{"id":683,"date":"2017-03-25T12:54:41","date_gmt":"2017-03-25T12:54:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/?p=683"},"modified":"2023-08-26T12:29:28","modified_gmt":"2023-08-26T12:29:28","slug":"project-protect-your-cabin-from-carpenter-bees-and-wood-peckers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/project-protect-your-cabin-from-carpenter-bees-and-wood-peckers\/","title":{"rendered":"Project: Protect Your Cabin from Carpenter Bees and Wood Peckers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Carpenter Bees will seriously damage a log cabin. They drill tunnels and lay eggs. Which is bad enough. But then woodpeckers come to eat the larvae and make huge holes to get at them. Woodpeckers can actually hear bee larvae. The damaged wood attracts other pests. You cannot ignore Carpenter Bees.<\/p>\n

The first spring in the cabin, I noticed I had some large bumble bees around the porch.<\/p>\n

\"Carpenter<\/a>
Carpenter Bee*<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

They look like this. Bumblebees have hairs on their abdomen. Carpenter bees don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

They are large, black and yellow. They were just hovering around.<\/p>\n

These are Carpenter Bees and they are evil.<\/p>\n

They will eat your log cabin. They will eat any wood on any house, but if you live in a log cabin they are a real threat.<\/p>\n

They have very strong jaws and they dig 1\/2\u201d tunnels through your logs, or any other wood.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A new Carpenter Bee Tunnel and one that has been sealed from last year.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you see a little pile of sawdust, look up. It came from a hole.<\/p>\n

They will attack any wood, but they are more likely to attack wood that is unpainted. If it is stained it has some protection. They really go for the unstained wood.<\/p>\n

My log cabin is made out of red cedar. Red cedar is insect resistant. But carpenter bees aren\u2019t eating the wood. They are just digging through it to make a nest. So they don\u2019t care a single bit that it is red cedar. They really aren\u2019t even chewing the wood. They \u201cvibrate their bodies as they rasp their mandibles against hard wood.\u201d Wikipedia<\/p>\n

The Life of a Carpenter Bee<\/h2>\n

Carpenter Bees spend the winter inside an old nest tunnel. The males emerge around April or May. It\u2019s still March and I\u2019m already seeing them. (Males have a white spot. Females don\u2019t.)<\/p>\n

The males pick their nest spot and they protect it. They feed on nectar, like a bumble bee. You may see them hovering over the ground.<\/p>\n

In just a couple of weeks, they start making tunnels. Each tunnel goes about 1\/2\u201d in, then follows the grain of the wood to a 6\u201d to 12\u201d gallery.\u00a0 So, they aren\u2019t straight, they turn a corner. A single entrance hole can have a number of galleries off it. Like a cave complex in my logs.<\/p>\n

They collect pollen in the gallery, then the female deposits an egg and seals it off with a chewed wood plug to make a cell. She continues to do this until the gallery is full of six or seven little rooms full of bee eggs and pollen food. Then, the mother bee dies.<\/p>\n

A few days later, the evil new bees hatch and start to grow up, eating the pollen. They stay in the log for 5 to 7 weeks.<\/p>\n

In late autumn, new carpenter bees come out of the holes. They hang around, eating pollen and nectar, then climb back into the tunnel to sleep through the winter. They wake up in the spring to do it again.<\/p>\n

I was told they don\u2019t sting, but that is not true. Males can\u2019t sting, but females can. It\u2019s not likely, but they can.<\/p>\n

Preventing Carpenter Bees<\/h2>\n

Basically, you can\u2019t prevent carpenter bees<\/strong>. But you have to fight them.<\/p>\n

Insecticide only works for a couple of weeks, if.
\nThe bees don\u2019t eat the wood. They just dig through it. Insecticide just doesn\u2019t kill them.
\nThey are tunneling the whole house. You have to spray the whole house. Every couple of weeks. Which we have done.<\/p>\n

