Building carpenter bee traps! They WORK!!!!

[@argotype8995]

Get a spray bottle. Fill it with water and dish washing liquid. Spray it up in the occupied holes. It will kill the bee in the hole or it will back out and die. Caulk the hole behind your work. Leave your traps out for any future bees looking for holes.

[@douglaslangham4417]

pump the existing holes full of liquid nails....it seals the holes and helps regain some strength to the wood

[@billybrown1979]

LIKE THE VIDEO. you will bee keeping up with the bees. be bless. and love. savannah tn.

[@rodneyledford7669]

As a pest service specialist I have treated for carpenter bees, also at my dads home the best thing thing do for carpenter bees is the puff some delta dust into there holes this prevents the larvae from coming out or surviving then you have end their vicious cycle of life.

[@TKCL]

Thank you

[@mikerichard-FOPA3]

Andrew, You’re right you may be to late, I hope the traps work for you. Have a great weekend I’ll catch ya Sunday at the live.

[@ryanzynda5114]

Awesome educational video. I am glad that they work for you guys.

[@TimStout71]

I have had great success with spraying WD-40 in the hole (with the smart straw). They immediately drop out of the hole and die within seconds. Then I either caulk or use wood filler in the holes.

[@TKCL]

That's been our technique since I was a kid, but I want to stop them before they ever drill the hole.

[@jimwolsiffer4397]

I built these before but used a 3/8" bit for the entrance holes. This matches the size they drill around here in NW Ohio. They work good.

[@TKCL]

Mine has been catching well.

[@shanepadgettii9784]

I need a few of them pal! While you are building some build me a few. Just kidding nice idea and I'll definitely be trying that next year!

[@tvideoman1]

Hi, this is the fourth video that I have watched on this subject. THANK YOU for EXPLAINING WHY the traps work!!!

[@TKCL]

FYI mine have been loading up this year, they really do work when put in the right location.

[@deborrahdutra5599]

Very interesting thank you

[@TKCL]

Thank you for watching

[@billwelch3421]

Sounds right. They have already started their nests. Maybe put the traps closer t established holes and maybe try to silicon in the already established holes.

[@Suzwebb1]

You want to leave dead ones in jar for awhile the thermones given off them draw others to trap. I have several traps and they are always half full by end of season for them. May and June is best time to trap them. Always wash and clean jars sometime in late July or August.

[@TKCL]

Thank you for the information

[@gergemall]

Thank you for your tutorials

[@TKCL]

Thank you for watching

[@elliepedigo3390]

I have 7 around the house and barn. They work great

[@collincolston8443]

We used to catch the ones with the white spot on their head and tie a long piece of sewing thread around their body and watch them fly around. Out in the country you had to make your own entertainment.

[@fricknjeep]

we did that john

[@johnjames8472]

I sprayed carpenter bee spray in existing hole then shoved steel wool in the holes and put the traps near the holes. Caught a lot of bees in a short time..

[@TKCL]

I might need to try that

[@rickgarza1041]

I’ve had some success with the traps. I have also added a small amounts of honey in the jars to help attract them. I also treat the pre-existing holes with Seven Dust by using a puffer bulb to inject the holes. My patio cover is made of cedar. I also hung a sticky glue trap that has holes drawn on it. That thing catch’s everything

[@TKCL]

Thank you for the tips

[@garyknepper4546]

I made these traps years ago and have caught hundred of carpenter bees. I live in Va. and leave mine out year around. They usually start working late Feb and all of March and April. I hang my traps on a rafter or joist that is exposed outside the roof and let the trap hang below the rafter. I think they see them better there than on the post. I put a little 1” strip on the back side of the trap then screw it to the rafter which lets it hang below a rafter for better visibility. I’ve emptied mine several times this spring and had 13 bees in it twice. Several other times I had 6 to 8 in it. They work but you definitely got yours out too late. The hole I drill for the bees to go in is 3/8”. Seems to work well for me and treated wood works just fine.

[@TKCL]

Mine have been working well since I started leaving dead bees in the trap.

[@garyknepper4546]

@@TKCL I know that helps. I don’t leave too many dead ones in it. As the others soon can’t tell what’s in there when they get piled up. Six or eight dead ones works good.

[@rongray4847]

Good learning episode. Very interesting on the carpenter bees. 🌞🇨🇦

[@cst270]

Secondary but still major problem is when the woodpeckers come and peck your boards to get the larvae out later. One of your pictures showed that damage in your video.

