Cooperative Living October 2015 - 6

MAILBAG
CARPENTER BEES REQUIRE
CHECKING, PERSISTENCE
Regarding Brenda Ferguson's September
MAILBAG letter about carpenter bees, it
requires a lot of checking and persistence to
get rid of them. Check your house for all
entry points. This can be a very small opening,
and it must be sealed and sprayed.
In the spring when the temperature is
warm and the insects are flying, bomb the
attic space. This gets rid of a lot of other
things.
Carpenter bees bore a perfect ¼-inch
hole. They love the facial board near the
roof, and normally enter from the back side.
They will make similar holes in decking
and other similar boards. The bees drill into
the board, and then make a turn to the right
or left to continue a tunnel. There the eggs
are laid. If possible, spray these holes, and
then seal them with putty or similar material.
I managed to attach a small tube to a
spray can (Hornet Spray), inserted it into
the hole and gave it a good shot. Carpenter
bees normally do not sting, so you can
work near them. You will know the location
of these holes due to stain on the wall of the
house slightly below the hole.
If the bees are entering at an unknown
location, then you need to continue checking
and observing the flight of the bees in
the spring. Good luck.
Norman Blahuta, Arlington
WHATZIT?
Each issue, we will
pub lish a photo of a familiar
but unidentified object.
You are invited to make
your best guess and send it
in writing with your name,
address, and phone number
to WHATZIT?, c/o Cooperat -
ive Living, P.O. Box 2340,
Glen Allen, VA 230582340;
or guess online at
www.co-opliving.com
under " Contests. " Dead -
line for entries is Oct. 20
All correct entries will be
put into a drawing and a
winner announced in the
Jan. 2016 issue. The winner
will re ceive a check
for $25. 
4
A COUPLE OF BEE
SOLUTIONS
In the September issue of
Cooperative Living, Brenda
Ferguson of Concord asked
what she could do about
carpenter bees. Push a
mothball into each hole to
deter the bees from coming
back. It also traps the bee larvae in
the hole and prevents them from escaping.
I have seen plans for homemade carpenter
bee traps. I haven't tried one yet
but the theory seems workable. There are
several plans found online that seem easy
enough to build.
NOTE
EMAIL
ADDRESS
Stuart Sutphin, Chatham
SPRAYS AND TRAPS WORK WELL
In response to Ms. Ferguson's request
for help with carpenter bees (September
2015), I too have been inundated with bee
colonies. After some Internet research, I
found the recommendation to spray an
insecticide into the bee hole (preferably a
powder like Sevin) and then plug the hole
with steel wool, as they can't burrow
through that.
If an insecticide is not used, the bees
will only burrow another route to get out
of the nest. The insecticide should be
transferred by the bees to their larvae to
help in killing the offspring.
WRITE US!
We want to hear from you - comments, opinions, suggestions.
Your letter must be signed and legible. We reserve the right
to edit for grammar, style and length, with a 250-word
maximum for acceptance. Write: MAILBAG, P.O. Box
2340, Glen Allen, VA 23058-2340; or email
mailbag@co-opliving.com. Please include your name
and city/town of residence, with MAILBAG as the subject.
Mentioning my problem to a friend, his
Internet research found plans for constructing
a carpenter bee trap.
Dimensions for building a carpenter bee
trap: 4 inches by 4 inches by 9 inches. Drill
a ½-inch hole at an upward angle on each
side approximately 2 inches from the top.
At the bottom " floor, " drill a hole large
enough to accept the plastic top from a
water or soda bottle. Drill a ½-inch hole in
the center of the plastic cap and insert the
cap into the bottom floor. Screw the bottle
into the cap and hang the trap in the area of
the bee infestation. No need to empty the
bottle each time you score a bee. They will
continue being attracted to the " light " coming
from the hole and will be trapped inside
the bottle. Good hunting!!
Pete Check, Moneta
TRY YOUTUBE FOR BEE TRAP
GUIDANCE
In response
to Brenda
Ferguson's
request for help
with carpenter
bees in the Sept.
2015 issue of
Cooperative
Living, I suggest
going to
YouTube and
finding a plan to
construct a carpenter
bee trap.
It works for me.
 DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS IS?
The August 2015
WHATZIT? (r)
was a paper
towel. Reader
Danielle Evers (l)
of Grottoes was our $25 winner.
Congratu lations, Danielle!
Larry Abernathy, Disputanta
PAINTED EAVES DISCOURAGE
CARPENTER BEES
The easiest way to get rid of carpenter
bees is to paint your eaves. I had the problem
for years. Then I painted my garage.
First I filled in the holes, then painted the
eaves. I haven't had any holes for the past
three years.
The paint I used was Home Depot's exteCooperative
Living/October 2015
http://www.co-opliving.com
Cooperative Living October 2015

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