Re: Bees, part II

Get them out and fill the holes with that foam crack filler you can get at
the big boxes.


> [Original Message]
> From: <Aplfgcnys@aol.com>
> To: <gardenchat@hort.net>
> Date: 6/9/2006 10:04:21 PM
> Subject: Re: [CHAT] Bees, part II
>
> Chris, we have had carpenter bees boring holes in our garage door
> for years.  They seem to come back to the same place each year.
> Several years ago we had our old wooden garage doors replaced 
> with new ones of some sort of composite.  The next spring we saw
> the bees hanging around the garage doors, looking for their old 
> holes.  They finally moved on to the 2-by-4 that supports the hanging
> plants in my breezeway, and have drilled a couple of holes in it.
> They don't seem to drill into the shingle siding of the house - like a 
> solid piece of wood like a 2-by-4 or larger.  In all the years we have
> been here - since 1970 - they don't seen to have increased, but have
> been a steady presence.  Not lots of holes, but they come back year
> after year to the same one.
> Good luck.
> Auralie
>
> In a message dated 06/09/2006 8:27:48 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
> lindsey@mallorn.com writes:
> Tonight I breathed a slight sigh of relief as I finally discovered what's
> been eating my deck. 
>
> Since the discovery of small piles of sawdust and large holes seemingly
> drilled into the wood decking last year, I wondered if I had purchased
> cedar infested with Asian longhorned beetles, but calls and emails to
> the state extension office went unanswered.  I figured the damage was
> already done, so I dropped it and went on with my life.
>
> Two days ago I noticed another pile of sawdust by some of my plant 
> shelving.  I knew that the wood couldn't have been infested before since
> this was pressure-treated AC2 lumber, so whatever was eating had to
> be doing it from the outside in.
>
> Today I struck paydirt.  A treated 2x4x8 leaning against the house 
> had a large pile of sawdust at the base, so I picked up the board 
> and examined it.  Sure enough, there was a 1/4" hole, neatly 'drilled',
> just like I'd seen last year.  I put my ear against it and could hear
> movement.
>
> I quickly ran inside to retrieve a glass jar and a glass of water.  I
> slowly poured water into the hole until it was full, let it sit for
> a minute, then turned the board sideways to drain it.  I repeated this
> again and, sure enough, my nemesis emerged!
>
> I quickly put my glass jar over the hole just in time to see another 
> one come out.  What were they?  What was eating me out of house and 
> home?
>
> They looked just like bumblebees.  That's right.  Fuzzy, black and
> yellow-striped bees that we all like to see pollinating our plants.
> I checked on Google and it looks like there's also a 'carpenter bee'
> that will eat wood, and it sounds like my bare cedar deck is a prime
> target.
>
>    http://www.uky.edu/Ag/Entomology/entfacts/struct/ef611.htm
>
> Now I have to figure out what to do with them.  I don't want to kill them
> and I don't want to use insecticides, but I also don't want my deck 
> collapsing beneath my feet.
>
> Chris
>
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