Carpenter BEES , HELP

[giasmom]

I have just finished building my new coop, & already the BEES are drilling holes in the wood !!! What can I do to prevert this ? No chicks in the coop yet ....... HELP

 

[patyrdz]

We have them every year on our carport and we can't figure out how to get rid of them! My husband said we need to treat the wood. I painted it with some paint I got from a friend, but I guess it is not the same! We hit them with a tennis racket, great fun for the chickens! But they are very annoying bees! My friend has log cabin type siding on her house and she said her house is full of those bees!UGH!!

 

[ruby]

My husband uses a badminton racket walks around our house they are currently eating. He calls it Bubble Bee Badminton. He's petty good at it, the chickens eat the downed bees. yum

They will bite if you step on them, so I'm careful around them.

 

[patyrdz]

Quote:
Uh oh, I did not know they bite!

 

[giasmom]

Thanks for the help guys But seriously , they are everywhere. My father says only the ones with the white dots on their faces bite... Will they hurt my chicks when I get them ? Can I spray some kind of bug stuff on the wood ?

 

[das fisch]

the wood needs to be treated to prevent them from boring holes.
old "wive's tales" say painted or similar will keep them back, but as you've seen it's not true.
I'd be weary of just spraying randomly as pesticides can have heavy impacts on smaller animals (especially if in contact with water and such).
contact a local pest control company, they will hopefully have an educated solution for you. Every pesticide is labeled for specific insects, and these labels MUST be followed exactly, or their application is a serious offense. there are many specifications about spraying around feed, water sources, firewood, etc.
so be safe and have someone who knows take care of them. also almost all bees will defend themselves in some way or another, and for someone with allergies this can be unsafe, if not deadly, so be careful.

on a side note, they are fun target practice with a low power bb gun

 

[Ridgerunner]

You could get some advice from your county extension agent.

 

[flakey chick]

Stuffing their holes with steel wool will also help.

 

[spook]

I can't believe this- I never knew that bee's could boar holes in wood!!! Amazing at the different climates offer for insects.

With some wasps you can put out chewing tobacco and it does something besides mouth cancer! LOL

How about rotenone (I'm spelling it wrong I'm sure) an organic "pesticide" that you can use as a dust or add it to water. Once the sun hits it, the poison is canceled. But if its soaked into problem areas (using proper gear, covered body/eyes and mouth)

We use it in the garden for that reason, spray at night after chickens are in, dew is heavy and dust.

This is an interesting subject!

 

[das fisch]

Just be careful with DIY pest control applications.
A "professional" applicator here in southern NH once was spraying for ants in a seafood restaurant, a un-noticable amount of solution drifted into a lobster tank, and guess what... tens of thousands of dollars of lobster dead in a very short time! all I ask is that you follow the labels.