Carpenter Bees

[K-12 Chickens]

Is there any way to get rid of them? They're drilling holes in a wooden playset (the chickens like to dust bathe under it) and are becoming more numerous. Would they be any danger to my hens(and me!)?

 

[DivaChick]

Yes, we all know how pesky carpenter bees can be!
But fortunately, carpenters dont have stingers, they just dive bomb you if you are messing around their holes-
The best way to keep them at bay is to spray WD-30 into the hole, push foil back into the hole, and then caulk it. we live in a log cabin on 6 acres and carpenter bees are our homes worst enemy.
There is also stain additive you can add to stain to repel them.
Hope this helps! but no worries, they wont harm you/ your kids/ or your chickens

 

[canesisters]

Seems like they'd be easy snacks for the hens.

 

[sourland]

Seems like they'd be easy snacks for the hens.

NOT! They are quick little buggers. I use a tennis racket and go on daily carpenter bee patrol. One year they invaded the fascia on my pigeon loft. That winter the woodpeckers went searching for their grubs and destroyed much of the fascia.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

They are not usually aggressive, but the females DO have stingers, and if you get stung, it is supposed to be quite painful. Wasp spray didn't work when I tried it, but the spray was old, so that may have been why it had no affect. Caulking up their holes should help.

 

[pete123]

google "brians bee butter" The only thing that i find works with carpender bees. Just dont let the hens eat the dead ones

 

[CSWolffe]

Unless they are doing specific property damage, i would leave them alone. Not only am i an avid back yard chickener, I keep bees as well, which has lead me to lean just how much trouble native pollenators are in. Without them, almost all of our native plants will perish. Bumblebees, carpenter bees, mason bees: all have an important roll to play int he ecosystem. So unless they are destroying part of your home, I say leave them alone. I deliberately put out posts of old wood, just to attract carpenter bees.

 

[Susan Alice]

These work very well. I sand the outside wood every year to freshen the wood scent. All of the bees were trapped by the end of the day - not one left buzzing around.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/3953348156...WcgalJeWREG&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=SMS

 

[SamLockwood]

Unless your kids are using the playset (and thus the structural damage could result in an injured child) I'd leave them alone.

Every year they try to infest the frames of my decks, and this year they've been nosing around the coops and run. Any other wood around the property I leave them alone.

Cotton balls or gun-cleaning patches soaked in some sort of solvent or WD-40 work the best in my experience (I like gun-cleaning solvent). If the fumes don't kill them they'll die trying to chew out the patch (they get tangled in the cotton fibers). A word of advice: don't do this anywhere a chicken can conceivably reach as they'll get sick ingesting the patch.

 

[5Australorpasaures]

These work very well. I sand the outside wood every year to freshen the wood scent. All of the bees were trapped by the end of the day - not one left buzzing around.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/3953348156...WcgalJeWREG&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=SMSView attachment 3801346

Ours are working already. Filled one pint half way and one 3/4 last year and off to another good year along with bee badminton. Made 2 of these up in a half hour. Have seen them for as much as $26.00.