[@TKCL]

That's a very valid point, when you see the tunnels chiseled out that is exactly what's going on.

[@wehvacwehvac5612]

That is one of the oldest ways used in the Black Bayou!!... Widowmaker a man of God. "E Pluribus Unum" D'n Deus Le' Vult!!...

[@bltefft]

i couldn't find ant untreated 4x4's either, so i also used treated lumber. I cut mine 5 inches long. 1/2 inch for the side holes, one inch for the bottom. Mine caught carpenter bees,

[@johnjames8472]

I made several of these out of treated 4x4's and they worked great in the St. Louis area..

[@TKCL]

Good to know

[@altheamcnabb2829]

Likes the chicks and the builds. Just subscribed.

[@TKCL]

Thank you for the support

[@robertsoto2798]

Love the channel! Melvin Malone told me about it 👍

[@TKCL]

Welcome, thank you for watching.

[@skiptrace4034]

I used pt 4x4's then clad them in cedar. They love cedar.

[@TKCL]

Hmmmm 🤔🤔🤔

[@kennyheelas5882]

Yes they leave that out of the brochure for lindall cedar homes. So we made our traps with leftover 4x4 cedar posts ends.worked great in conjunction with spraying as well

[@skiptrace4034]

@@TKCL your holes also might be a little too close to the bottom. They might let light in and not fully "fool" the bees. Forget where I got my specs when I built mine but I drilled entry holes on all 4 sides centered top/bottom & side/side on essentially 6x6x6 " blocks

[@robertmalis4493]

Hey Andrew what you might be able to do to help deter them like in your barn is get a hold of some pyrethrum which is natural I believe it comes from a flower and any insect doesn’t like it you could spray all your purr and pieces of wood in your barn

[@TKCL]

I actually have some.

[@pampilgrim2274]

Hi, Andrew! You taught me something new today. Sounds like a good plan to catch the bees.

[@TKCL]

Learning myself, thanks for watching!

[@gergemall]

Thx ,same problem in my barn

[@tonygough8713]

I didn’t have any luck with the traps. I ended up spraying pesticides and then filled the bore holes with steel wool and that made them go away. Thanks again for all your good videos. Take care.

[@TKCL]

Thank you for watching

[@walkerone9833]

I was wondering if steel wool would work like the little mesh. Thanks!

[@workingmanrondoyle3287]

Hey Andrew, your a little late but better then never. I have the same problem here on Maryland's eastern shore. I built 9 of them for pickle jars a month ago. I've only caught one carpenter 😢. You could cut out one step in your build process. Screw the lid to the block first then drill the hole with a 3 point spade bit. The three point will clean cut the thin metal lid with easy. Keep up the great videos my brother 👍👍

[@kennyheelas5882]

We do catch many even after having sprayed..but yes 100% guaranteed to catch them.

[@denniswilson6426]

There’s carpenter bee trap lure comes in a liquid sold on Amazon there’s several things that you can do to improve your catch

[@TKCL]

Thanks

[@Big_Josh]

Fill the holes that you find that the bees chewed with silicone or glue.

[@jodywooldridge4275]

2nd . Good morning Andrew hope all is well. B safe n take care from Australia 🇦🇺 down under n say hi 2 Tiffany n Bullet

[@TKCL]

All is good, hope you are doing well.

[@JERRYMCELWAIN]

i was helping my cousin topping some trees ,and it had a carpenter bee nest in and i was stung

[@bushcampcrafter2165]

Thank you for sharing , we have a serious problem with them. We are backed up tp woods and the problem is non stop.

[@TKCL]

I still have a lot of work to do to keep them from destroying my structures.

[@jeremiahs45]

I use the rescue trapstik works on carpenter bees and wasps they work awesome. Buy a few every year

[@JimmyHensley36]

I agree with the last comment , I have several around my house and garage and leaving the ones dead in it seems to help . They were very bad here in my area several years ago but seems it has been decreasing in activity the last year or so .

[@TKCL]

I never knew about the dead ones, I see that's a popular suggestion to leave them.

[@williamdoberstein109]

hey guys! love your channel! our pergola was being eaten alive. we sprayede peppermint oil as a deterrent(doesn't last very long) we stuck steel wool n the existing holes

[@TKCL]

Thank you for watching! I need to plug the existing holes.

