flea powder-like substance . . .isn't absorbed into the wood, provides quick knock-down and residual control (1 year) against bee larvae. Plug holes with 1/2" dowel or cork after treated.
If you were to treat the infestation yourself, here's what you'd be facing: