Carpenter bees in w. pine

[moodnacreek]

A couple of years ago carpenter bees got into white pine on sticks, 99 percent thick stuff; squares and 4x12s mostly but not 1 x.  It got so bad [a lot of 4x12 returned] I stopped cutting thick w.p.
Heavy stuff I put on 2" sticks all the time so I can work the fork lift to separate the pile. The 1x is on 1" sticks. So the bees want the 2" space to drill, I caused the problem, no more w. pine on stickers thicker than 1". 

[Brad_bb]

I don't mill softwoods(don't have any significant around here).  But I had some white pine board and batten 1x and they loved boring into that, and the trim around the doors.

The only answer I see is treatment of the wood with a borate right after sawing.

[moodnacreek]

Brad, what I was saying is that lumber on sticks, 1 inch thick [the stick height] is not bothered in the drying piles. The 4x12"s etc. are on 2" [the stick height] and they get drilled and eggs layed inside. This is lumber waiting to be sold and can be here for years on sticks. we cannot buy borates in N.Y.  I think if I put all w.p. on 1" the problem will go away in the drying piles.  Bees drilling on lumber installed is another story [and another problem]. Thanks, Doug

[GeneWengert-WoodDoc]

I am not sure if borates will prevent the initial nfestation of Carpenter bees, as the insects are not eating the wood, unlike most other insects.  The carpenter bees are just making a home.

It would help to move the 4x12 or other large items into a warehouse once they are fairly dry.  In air drying or in a warehouse, keep the surrounding area free of wood debris and sawdust...such trashy material seems to attract bees and ambrosia beetles.

You can kill the bees and their eggs with a brief heat treatment, but that does not fix the tunnels that they have made!  Note that the bees will come back to the same spot every year to nest, so you do need to be somewhat active in control.

[Ljohnsaw]

Google carpenter bee traps.  Try making a few and see what you catch/kill.  Maybe decrease the immediate local population.

[nativewolf]

Probably not cost effective for you but porch screening will keep them off wood.  However, i'm guessing you are doing a pretty serious volume in WP and that would be a pain and expensive.  

I like your observation on reducing sticker height.  If they only have 1" it is too small a gap to perch, chew hole, exit, etc.  

Carpenter bee traps work, give those a shot.  Normally I don't mind a few carpenter bees drilling around, if they get crazy I just zap em.  

[Don P]

Borate doesn't work on them for the reason Gene mentioned, they are just excavating not ingesting. They are a pain, I've had them working right alongside me on a new house unsure of who was going to finish first. They seem to prefer up and out but behind the drip edge whether a house or pile.

[alanh]

They were drilling into the pine pavillion I built pretty heavy. My wife found a trick on the interweb that I tried and it actually worked. I milled a fresh pine  3x3 and cut it into 6" lengths, drilled 3/8 holes at an upward angle about 2" deep. I then placed the new "homes" at various places up in the truss. I plugged their existing holes and viola, the next day they were using the new holes. I suppose one could sit with a frosty beverage and wait for the to go in and then dispose of them.

[lxskllr]

I'm gonna have to try making a home for them. I get a couple every year in the front door frame on my house. Not a huge deal, but I'd prefer not having holes drilled around my door.

[moodnacreek]

Dr. Wengert, good post as always, glad you participate.  N.wolf, never thought of screen, problem is I would have to put it back each time the pile is disturbed.  Alanh, the decoy board trick I have herd of and want to try. On the traps, never had any luck at all.  Bet I had 200 c. bees in the trim on the house. For 2 summers I sprayed and caulked and replaced most of the w.p. with tamarack. This caused a population shift to the sawmill buildings and I fought them there and next came the lumber piles that had w. pine with 2" spaces or more.    Question: can a newly hatched bee drill out of a plugged tunnel?    I don't think they can.   Thanks everyone.

[alanh]

I don`t know if a hatched one can drill but I`ve watched a grown one back out of a newly plugged hole pushing an inch of wood filler..

[moodnacreek]

I don`t know if a hatched one can drill but I`ve watched a grown one back out of a newly plugged hole pushing an inch of wood filler..

Not surprised. I have seen video of them drilling treated y. pine down south, hard to believe. The males don't do any thing , it's the females and if you can stop the next hatch you only have to worry about pioneers. The customer that returned 4x12s worked at an A frame home that had w. pine framing. The exposed heavy rafter tails stuck out. The place got infested in spite of the exterminators and they actually tore the house down.

[Don P]

That was a bit extreme, a heavy coat of paint would have been stronger than them. In my 20's I thought treated would keep them out of my fascias, same result and reason, they aren't eating the treated. They are in the outermost 6x6 white pine purlins on our entry porch and then the woodpeckers followed that and have made a mess of them. It's about time to reroof it so I'll tear back and use locust this go round. They got into my 4/4 pine barn siding in places as well. The house siding is a dolly varden pattern with thin edges, too thin for a tunnel. The typical old farmhouse siding here is 5/8x6 poplar again too thin for a tunnel, they will hit the fascias but not the siding.

[moodnacreek]

Don P.  for some reason when the c. bees drill a thick, long soft pine beam, maybe only the first time, they go to the center and a long ways like 6' in a 12' 4x12. This customer cut 12' ers in half and found the eggs and there was only one entry hole. I told him to spray the hole heavy and fill the hole and then he told me the a frame story. They had gotten in through the rafter tails that sat on w.pine uprights. They must do this to escape the wood peckers. Each year you get more bees and sawdust if you cannot control it. It becomes structural damage in a case like this.