Welcome to: Log Finish Carpenter Bee Solutions
SOLVING THE PROBLEM OF CARPENTER BEES
by Bill Frykberg
President LogFinish.com
Are carpenter bees drilling into the fascia, soffet and beams of your log home? If they are, here’s how to effectively deal with the problem.
Acquire the following items:
- Can of WD 40
- Roll of Aluminum Foil
- Tube of Log Home Caulk
Put the red applicator straw on the WD 40. Stick the red applicator straw as far as you can into each carpenter bee hole and Spray WD 40 into the hole until it bubbles out. This will coat any existing carpenter bee larvae so they will die. In some cases you will spray into a hole with a real carpenter bee in residence. The bee will usually stumble out of the hole as if it is drunk. In this state the bee is easy to safely kill.
Once the hole has been treated with WD 40,tear off a small piece of aluminum foil and roll it into a ball, put it on the tip of a screwdriver and stuff it into the carpenter bee hole. Caulk each hole with a log home caulk such as Energy Seal or Super Caulk.
Follow the above procedure with every hole that the carpenter bees have drilled into your home.
Carpenter bees, once they get started on your home, can do enormous amounts of damage tunneling through your wood. Further damage can occurs when the woodpeckers come calling to harvest the bee larvae.
Carpenter bees are like salmon, they return to the same place where they were born, and continue to grow the bee population and generate increasing damage to your log home each year . Following the procedures outlined above will make a major dent in your carpenter bee population in just one season.
STAIN ADDITIVES
There are also several stain additives that will help with Carpenter Bees. The best of the bunch is NBS 30. This is an insect repellent stain and paint additive. Add just a pint to a 5 gallon pail of log home finish and apply then apply the finish to your home. NBS 30 is a citronella based product and the citronella odor will run off carpenter bees as well as lady bugs. Our field results indicate that NBS 30 should be added to log home finish each time that your home is stained but only in the final coat of stain. The citronella odor will be noticeable to you for several weeks. A single application will normally run off the Carpenter Bees for several years. NBS 30 works best in oil based products such as Woodguard and Sikkens Cetol Log and Siding. The manufacturers of Lifeline Ultra 2 and Lifeline Advance specifically recommend not to use NBS 30 as it is not compatible with the Lifeline Advance and can cuase surface irregularities. For water based finishes it is best to use Bug Juice. This is a deltamethryn based insecticide. Add a 8 oz bottle to a 5 Gallon Bucket of Lifeline Advance. It mixes well with the water based finish. When Carpenter Bees walk on the treated finish the deltamethryn gets into the mucous membranes on the bees legs and kills them in 1-3 hours. The only limit to this product is when your home gets covered with dirt and pollen. In this situation the carpenter bees are walking on dirt and never contact the insecticide. To insure effectivness of Bug Juice wash your home once a year with Log Wash.
SPRAY ON INSECTICIDE
If you are not planning to stain your home and have a lot of Carpenter Bee activity, another way to try getting rid of them by spraying your wood with Beegone™. Beegone is a pyrethrum based insecticide. An 8 ounce bottle mixes with 5 gallons of water and should be sprayed on your home with a backpack sprayer such as a Solo 475. Spray the product where you see Carpenter Bee activity. This product will literally drop the Carpenter Bees to the ground. Read the label and follow the directions carefully. As the product will wash off in the rain you will probably need to retreat monthly during the carpenter bee season. Beegone is available for sale in all states with the exception of New York where its use is limited to pest control experts.
NBS-30, Bug Juice,
and the Beegone™ are all available at www.Logfinish.com.
™ BEE Gone is a trademark of ISK Americas Incorporated