[@fricknjeep]

hi there we have lots of them here . i built the same traps almost , I'm cheep i just screw soda bottles in the bottom . i think leaving the old ones in the trap helps because of the sent . i catch a few . i think its more a mental thing . you can catch 100 a day with only billions to go . john

[@TKCL]

A lot of people have been telling me to leave dead ones in the trap like you, there must be something to it. Thanks

[@donaldshields2483]

Very interesting I live in Maine so we don’t have any carpenter bees up here that I know of but it’s very interested so good luck to you as it sounds looks like a very destructive so good luck God bless

[@TKCL]

Thank you for watching, God bless!

[@hrlee2381]

What a great idea for getting rid of the carpenter bees.

[@TKCL]

I'm afraid I'm just a few weeks late for trapping season.

[@katieallen3927]

I’ve read that spraying the wood with almond oil is a good deterrent. Hope your traps work.

[@jonathanrippetoe5569]

Add a small amount of sugar water to the jars and youd be amazed the difference

[@TKCL]

Thank you!

[@stephensmith6003]

Andrew 2 Qs ....1 can you fill the holes with a sawdust glue type filler or any type filler for strength 2 do you plan on exterminating the existing holes....

[@TKCL]

I am exterminating the holes with WD40, it works very well. No way to fill the holes for structural Integrity, as they Meander and weave all through the wood.

[@stephensmith6003]

You can not flexible tube somthing in the holes...something ridgid that can take the place of the missing wood? I really hate the fact you are having to do this a two year old pole barn...they had these barns that lasted 300 hundred years in places...I guess the wood was so old and tight ringed those carpenter bees could not get in...or its a non native species and should be removed....Andrew I hope you figure something out to repair the lumber. If I see anything I will let you know..

[@kennyheelas5882]

We use a tractor supply pull behind atv sprayer and spray with insecticide that's specifically used for carpenter bees but also other type bees and we live in a lindall cedar home and do this once a year for protection also have been traps like the ones you have put up..

[@TKCL]

I've heard bifen works well and that's what I spray around my structures. I didn't know there was a specific spray for carpenter bees. What's the name of it?

[@kennyheelas5882]

@@TKCL our local home Depot carries a product called AMDRO it is great as a foam spray can long distance spray from ground up to 20-25' ,but I'll look in the garage 1st thing tomorrow morning and see the exact brand we use with great success on our cedar home...stay tuned.sorry I'm not next to it at the moment..

[@charlesdavis8194]

Seal up the holes this summer next spring they will use the traps.

[@dancharron7098]

I am thinking what do they eat? Maybe add something as for how they rid of them? I personally think a bigger trap like a watter bottle and the wood needs a trapdoor. For flies for example just put white vinegar in a wide vase bottle and small opening top. Adding a few will clean your house of all of them. And even your shop. No black flies or any flying bugs is the results and all standing water to be drained

[@TKCL]

I'm not sure what they eat, but I know they love pollen like any other bee.

[@dancharron7098]

@@TKCL then try adding a bit of honey

[@trudeehanson3177]

you might need to go around and fill the holes you can see. Maybe foam or glue--I envision the spray foam with the straw applicator. You would be sealing them into or out of the existing homes.

[@TKCL]

Might be a good idea

[@jameskroeck3178]

In Pennsylvania I put them out in the beginning of May. I have 3 traps and I'm catching 10 a week. I agree with another comment - leave that caught bees in the jar for a while, it attracts others.

[@TKCL]

I'm definitely not going to toss anymore out.

[@dennishall8090]

Ditto, leave them in the jars to attract others. I agree you may be too late. Here near Raleigh NC they were out end of Feb thru end of April. Haven't seen any in May. Placed traps near where they were buzzing around and each trap has about 15 dead in them.

[@TKCL]

Yep that's what I'm thinking, I'm too late.

[@kennyheelas5882]

@@TKCL never to late with the traps they work great . you'll see a huge improvement..Sorry for commandeering all your comments just buzzing through and was curious as we deal with the same problem for so long and finally became victors and not victims..feeling great about it we dislike them like you dislike the armadillos 🤣🤣

[@Bendc1970A1]

I've seen premade traps at TSC but they are $20 each. I need to make some of these.

[@TKCL]

Very easy and fun project

[@mackjenkins7721]

Hello Andrew I have problems with those carpenter bees around my house too man. They are making hole in my shed and fence. I haven't set up a traps I just basically spray in the hole at night and killed them that way. Once I sprayed they don't come back. They start here around April or May and go all the way through summer. So I'm constantly looking for new spot when cutting the grass. You take it easy and I hope you have a good Memorial weekend.

[@TKCL]

Have a great weekend

[@RebekahTOUCHEDBYYARN]

I have never seen this before how to make a carpenter bee trap

[@TKCL]

Really? It's been around for a very long time. Thank you for watching

[@dougeldredge]

i silicone them in whenever i see them in a hole

[@filjohn81]

I live in southwest Louisiana about 30 miles from the gulf. My house is sided with painted cypress board and batten. These bees definitely do not care if the wood is painted or not. I have a trap I’ve had up for a couple years now and the jar is almost completely full of dead bees. Probably will be building some more to hang up because it’s a chore going around and plugging all the holes.

[@TKCL]

I feel for you, these little boogers can tear some wood up.

[@mikemiller5139]

I built 3 last week, same designb,haven't caught anything yet. I saw a video where the hung brown paper bags filled out round with paper to mimic a hornets next. They say the carpenter bees left the area.

[@TKCL]

I've been hearing that too, I think this design looks better and is more long term than the bag.

[@AKJammer1]

I’ve got bags hanging in my tiki huts. It’s supposed to look and smell like a paper wasps nest which are predators to both the bees and mud daubers. I don’t get mud daubers in my tiki huts anymore, but I still get a few bees down around the edges where they can’t smell the paper. Will try some of these traps, looks like a fun grandson project.

[@TheSoloAsylum]

You got to knock a dowel into their existing holes. Anything in there will die and your trap holes will be what's left.

[@mib20000]

Up here in NY I have never heard or seen carpenter bees BUT we do have carpenter ants that have eaten my porch up.

[@TKCL]

We have those too

[@xc75ranger]

We do have carpenter bees in NYC. You probably didn’t notice the difference between them and bumble bees

[@eaker8892]

plug your existing bee holes with wooden dowels and woodglue. this prevents them from reusing the holes and it also helps restore the damage

[@AE-pv9vc]

...bee holes...lol

[@KE5ZZO]

I wonder if you could leave a little gas (fuel) in bottom of bottle to kill the carpenter bee. Maybe have mix a little sugar in to combat fumes or spritz tunnel with perfume

[@TKCL]

I'm afraid the fumes would keep them from ever entering.

[@stevenlarson2634]

I made one and didn't get any bee's but then I read on line to put something sweet like soda or juice and put it back up dumped it in the hole and now I've caught a bunch

[@TKCL]

Nice! Thanks

[@JO-ly9tk]

i am going to make some of those my self, i have alot of those bees drilling my wood and to make it worst a wood pecker found them and now he is tearing up my railings trying to get at them and he is realling doing some damage . i got do something man, woody is really killing my wood. lol. thanks for the video.

[@TKCL]

That's the other side of the problem, the wood peckers destroy even more wood trying to get to the larva.

[@budman4605]

I've been having trouble with them here in Carolina so I made some of the traps just like that but no bee's would go in them until I killed a couple and put them in the trap and then they started to go in the trap and one day I was out and noticed one that just flew in and I watched it for a couple of minutes it flew right back up to the hole and came back out l couldn't believe it so i made a funnel out of a water bottle top and put it in the ring and put jar back and the i started catching more bee's so that's something to think about good luck

[@TKCL]

I've learned a lot since making this video. I actually built more this morning and I'm making another video with tips.

[@jperin001]

Nothing strikes fear into this homeowner's soul than carpenter bees. My first experience with them was at my uncle's home in Texas. Many years later at my home in northern Illinois, where I thought they were never an issue, I discovered sawdust all over my in my kids' playset. I found the hole and pumped some delta dust in it. The next day I saw several carpenter bees on the ground. They have quite the vicious grill on them. Anywho, days later when I was sure there was no more activity I stuffed aluminum foil into the hole/tunnel and sealed the entrance with a chunk of dowel. Haven't seem them since in about 4 years. I didn't know about traps for them. I like the idea of traps, even if they aren't 100% effective, as a sentry for detection before they start boring into my property, and perhaps not having to spray chemicals all over.

[@TKCL]

That's the key, get them before they can start destroying things.

[@jperin001]

@@TKCL It sounds like there still might be some hope for those traps even this late. Keep us posted. It makes me sick to see them destroying your hard work. They have a whole damn forest of trees to live in right next door. Why do they mess with your structures? Uggh!

[@kingwood4357]

Interesting, I had carpenter bees get into a nice 4 x 12 beam that was stained, I made a paste from Seven and put it in the holes. Worked some but not very good.

[@TKCL]

I'd be so mad if they ruined a piece of wood like that.

[@thomasduin351]

I would be tempted to go around the pole barn and fill in the already made holes to keep the not yet hatched carpenter bees from being hatched.

[@TKCL]

I have started spraying the holes and killing off the bees. Sealing might be a good idea

[@johndeno562]

I've heard if you take a brown paper bag and make it look like a hornets nest it will scare them away. I've not tried that yet.

[@TKCL]

I've heard that too

[@tonidavis1045]

We call them wood bees here in Southern Indiana, they sure can be a pest!!!!

[@TKCL]

Yes they can

[@carlluft8175]

Saturate cotton balls with raid or other wasp spray and stuff them in the holes, ware gloves

[@TKCL]

WD 40 is the ticket

[@jonathangreenawalt5724]

maybe fill the holes to force them to go to the jars.

[@dystopianparadise5916]

About 7 or 8 years ago all the bees disappeared from our little area which means I have not had to worry about them. I would ask your neighbors when/how they start protecting from carpenters, species differ. If you are just Now seeing them they may have just arrived, maybe, also if they are infesting one area ....

[@TKCL]

Sadly I've been seeing them for months, I just got around to building the traps.

[@digitaldan8223]

The traps most definitely work. We catch tons of carpenter bees on our front and back porches. I haven't noticed more in the early spring vs throughout the summer, but it makes sense. I think you may catch more if you don't empty the traps often. Mine seem to catch more when there are bees already in the bottle (my traps use clear plastic bottles). They sale some stuff on amazon that is supposed to attract the bees to the holes... i put that on 2 traps and those two traps haven't caught one bee in 5 years. Don't waste your money on that crap, it'll make your traps useless. Interesting story... I watched a bee go into a hole one evening and I happened to have a "knock-out" from an electrical box in my pocket, and a roll of duct tape handy. I taped the 1" round metal knock-out over the hole, and taped an X over it and laughed... "Ha! I got you, you S O B! (son of a bee, I know it's a family friendly channel) Two days later, I looked up at the X and there was a perfect pencil sized hole bore thru the metal knock-out and tape. I couldn't believe it. 🤯

[@TKCL]

Seriously? I couldn't imagine them chewing through that!

[@digitaldan8223]

@@TKCL Yep, I couldn't believe it either. This happened about 12 years ago, and I had a picture of it on my phone, but that was multiple phones ago. Try it the next time you see a bee going into the hole.

[@digitaldan8223]

@@jerrydemas2020 No, it was steel. Well, I'm pretty sure the metal control boxes that I was assembling machinery safety system control panels out of were steel. It was a complete knock-out too, not one that I "hole punched" in the panel to add connectors. I'm going to try it again with a quarter if I ever catch a bee going into a hole again. That would be a pretty awesome quarter if they can get thru it.

[@digitaldan8223]

@@jerrydemas2020 It's 100% true. Please give it a try.

[@futureddshanley]

Great Video! Use Taurus SC for quit kill in the old holes followed by "Delta dust" in the old holes a day or 2 later. Cover with Duct tape (what the HVAC guys use). Good luck! Hey, Where did you get the miter saw "Table" with wheels?

[@TKCL]

Got it from Harbor freight.

[@futureddshanley]

@@TKCL Perfect! Going Friday🍻

[@JERRYMCELWAIN]

i had them in my garage i stuffed a paper bag in there and they thought it was a hornets nest and they left and didn't have any more trouble with them. it worked

[@TKCL]

I've heard that does work

[@pesthunteroutdoors]

If the carpenter bees are already in the wood all is you need is a crack and crevice tool and some powdered boric acid and give each hole a puff of the powdered boric acid and let time do its job that's just a quick and lazy way to take care of it about once a month and then when the larvae leave the nest will crawl across it and die

[@TKCL]

WD40 works very well

[@jarredmitchell6164]

Need to fill the existing holes so they cant use them next year. even spray foam would work.

[@TKCL]

Good idea

[@gussoefje6430]

What I do with bees is take me some brake clean and a torch and light them up. It could work to kill the bees when they go in there home. Good video though

[@timgude1982]

Been stung or bit. It hurt. Ass holes.

[@sharonstosnider3773]

I bought a bee trap nothing for a week.I put honey in the bottom of my jar. I got a lot of bees😮

[@TKCL]

I've been catching a lot of them since leaving dead ones in the trap. It definitely attracts more.

