Aggressive bees on my deck every year

[Anonymous]

Carpenter Bees. They burrow into damp wood and lay eggs there. You said they hang out near your wooden deck? Plug their burrows with some caulk.

[Anonymous]

Carpenter bees require a certain kind of poison. Our first year in this house, we had nine nests in the deck. The good news is that each nest seems to contain one bee. The bad news is that every time I’d whack one of them (I couldn’t even go on my deck), another would appear. The exterminator came out, showed me what to look for (perfectly round holes, dust mounds under where they’ve made nests), and then sprayed a dust into the holes. It’s different from a typical wasp spray. You can also buy an electrified tennis racquet to stun them. It won’t kill them, but they’ll go away for a while.

[Anonymous]

I’m glad I found this thread! I was on our back deck with my DD and her water table for the first time this spring, and we also have a couple of these bees out there. They behave just like this and I hate them. But now I know what they are and that they are dangerous, I can chill out about it. Our deck is all wood so they must just have a little hideout somewhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bumble Bees! I call them sky Sky Pandas. They are big and noisy and slow. They love to dive bomb at you. But they won’t sting you. They do have stingers, but they very, very rarely sting. I love them!

+1000 I LOVE carpenter bees! They are just curious fuzzy and non-lethal. They love to hangout and just watch you. Don't kill them, they will move on in a month or so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Call an exterminator.

How much is a reasonable & estimated quite? Any pest exterminator?

You can call any exterminator but some might refer you to a bee specialist, especially if they need to use a ladder to get to them (it takes a certain comfort level with bees to be up on a ladder with them flying in your face). Quotes vary. We had one quote of over $200 but went with a bee specialist referred by our neighborhood listserve and he took care of all the holes for $75.

[Anonymous]

I love to sit and watch the male carpenter bees guard the nest. They are kind of hilarious chasing the other fliers away. They chase a lot of different king of bugs away, so they are actually doing you a favor that way too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bumble Bees! I call them sky Sky Pandas. They are big and noisy and slow. They love to dive bomb at you. But they won’t sting you. They do have stingers, but they very, very rarely sting. I love them!

+1000 I LOVE carpenter bees! They are just curious fuzzy and non-lethal. They love to hangout and just watch you. Don't kill them, they will move on in a month or so.

They’re not “curious” they are furious but they can’t do anything about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love to sit and watch the male carpenter bees guard the nest. They are kind of hilarious chasing the other fliers away. They chase a lot of different king of bugs away, so they are actually doing you a favor that way too.

They also sometimes fight to the death which is really interesting. They go at each other and I sometimes find carcasses on the deck.

[Anonymous]

I love watching my dogs interact with them. They try to jump up and catch them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They can't sting, you don't have enough wood to really do any damage. They're annoying but they'll stop being so aggressive after the early part of the season. Just ignore.

Aren’t plastic decks supported by wood framing? Carpenter bees will certainly weaken wood supporting members over time. How do you judge when they’ve removed enough material to jeopardize your safety?

[Anonymous]

We’ve dealt with carpenter bees for years. I highly recommend these traps: https://www.beesnthings.com/

[Anonymous]

I killed a bunch with a tennis racket. But there’s more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am about to put a tennis racket outside. I'm trying to be cool b/c I don't like to kill pollinators, but the one that is guarding one set of stairs to our deck is a real a-hole.

LOL. This is what we do. These little buggers are pretty tough - one swat with a racquet usually isn't enough though.
And, they may not sting, but they are destructive. They bore holes in wood to lay eggs. You can stuff the holes with steel wool to keep them from coming back.

We also use carpenter bee traps. They are effective. Carpenter bees are ubiquitous where I live.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am about to put a tennis racket outside. I'm trying to be cool b/c I don't like to kill pollinators, but the one that is guarding one set of stairs to our deck is a real a-hole.

LOL. This is what we do. These little buggers are pretty tough - one swat with a racquet usually isn't enough though.
And, they may not sting, but they are destructive. They bore holes in wood to lay eggs. You can stuff the holes with steel wool to keep them from coming back.

We also use carpenter bee traps. They are effective. Carpenter bees are ubiquitous where I live.

Does this trap attract more NEW or old existing carpenter bees? It would be terrible that more new bees are attracted to this house.

And one question, it is mentioned that carpenter bees come in solo. So, if there is a hole in my house wood area, 1 female carpenter bee should be inside(and lay 1 egg or multiple eggs), and 1 male carpenter bee should be around buzzing? If I see 2 male carpenter bees, there must be 2 wood holes or could be 1 father bee/1 son bee? And, those egg(s) hatch over winter, and fly away or stay in that hole. That's why I have carpenter bees guarding my deck door every year in the spring....? I am just wondering their life cycle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am about to put a tennis racket outside. I'm trying to be cool b/c I don't like to kill pollinators, but the one that is guarding one set of stairs to our deck is a real a-hole.

LOL. This is what we do. These little buggers are pretty tough - one swat with a racquet usually isn't enough though.
And, they may not sting, but they are destructive. They bore holes in wood to lay eggs. You can stuff the holes with steel wool to keep them from coming back.

We also use carpenter bee traps. They are effective. Carpenter bees are ubiquitous where I live.

Does this trap attract more NEW or old existing carpenter bees? It would be terrible that more new bees are attracted to this house.

And one question, it is mentioned that carpenter bees come in solo. So, if there is a hole in my house wood area, 1 female carpenter bee should be inside(and lay 1 egg or multiple eggs), and 1 male carpenter bee should be around buzzing? If I see 2 male carpenter bees, there must be 2 wood holes or could be 1 father bee/1 son bee? And, those egg(s) hatch over winter, and fly away or stay in that hole. That's why I have carpenter bees guarding my deck door every year in the spring....? I am just wondering their life cycle.

I don't know the answer to many of your questions, but I am pretty sure that when the eggs are laid, there are hundreds of eggs.
The trap attracts adult carpenter bees. Once one bee gets in, it cannot get out and I have been told the odor of the dead bee attracts others.
Read more about carpenter bees and how destructive they can be:

https://newswire.caes.uga.edu/story.html?storyid=5136&story=Carpenter-bee-damage