Carpenter Bees Recommended Treatment<\/h2>\n

This is the job that never ends, yes it goes on and on my friend.<\/p>\n

Kill the eggs in the tunnel. <\/strong><\/p>\n

You can\u2019t just poke a stick in the hole to kill the eggs, because the holes turn a corner.<\/p>\n

First<\/strong>, you have to treat the tunnel entrance hole with insecticide.<\/p>\n

This is the recommended list from the North Carolina Agricultural Chemicals Manual<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If you are going to do it yourself, be careful and follow all of the instructions.<\/p>\n

Next<\/strong>, seal the tunnel with aluminum foil or something until you can caulk it. This doesn\u2019t keep the baby bees from getting out. They can just tunnel out through the wood if you don\u2019t poison them. This is to deter the adult bees from living in the hole through the winter. The fewer adult bees that over winter, the fewer new bees in the spring.<\/p>\n

Other Options<\/h2>\n

We have tried all of these options. If anybody has a better idea, let us know.<\/p>\n

Stain Additive<\/h3>\n

There are stain additives that are supposed to repel bees for years. We think it kinda works. But not by itself.<\/p>\n

Tennis Racket<\/h3>\n

We whack them out of the air with a tennis racket. This is as effective as anything else. Every less bee is a lot less more bees.<\/p>\n

\"Project:<\/a>
Jack, Experienced Trained Carpenter Bee Dog<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bee Dogs<\/h3>\n

Whenever our dogs get a bee, we praise them. They spend their time on the alert, then leap and dive to bite the bees. We had to put chicken wire around the porch, because the little one sailed off the edge.<\/p>\n

\"Project:<\/a>
Geordie, Carpenter Bee Dog Trainee and Woodpecker Assassin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Every time the woodpeckers would come, I would run out of the house waving the tennis racket and turn on the hose to spray the bird. Which flew to a close by tree to wait me out. Then, one day, Geordie leaped in the air and got the woodpecker. I could not believe it. Just like he gets the bees.<\/p>\n

\"Project:<\/a>
Gigi, Enthusiast Carpenter Bee Dog<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Carpenter
Carpenter Bee Traps help control Carpenter Bees<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bee Traps<\/h3>\n

Last year we tried bee traps.
\nThe Carpenter Bee Trap is made out of wood. The ones we got have two different rings, so you can attach a canning jar or a water bottle.<\/p>\n

The hole looks to the carpenter bee like an entrance to one of their own tunnels. Since the bees will use their tunnels over, they fly in to check it out. But the holes are drilled at an angle to not let light in. When the bee tries to leave, he can only see the hole into the bottle. Game over.<\/p>\n

Leave the dead bees in the bottle. They release a pheromone that is supposed to attract more bees. Dead bees are attractive to other bees. There is more than one definition to attractive.<\/p>\n

\"Carpenter
Carpenter Bee Trap with Ball Canning Jar \u2013 It really works!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

You are supposed to put the bee traps on the corners and peak and wherever it is warm. They should be no more than 15 feet apart. We put up a dozen of them. I added the turquoise ball canning jars. Doesn\u2019t that look prettier? They still seem to work just as well.<\/p>\n