[@fenceup07944931177]

Isn't there any treatment to put in the holes to kill the eggs or trap them in there. I'm thinking some kind of resin to both trap anything in there and also add strength to the wood. It's not a problem here in the UK. It's the price you pay for all that lovely sunshine.

[@TKCL]

WD40 works very well for neutralizing the holes.

[@Brennor21]

Question, would coating the exposed lumber with a mixture of used motor oil and diesel fuel deter carpenter bees and possibly other pests ??? As a bonus the coating would act as a wood preservative.

[@TKCL]

Very well may

[@OldCritters]

👍💞

[@RedRiverRedNeck309]

Hi Andrew Sherman Williams makes a product you can put in your paint for deterring bugs and wasp I know it works very well with spiders are we here in North Texas in the summertime we could eat up with spiders are around our soffit area and I know that I’ve used it before painting it really deters the spiders and the carpenter ants or wood ants and it’s my understanding it works on the carpenter bees as well to check on that next time you’re at Sherman Williams and see if they still have that product that you can buy to mix in your paint and see if I can buy some of it to mix in water and use it in a pump up sprayer and spray your pole barn with it and let it soak into the wood and see if that would work for you.

[@TKCL]

Thank you, I had another viewer suggest that too.

[@Mylovngheart]

Hows it working Andrew? We bought one for our porch, works great!

[@TKCL]

Still only two bees at the moment, I think they have made their homes for the season. I think I am too late

[@Mylovngheart]

@@TKCL 1st day, caught 3...total now is 6 w one or two still buzzing around.

[@TKCL]

I got another one this morning, no new holes drilled yet.

[@Mylovngheart]

Lol, great!

[@MrBp8888]

Carb cleaner enters hole after bee 😂

[@TKCL]

I'm a WD40 man myself 😉

[@larryfustini8151]

Can you spray the holes that they are already in and kill them and the larva?

[@TKCL]

Yes WD-40 cans with the long thin straw works very well at taking care of most insects.

[@radmilamiljanic5977]

Is there any sort of repellent to spray on your wood to deter them?

[@TKCL]

I hear Bifen and other pesticides might work.

[@kevinintheusa8984]

You should leave the dead bees in the traps. It draws other bees. Also, don't caulk or seal the already established holes because the bees will chew their way out making more holes. You would likely need to put poison in the existing holes to kill the bees in the nests then keep replacing the poison until you are sure they are all dead and all larvae are dead before sealing up their holes. Then your traps will be much more attractive to the bees. I had them on our hot tub enclosure on our back deck and it took me almost two years to get rid of them. Our neighbor's home was so bad they called in an exterminator and had to replace all kinds of shutters and some of their fascia boards. The exterminator did look at our problem and he recommended eliminating the existing nests first then plugging then putting out traps. So far, so good. No new holes in our enclosure so far and our traps pick up bees as they come around. BTW, our neighbor's home is painted and they ate through that stuff in many areas. The only thing that seems to stop them is hardy board siding.

[@TKCL]

Good ol WD40 works great for exterminating holes.

[@maximyarovoi857]

Try put some honey in jar)

[@GardenLadyDeb]

Can you purchase carpenter bee spray to spray into the holes you see in barn rafters to kill the eggs now ?

[@TKCL]

You sure can, it's called WD40! 🤣 It really does work

[@jp34604]

Interesting!, I found this ... Natural predators of carpenter bees. Woodpeckers eat carpenter bees, as do various species of birds, such as shrikes and bee-eaters as well as some mammals such as ratels. Other predators include large mantises and predatory flies, particularly large robber-flies of the family Asilidae.

[@TKCL]

That's the other side of the problem, the carpenter bees lay eggs that turn into larva. The wood pecker comes along and destroys the wood further to get the larva.

[@jp34604]

@@TKCL . Did you everr try good old fashion sticky fly paper all over the place? ASIN‎. ------- B09QJ2KTSP

[@TKCL]

No I've never used it for them

[@robbieduke944]

Put some honey 🍯 in a couple

[@ShaneZettelmier]

