How To Get Rid of Those Large Black Bees Hovering Around Your Deck
As their name suggests, these bees don’t live in bee hives like other bees, instead they bore their homes into the bottom of your deck and live there. So let me tell you some interesting facts about these bees. First, the ones flying around your head and fighting with one another are the male bees. Believe it or not, as aggressive as they are the male bees are harmless. They don’t seem to do much all day except fight with eachother. The one that does all the work is the female bee and she’s the one you want to stay away from. The problem is, she’s the one you need to get rid of. It’s the female carpenter bee that bores the hole in your deck for all the bees to live.
Carpenter bees prefer dried out weather worn wood to build their homes. If your deck is brand new then chances are the bees wont be interested. But if your deck is at least three or four years old and hasn’t been weather protected then your deck may be a target. Staining your deck wont help keep these bees away.
So what should you look for? The first thing you might notice are the male bees themselves. This is a good indicator that there might be a female bee boring a hole in your deck. Carpenter bees prefer to make their homes in the 2 by 8 inch joist (support) boards of your deck boring the holes up from the bottom. They dig the holes up vertically for a few inches before they continue the hole for a couple more inches horizontally at a 90 degree angle. This type of home helps to keep the hive dry and secure.
Here is what the holes look like:
When I realized that I might have a Carpenter bee problem at home I decided to call a pest control company to see how to get rid of them. After they told me it would cost at least $100 to take care of the problem I decided that maybe I could deal with it myself.
So here’s what my neighbors and I did to get rid of these bees. The first thing we did was buy some type of bee killing spray. The kind that shoot from a good six to ten feet away. Since our goal was to keep the bees away instead of killing them it didn’t really matter if they didn’t die. Then we went around the deck looking for the holes shown above and simply sprayed them with the pesticide. If there was a bee there boring out the hole then we would spray it as well from a distance. The bee would just pull its head out of the hole and fly away. Then everyday we would go back outside and spray the holes. One website suggested plugging up the holes with whatever but I found it sufficient just to spray the hole or holes every other day or so. After a week of spraying the bees went away.
Popularity: 54% [?]
Your initial few lines of your experience with the bees left me laughing out loud i.e. the “beegebees”. You write very well and elicit emotion from your readers: whether happy, sad, agreement, or frustration. Good job!
These type of bees can not sting. My son catches them all the time and puts them in his mouth to amaze my grandchildren. If they have a white dot in their forehead they will Not sting.
Yes they can…I got stung 5 times today while mowing my Dad’s yard. They bored a hold into one of my Dad’s railroad ties that is around is garden
I now that they can, my bro got shot by 1 of them black Suns of bees
Those were the females, you should try reading the article throughout.
Just what would make everyone even think “Hey that sounds like a good idea I think I will put a Bee in my Mouth…
Only the females will sting
I’ve been dealing with carpenter bees for past 6ys because they bored a perfect circle hole into my back porch wood rail . They are not harmful fore I’ve never been stung thru the years . However don’t kill them , they are pollinators .
Hi mo,
Thanks for the compliment. I should continue to have wonderful readers as yourself.
Thank you so much, you have come in the nick of time with this info. My situation started about 2 weeks ago, I cannot go on my balcony without being chased back inside by these monster bees. I live in an apt. and an exterminator was called, who informed me that these bees only hover, and since he could not see a hive, he couldn’t help me. I have already gone through one can of the bee/wasp spray (kind of expensive) but I will try your method and continue using it. I hope it works, I would like to enjoy my balcony again
fmd
Hi,today i had a black bumble bee on pateo When i was riding my bike with no training wheels in my backyard a black bumble bee came right in front of my face and i freaked out and dropped my bike on the ground.
thanks for the feedback. I am happy I could help. Keep us posted. I would like to hear if this method worked for you.
Hey this worked great for my big black bees. Thanks for the tip of looking for the holes. I found another site that said to use WD-40. This worked but since it doesn’t spray that far it kind of made a mess. The long shooting hornet killer stuff was quick, not too messy and worked immediately. The female bee dropped right out, and like in a classic movie death scene started flailing feet-up on the deck.
The only problem is that there are a couple more bees up on the top of the house, about 25 feet up. Maybe I can get my painters to spray into the holes for me when they arrive next week or so.
You shouldn’t be killing them… They are pollinators… You have to have these if you want to grow vegetables. Please instead find a way to discourage them instead of killing them
FYI “carpenter bees” are NOT pollinators “bumble bees” are!
glad to hear it worked. I forgot about those bees until I saw them just yesterday. I guess I got to go looking for those holes again.
Thank you!!!! It took me a while, but finally someone’s story matches mine. I can’t wait to get rid of these and start enjoying my balcony again!
You’re welcome. And when I first wrote this post I thought I was the only one suffering with these bees. Glad i could help.
I should add that the bees do seem to come back to the same holes. I guess the male goes out on the town and brings back a female to do some more drilling on my house. I sprayed the holes again on two different days and killed them. I don’t know if they will get the idea or not.
