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carpenter/boring bee/ woodpecker damage
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Buck on -
Bill,
We completed our log home this year. It will be our retirement home. We go to stay there on weekends. In early Spring, the carpenter bees were everywhere. We notice the holes in the wood in several places. We began our battle to fight the bees at this early stage. We killed all we could and as far as the holes we sprayed WD-40 in the holes and killed the bee in there. I went as far as I could go with the WD-40 and then plugged the hole with wood filler. The stain we used had the stuff in it to help deter the bees but it didn't prevent them all from getting in our wood. Now that we have had our first experience with the bees, I will be ready this Spring for round two.
Buck
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Permalink Reply by Bill Mathews on -
Hello Buck,
Thanks for the reply and congratulations on completion of retirement home! I've been doing a lot of research and have not found any chemicals that really work long-term. One thing that I've found in my research that seems to help and really make sense are "Carpenter Bee Chamber", you can incorporate into your Soffit and or Fascia. If you have Soffit vents it's easy enough to remove two on each side and replace with a modified Carpenter Bee Chamber. You can Google "Carpenter Bee Chamber" to find out more. To me less chemicals are always better. I don't have any affiliation to the product, just sharing info.
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Permalink Reply by Donald Parsons on -
Bill - I've been in my log home for 18 years now in South Carolina. I've got eastern white pine logs and have found a few items over the years that have helped me a lot. The first is a web page, www.e-bug.net which sells a carpenter bee kit if you have existing holes/issues with your log home or other wood structures on your home (porch/deck/railing,fascia, etc). The kit includes a duster and the powder insecticide to dust existing holes with. Also included is a topical solution to put over the hole after it has been plugged. The other is a product I mixed in to my exterior wood finish called NBS-30. It's active ingredient is citronella which is very environmentally friendly and "green". It not only keeps away the carpenter bees but also spiders, flies, ladybugs and about any other insect that may crawl or fly on/near your log wall. By keeping the carpenter bees and other insects out of the wood, the wood pecker problem will go away - since bugs and their larva is what they are looking for. Hope this helps....Donald
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Permalink Reply by Jackie Pinkston on -
We've also been told that you can add the NBS-30 to a 5 gallon bucket of water and spray it on your house in the years that you aren't staining...to continue the protection. Haven't done it yet, but it makes sense.
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Permalink Reply by Bill Mathews on
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Photo of Carpenter Bee / Boring Bee including larvae chamber.
Bill Mathews
866-922-7754
386-697-1357
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Permalink Reply by Bill Mathews on
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Damage on log home from woodpeckers feeding on boring bee / carpenter bee larvae.
Bill Mathews
866-922-7754
386-=697-1357
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Permalink Reply by Bill Mathews on
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Looking for testimonials from customers who have had carpenter/boring bee and or woodpecker damage to their log homes?
Bill Mathews
866-922-7754
386-=697-1357
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Permalink Reply by Steve Daniel on -
The carpenter bee kit is a rubber bulb with a long metal stem to insert into the hole/nest where they "lay eggs" to raise the young ones. The insecticide dust is almost like Seven Dust and it must be sprayed in the hole and capped to kill the eggs. A 1/2" cork works well and reminds you of which holes have been treated. You can also spray them with wasp spray in April when they are landing on the eves. They mostly have bored into the 1x4" eves and not the logs. Of about 12 holes I have treated in my three year old log home only 2 were in the log walls. After April-May they are not as much of a problem.
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Permalink Reply by Steve Daniel on
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April-May 2011 were active carpenter bee months again. Treated and plugged 8 new holes in eves, none in logs.
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Permalink Reply by EZMARY on -
That looks awful!!! Woodpeckers are a real pain. I hung aluminum pan around my porch, and on my log overhangs, and those woodpeckers have gone away. The pans work. Now as for the carpenter bees, we just had a metal roof put on our home, and I told the roofers, to replace my facia boards with treated lumber, and wrap those boards, and the bees have gone other places.
Now mind you, we still have those pest, but not as bad. Now Bats are also a problem, but not really. Up by my roof overhangs, there is a small area, between the overhang and the log siding. Now I have caulked this area on other homes, but I really don't mind if they hang out, at least we don't have spiders. I heard they eat spiders, insects, etc... So they can be a good thing also. The bats can't get into the house, so I figure, what the heck! So I hope this helps!
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Permalink Reply by Darlene LaLonde on -
Hi Bill,
We just joined the website and am so glad we aren't the only one's with log cabin nightmares! We have been in our log home for 1 year now and freaked out last spring when it seemed our home was being bombarded by bugs. It hadn't been taken care of for at least 3 years so you can imagine it was an insects dream! Our first mistake was calling Orkin, they snowed us so bad, I wouldn't recommend them to anyone. We have spiders, carpenter ants/bees, wasps and bats. Woodpeckers have stayed in the trees for now. So far we have just been spraying ourselves. A friend told us for the ants he just sprinkles the granules around the perimeter of the house in the spring and that seems to keep them away. Now battling the bees and wasps. Someone also told us to put a small amount of tin foil into the bee hole and it deflecks them, but who wants foil sticking out of the holes in their house?
I'll be reading the other replies for some ideas on how to keep our home pest free and will offer any help I can also. Thanks for posting!
Darlene LaLonde
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Permalink Reply by Tim Bullock on -
Darlene, Did you contact your manufacturer? It seems that a lot of people like yourself "have to" go to forums to get answers. Your manufacturer should know......period......and YES....I do know the answers. Tim Bullock www.tamaracklogandtimberhomes.com
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