How to Get Rid of Carpenter or Wood Bees

It is recommended that you begin spraying areas where carpenter bees, also known as wood bees, have been active in the past during the spring/fall, prior to new activity or as soon as new activity is noticed. Following the usage and dilution rates listed on the concentrated liquid insecticide product label of the product you have chosen, spray any area that has been susceptible to carpenter bee infestations including eaves, siding, fascia boards, railings, posts, fencing and garden/landscape fixtures. Spray one time per month as needed during the carpenter bee season.

***NOTE:***

While carpenter bees are solitary bees and do not attack in groups, it is possible that you can be stung while performing a treatment. If you are sensitive to bee stings or bee stings are intolerable, we recommend that you hire a professional pest control operator to control carpenter bees. If you are not allergic but are worried about bee stings you may want to consider purchasing and wearing a bee suit.

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In this step you will need to dust and plug existing holes to kill the wood bees newly emerging in the existing holes. We recommend applying the dust to the carpenter bee nests late in the evening to make sure you are contacting the existing female carpenter bees as this is when they are most likely to be inside the nest and also when they are less active which will somewhat reduce the chance you could be stung. This application will also help to eliminate the immature stage of the developing carpenter bee and will reduce the future carpenter bee population.

Using a hand duster, apply the chosen dust to each carpenter bee hole. After 14 days, we recommend you plug the hole using a Trebor plug, Super Plug, or wood patch material to stop other insects from invading the hole at a later time. Dust applications typically need to be applied to each hole only once per season.

Pro Tip

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If you plug the hole immediately after dusting, you risk having the immature carpenter bee growing into the adult stage and chewing it's way out of a different part of the wood and avoiding the dust application completely. This is why carpenter bees are sometimes referred to as boring bees. Waiting 14 days will allow the female bee to go back to the nest and crawl through the application and spread the dust into the nest to help eliminate the immature bees.