Pingback: Carnival of Family Life Once Again! » The So-Called Me
my husband smacks them around with a tennis racket. they dont sting (or so he says) so it doesn’t worry me.
that’s hysterical. I bet they wish they had stingers in this case.
I am looking for a good residual insecticide product to spray these carpenter bees. Also I understand there is a powder called Drione that works to control the larva.
I got some pest control people over but I am concerned that these bees may return and want to get the right product. I life in Toronto Canada.
Any ideas?
Thanks
I’m pretty sure that these bees are hanging out with us, only they seem to only be in the front of the house where there is a large rhodie, the side of the house is clappard so I am afraid that they are drilling in the side of the house, possible?
I don’t want to kill them, they serve a purpose I am sure. Is it sufficient to find the nesting hole maybe in the winter when they have died and fill it in so no more come around?
To tell you the truth I am not sure if filling the hole is sufficient. That is why I am looking to get this solution referred to as a “powder”. Two products are available in the US – “Drione” and “Duststick Dust” and I cann’t seem to find it here in Canada. The other thing is to get a residual insecticide that works and can be bought in here as well.
If you hear of any products that can be bought locally please let me know.
Good Luck
Mo
What do you do if your deck is ground level and you are unable to get under it to see where the holes are?
You just give up
Hilarious! My twin 8 yr old boys ran in, panicked, with almost the same word for word description of their experience. That led us to an internet search, which lead us to the much needed laughing fit -watching them nod their heads, in fear stricken agreement, until they came to the “harmless” part and their jaws dropped…
they didn’t believe it (no pics of the bees:), but further research revealed they don’t even have stingers!
IDC how harmless they are…these buggers terrorize me all day at work, hovering around my windows, taunting me! They know that I’m petrified of bees…they’re doing it on purpose…hehe
I have a wooden flower box out front of my office and apparently that’s not good enough for them because they come around the back of the building to hover/buzz/terrify every time I step out the door! 😉
Thankfully I have not seen any at home as of yet (knock on wood!) but if I do see them, thanks to all of you here I now ways to deal with them…first stop…Wal-Mart for some badmitten rackets!
Got loads of bees flying roind my house can any one help do ya know how to get rid
had the same problem hoping to rid of them first with the spray
Well, we have tried everything to make these bothersome pests disappear. They have been eating away at the trusses on our cabin for 3 years now. It looks like someone has used our house as target practice! We keep plugging the holes with silicone after we spray. We have tried the stain…expensive…only to notice that they’ve moved to the back of the house or elsewhere on the front and started new holes!! ARGH!! We have been told NOT to plug the hole with the bee in it or it will tunnel out the other side. We can try this method and hope for the best. Thanks!
Well, we have tried everything to make these bothersome pests disappear. They have been eating away at the trusses on our cabin for 3 years now. It looks like someone has used our house as target practice! We keep plugging the holes with silicone after we spray. We have tried the stain…expensive…only to notice that they’ve moved to the back of the house or elsewhere on the front and started new holes!! ARGH!! We have been told NOT to plug the hole with the bee in it or it will tunnel out the other side. We can try this method and hope for the best. Thanks!
Thank you for your post. Followed your advice. Hated to kill them, but if they keep up their work habits we will be – a pass through and a deck. Just so all will know this message comes from the Oregon Mountains. They must be everywhere.
I have these bees living in my Canary Palm Tree in my back yard in Las Vegas. I’ve sprayed and killed them, but they keep coming back. I’ve heard that they don’t have stingers, but I’ve examined the dead ones, and they do have stingers in the front. Continuing to spray is expensive, so I will research the powder/dust.
You want to catch these sooner than later. We didn’t realize what they were and they got a good start in the top railing of our deck. Now they are everywhere. I’m going to try the spray again. We also have found a badminton racket to do the trick to stun them and then step on them. But our long term idea is to replace the spindles and top railing with metal. Luckily the base of our deck is fake wood. They seem to have a definite preference for the soft wood and don’t bother the denser wood of the supports.
We have them here in Hawaii also-lots and the buggers wake me up at 5:30AM buzzing and dilling!!!. I go out in my nightgown with the spray, but they come back again within an hour. I did manage to douse one of them enough to have it land upside down, but there are more to replace it!!! We’ve sprayed and filled the holes just to have them make new ones the next day!!!Grrrr. Thanks for your delightful information. Aloha
An aggressive one of those giant bees kept landing and flying onto my 11 month old daughter today, I swatted it off of her and then it landed on her face and stung or bit her below the eye. It was a terrifying experience. The area is red and swollen, but thankfully she is ok. I too have had those hovering bees around for years and had never before seen one so aggressive. My poor baby girl. I had to grab it off of her and kill it with a towel.
“stingers in the front” ? no such thing!
These bees are HARMLESS! they may be annoying but they arent going to harm YOU!
They do have “stingers” but are extremely reluctant to sting.. because they will die if they do!
“these bees don’t live in bee hives like other bees”
The vast majority of bees DO NOT live in hives! European honey bees do, and not too many others.
POLLINATOR CRISIS- look it up. Learn to live with nature, stop fighting it, you rely on it in the long run!