🤔🤔 on those mason jar lids you have enough of a rim to where you don’t need the interseal part of the lid to use three nails or three screws it will hold it. The Amish and Mennonite Farms around here all sell these made pretty much just like that. When we moved here we had one hanging up and it was full of them. Unfortunately my mom is being completely irrational and they’re eating her back porch but she keeps trying to find ways to get rid of them without hurting them. A lot of people put wood piles out in their yard to attract them. Kind of like a sacrificial wood pile but that just causes them to breed more and they’re incredibly destructive and annoying. I haven’t been able to hang out in my backyard for two months without being bombarded and attacked by them. They don’t sting, not the males anyway but it’s still incredibly annoying. But poisons and deterrence don’t seem to work very well. They say paint the heck out of everything because paint is the best defense against them getting into the wood, but they’ll get through it if they really want to. There are specific poisons that are good with it that are made in a foam so you can blow a little of it in there and it will foam up and travel through the cavities. Then you’re supposed to clean out the hole and fill it with wood putty and paint over it to keep them from coming back. But if you just paint over it they’ll eat their way out once they get big enough and still do damage inside as larva. They’re unbelievably annoying. A lot of people say WD-40 helps deter them he just sprayed in the hole but I seen them come back after using it so it’s not perfect. I think having the traps up is good and other deterrence like making a fake wasp or hornet nest. A lot of people take a brown paper bag and just stuff it with some thing and sort of shape it and keep it to where it looks like a hornets nest and apparently they don’t like hornets so they stay away but these traps definitely work. When we moved here it was full of them there were probably 15 in there but they’re all over this area, there are some woods nearby with a water source and lots of deadwood so I’m sure there will be more than enough. Painting all your boards under there would be a huge pain but WD-40 is supposed to get rid of them though it’s not completely effective but there might be some sort of sprayer oil you could get to deter them that you could spray on there so you have to climb up there and try and paint all of them. I would do it all. I’m looking at other houses again and everywhere I go I see these things destroying porches and decks and sheds. It’s good you’re getting the females, they’re the ones that do most of the damage plus they’re the ones that lay the eggs. Permethrin is the chemical most people use and you can buy an an aerosole can with a little tube on the end like a WD-40 can would have and you just wiggle that up into the hole and hit it and it sprays foam that should fill up the cavity that will kill them and kill the larva. Then they say to use wood putty and fill it up and paint in wood is definitely the best. It’s not that they can’t eat through it it’s just that they don’t see the paint on the surface as being wood so they don’t considered a potential source. I have seen a difference when we painted. Once we painted they just stopped coming back to those areas and went to our back deck which wasn’t painted it has unpainted rafters like yours does 😂 I think you should just make the traps and leave them out all the time. And then just a couple times a year got there and dump them out. You were talking about not caring about the traps, the way to do that is to fill their holes, spray the poison or WD-40 or some thing in there and then fill up the hole with some wood putty and they will try to go make another one or use these jars. There are also things that attract them I forget what it is but I think vinegar was one but people put stuff in the jars and it attracts them to those holes because of the smell as well so that might help attract them but filling their old holes with wood putty and painting over it would definitely help. I don’t know if the new WD-40 works but all WD-40 used to be Lynsay oil and is much cheaper to buy as linseed oil if you were going to try and spray or treat a lot of wood as a deterrent and Lynsay oil would be great for your wood also metal it’s a good toil and rust preventative, in fact the military used to use it to clean guns because it lubricate the metal but it also evaporates quite a bit so it doesn’t kick up on there but WD-40 isn’t made with Lindsay Doyle anymore so I don’t know if that’s related to the bees or not but it might be worth a try. Another thing is there a season is pretty short, I believe about 3 1/2 months but I’m not positive on that it might be a little shorter but that’s how I remembered it so they come they bore fillet a bunch of eggs and then I kind of day off but the larvae are inside growing and eating your wood and then the following year they pop out a new hole and the cycle starts all over but supposedly they only come for three months-ish at a time If that doesn’t work fire is always good. 😂

[@TKCL]

I'm with you on the WD-40, we have been spraying the holes with that since I was a kid. It works very well at taking care of the ones that are in the holes. I just want to make sure I take care of what I can before they drill holes. I'm all about taking care of bees that pollinate things, but I do not want to protect the ones that are eating down my structures.

[@ShaneZettelmier]