You still have to treat the other holes.<\/p>\n

* Photos from Wikimedia Commons.
\nPileated Woodpecker Joshlaymon
\nCarpenter bee Josve05a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Carpenter Bees will seriously damage a log cabin. They drill tunnels and lay eggs. Which is bad enough. But then woodpeckers come to eat the larvae and make huge holes to get at them. Woodpeckers can actually hear bee larvae. The damaged wood attracts other …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":695,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,8,1],"tags":[14],"class_list":["post-683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-log-cabin","category-projects","category-research","tag-log-cabin"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/featured_image-bees.jpg?fit=1200%2C632&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1156,"url":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/2017\/07\/meadowbrook-cabin-porch\/","url_meta":{"origin":683,"position":0},"title":"Meadowbrook Cabin Porch","author":"Carla","date":"July 12, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"As soon as I saw the porch at the cabin, I could see myself living there. It\u2019s the first thing I fell in love with. This is what the porch looked like when I first bought the cabin. My dad put in the rhododendron porch rails. You can read more\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Log Cabins"","block_context":{"text":"Log Cabins","link":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/category\/log-cabin\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Porch at Meadowbrook Cabin","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/featured_image-porch.jpg?fit=1200%2C632&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/featured_image-porch.jpg?fit=1200%2C632&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/featured_image-porch.jpg?fit=1200%2C632&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/featured_image-porch.jpg?fit=1200%2C632&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/featured_image-porch.jpg?fit=1200%2C632&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13786,"url":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/2024\/03\/finishing-the-modular-cabin-on-site-connection\/","url_meta":{"origin":683,"position":1},"title":"Finishing the Modular Cabin On-site Connection","author":"Carla","date":"March 26, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The carpenter finished the area where the cabin is attached to the foundation. This is the part of the process I have had the most questions about, so I'm telling you everything I've seen. The cabin is attached to the foundation and has passed another inspection, so we can move\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "New Modular Cabin"","block_context":{"text":"New Modular Cabin","link":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/category\/new-cottage\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/featured-trim_landings.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/featured-trim_landings.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/featured-trim_landings.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/featured-trim_landings.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13533,"url":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/2024\/02\/sill-plate-how-the-modular-home-attaches-to-the-foundation\/","url_meta":{"origin":683,"position":2},"title":"Sill Plate: How the Modular Home Attaches to the Foundation","author":"Carla","date":"February 16, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"How do you connect a modular home to the foundation? The foundation connects to a sill plate with anchor bolts. Then the cabin will attach to the sill plate. There is a seal between the block and the wood to keep moisture from wicking through. The block guys cemented in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "New Modular Cabin"","block_context":{"text":"New Modular Cabin","link":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/category\/new-cottage\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/featured-sill.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/featured-sill.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/featured-sill.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/featured-sill.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14012,"url":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/2024\/05\/landings\/","url_meta":{"origin":683,"position":3},"title":"Landings and Steps","author":"Carla","date":"May 2, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"We plan to have a real front porch, but the project has cost more than we expected, so for now we just have the minimum steps and landings we need to get a CO. We can add a porch later. The temporary landings are so well made! The minimum size\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "New Modular Cabin"","block_context":{"text":"New Modular Cabin","link":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/category\/new-cottage\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/featured-landings.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/featured-landings.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/featured-landings.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/featured-landings.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":231,"url":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/project-turning-the-attic-into-a-playroom\/","url_meta":{"origin":683,"position":4},"title":"Project: Turning the Attic into a Playroom","author":"Carla","date":"March 13, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"When I bought the log cabin, it had a completely unfinished crawlspace attic. Just insulation and stuff the previous owners had abandoned laying over the roof trusses. There was access from the ceiling in the second bedroom. Roof trusses or roof rafters are not the same as floor joists, the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Log Cabins"","block_context":{"text":"Log Cabins","link":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/category\/log-cabin\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Project: Turning the Attic into a Playroom","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/featured_image-attic.jpg?fit=1200%2C632&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/featured_image-attic.jpg?fit=1200%2C632&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/featured_image-attic.jpg?fit=1200%2C632&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/featured_image-attic.jpg?fit=1200%2C632&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/featured_image-attic.jpg?fit=1200%2C632&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13782,"url":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/2024\/03\/attached-the-cabin-to-the-sill-plate\/","url_meta":{"origin":683,"position":5},"title":"Attaching the Modular Cabin to the Foundation","author":"Carla","date":"March 15, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"After the cabin was placed by the crane, a carpenter showed up to attach the cabin to the sill plate on the block foundation. Sill Plate : How the Modular Home Attaches to the Foundation > This part of the plan shows the Typical Wall Section On-site Connections. The crane\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "New Modular Cabin"","block_context":{"text":"New Modular Cabin","link":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/category\/new-cottage\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/featured-sill_plate-rails.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/featured-sill_plate-rails.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/featured-sill_plate-rails.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/featured-sill_plate-rails.jpg?fit=810%2C431&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=683"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12094,"href":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683\/revisions\/12094"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/695"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.projectsmallhouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}