@@TKCL yup. And these things aren’t big pollinators they’re not flower eaters they’re just like flying giant termites 😂 I go out for a walk around here and there everywhere I’ll see 1000 of them just walking about half a mile from my house and 1000 on the way back. I don’t feel bad about getting rid of them at all but it’s not like you have much of a choice, the deterrence don’t get rid of them and they destroy wood so your choices are to sacrifice your structures or to try and kill them. Some people swear on the fake hornets nest as well and I’ve seen a lot of people put them by their gardens and sheds so I might try that as well but they’re pretty much gone for the season now and I probably won’t live here next year. We found a pretty cool house today but they just raise the price $30,000 and it’s a foreclosure but we’re going to offer the bank the original asking price but that will be a lot of work it’s not too old but it needs painting and carpet and they use cheap wood on top of all the deck so it’s a little warped and some of it kind of rotted out but they seem structurally strong so I’ll be replacing a bunch of that stuff and there’s no garage and I really don’t wanna buy another shed so somehow to figure out how to move in their store a bunch of stuff and pour a concrete pad. I’m really tempted to rent a skid steer and see if I can get somebody to just deliver gravel. I kind of want to get a 30 x 40 garage instead of a 20 x 20 but it’s a few thousand dollars out of the budget but if I run a skid steer and prep the ground and get the gravel out there to pour the pad on and build the frames myself selling more I just need to get the concrete poured and I have someone do the finishing. If it was a smaller shed I’d probably do the concrete myself but I’m gonna be driving on this and building a garage on top of it so I don’t wanna mess with it and screw it up because concrete really hard to remove. 😂😂 We’re going through the pricing I’m pretty sold on a metal garage so the carpenter Reeser going to be on their own with that. 😂😂 i’m not sure they’ll take the offer and it’s bank on so they may just have a fixed price on it but we’re gonna talk to the realtor and see if we can make a lower price offer, I’ve never bought a foreclosure so I have no idea but I think the house will work for us, it’s not perfect but it’s better than where we’re at and it’s all woods on one side and in the back and we have neighbors across the street and on one side but they’re farther away and they seem a lot quieter. The guy that lives across the street said it’s his uncle and he lives there alone, he’s got a quiet car and a boat and a little shed in back but does it seem like a really noisy person so I think it would be a lot better than this place but I want to build a real garage that’s gonna have a good resale value. The shed will help the house sell better but it’s not gonna add a ton of value like a garage would if we put in a garage will get that back when we sell the place. They’re saying that word prices and materials and building and construction stuff is all going down soon and we’re going into a recession which sucks for the country but it’s good if you need to buy something like a garage because when other people aren’t buying as much they make much better deals and for the past six months they’ve had more work than they can handle and they almost double the price of everything. I’ve already seen it drop. The metal garage stuff is already come down about 40% again so it might be doable but once we move my mom‘s gonna have to get over her not wanting to hurt the Carpinteria‘s because I’m gonna put traps up and I’m gonna poison the holes and paint over them. Lol here all the time for this season I didn’t do it because she didn’t want to but I’m not just gonna let them destroy everything. If we sell this place I might go out there and spray the holes when I repaint just to get the larva and try to save it for the future buyers.

[@Klondar456]

Skip the lid, just use the ring with 3 of the screws. The reason the trap works is they cannot fly straight up to get out.

[@Klondar456]

Also you need to fill the existing holes, they prefer used holes that smell like them. Leave the captured bees in the trap it will attract others.

[@TKCL]

I'm just learning that, I need to find the bees I tossed.

[@kennyheelas5882]

I believe the hole in the can lid should be larger than the holes to get in .I believe they crawl in the smaller holes and can't crawl out of the larger holes because they can't reach the wood in a larger diameter hole.From what I've gathered over the course of watching tutorials

[@dalenelson3707]

Have you looked into killing the larva in the existing holes to thin the population of future bees ?

[@TKCL]

I'm going back and filling those holes with WD-40, I know it kills the bees on contact.

[@CrystalParanormally]

Is there something you can use to attract them to the traps? We had wasp traps that called for putting a piece of raw meat at the bottom of the container and they went crazy getting at it. I know the color yellow attracts wasps but not sure about the bees.

[@TKCL]

Not sure to be honest

[@jacobkennedy2765]

@@TKCL Hey Andrew. If you leave the dead bees in the jar it attracts more to the trap. I believe they put off some sort of pheromone that attracts them. I'm currently waging war on some that have gotten to my garden shed. I've had some success with traps like the one you're using.

[@TKCL]

That's been a popular suggestion, I need to find the ones I tossed and put them back.

[@johnjames8472]

I don't think they sting, but they can bite..

[@TKCL]

According to the internet and from what my friend showed me, the females are capable of stinging.

[@johnjames8472]

I'll be darn. I didn't know the female could sting. I was emptying the jar and one was moving, so I picked it up. For several years I thought it bite me. I guess I actually got stung. Hurt like you know what. I know for a fact that if you spray Spectracide Carpenter Bee Spray in the hole it will kill them and put steel wool in the hole they don't use "that" hole again. Good luck!

[@TKCL]

WD40 works very well too