Bengal spray is expensive but works for months. The gold is even better. spray
it and they die. if they walk thru it they die with in a few feet. I have used it for years with pets and children with no adverse affect on anyone but the insects. I just nuked the black bee s trying to build a nest in the wood around my porch sliding glass doors. They did not like it at all.
thanks for having the courage to comment for “the other side”
I only have one bee that begins hovering over my deck every spring. He has been there all day long, just hovering around. He will be there for several more days. Looks like he might be “saving the place” for some reason. Why doesn’t he get tired? I feel sorry for him. (There were a couple of wasps around the deck earlier, but they have gone away.) Why do I always have just one bee, and why does he just hover all day long over several days without other bees coming?
Me also.. just one.
Wow…I thought I was going crazy until I found this site; bees in front of my door fighting…crashing repeatedly into the glass in fact! Well at least I know I am not insane…lol…they are scary but glad to know they aren’t as aggressive as they seem. I have SEVERE bee allergies and I have been seemingly chased indoors. Essentially they should pay the mortgage b/c they have the run of the front yard, chasing me and my company away! I have an overhang on my porch, I have seen the holes so now I a plan of attack…Thanks for your info..I NOW HAVE HOPE!!!
I live in the heart of the heart of Silicon Valley, and large bees, most of them black, with a hovering kind of flight and not aggressive to the sole occupant of the home — me, invaded in a big way a few weeks ago when the rainy season waned. I have seen a few equally large, sluggish, black-and-yellow striped bees among them.
Since bee scarcity stories abound, I searched the Web and got contact data for a bee research center at UC Davis. Even though these bees are almost undoubtedly carpenter or wood bees — They Do Play An Important Role In Pollination, I was told. Indeed, my back patio is full of flowering shrubs and that’s what these bees do every day: they hover and sample the flowers. I am loathe to kill them, but I would like to send them packing in some environmentally/humane way so that I can fully enjoy the patio again, without them buzzing and hovering overhead. 🙂
I have a large terrace with lots of plants and have the hovering bees. They have drilled 4 holes in a pc of wood that is part of my sliding glass door. The hover a lot but that’s about it. Around 4PM it looks light Kennedy Airport as they seems to all come home. They will poke their head in one of the holes they fly away only to come right back then enter the hole.I saw a couple of dead ones on my deck who must have died on their own.
I heard the guy who lived here before me sprayed and got rid of them so they must have come back.
Are they the same bees that return each night? or do these holes serve as some type of share home with different bees spending the night all the time?
I have heard that they can travel up to 5 miles looking for food to bring back. I wonder how and why they would make such a long journey back home….
Thanks for the information. I have been chased back to the house because they are hanging around my clothes line (with old wooden posts) and an old wooden deck. Now I can get rid of them and do laundry in peace!
Thanks!
Is there anyway to get rid to these bees without using a bug spray? I have a dog in my yard and I am afraid to use anything that may harm the dog. I’ve been chasing them with an electric zapper paddle. When I get one, they seem stunned for only a second and then fly away. Soon they are back.
What Do You Suppose
What do you suppose?
A bee sat on my nose.
Then what do you think?
He gave me a wink.
And said, “I beg your pardon,
I thought you were a garden.”
I live in a pier and beam home made out of cedar and these bees are all around my home. I saw one of the holes you were talking about while looking out of my kitchen window. I am going to try your technique and see what happens. Thanks
I am glad to hear that I’m not the only one. I was just having a race with one and I finally made it back in the house after several minutes of shear terror. I swear this is the very same 1 from last year and he flies from yard to yard back and forth all day. He is humungous and this yard ain’t big enough for the both of us 🙂 I live in West Chester Ohio and have a wood fence surrounding the back patio of my condo.
I work on my hobby car in the garage and noticed these bees always hanging out in front of the doors. I’ll now start looking for holes as that will really aggrevate me and likely start the bee war. I usually grab my can of carb cleaner aerosol and spray the bee, then within seconds follow up with my lighter and spray the flying critter but add a flame to the aerosol for the dramatic big fireball 10feet into the air. The bee usually spirals out of control with leaving a smoke trail and small flame. Occasionally the crash landing burns a small hole in the nearby grass. I’ll try the badminton racket as that sounds like safe family fun for all with the kids.
Thanks for the info. Apparently these things are everywhere. I live in Tokyo & they seem to patrol back & forth over any open spaces that exist. I assumed they were hunting other insects – like hornets will do. Live & learn. I know what to look for & do now.
HOLY CRAP I LOVE YOU!!!
I rent an apt and am upstairs w a balcony which I use basically all the live-long-day. I tan there, drink there, read there-basically, I should rent a balcony w closet and bath.
As a child, my devil cousin tortured me by holding me over a bee-infested bush for periods of time so I kind of have an issue with insects. All my life my family has given me grief about my seemingly ridiculous behaviour when encountering some bug. Cannot tell you how relieved I feel to know I’m not the only one running back inside. Also, I scream and shout insults at these stalkers.
The bees seem to have become progressively more brave. They used to be out around 15:00. Then 12:30. Yesterday it was 10:40. Kill me. Sitting on my balcony made me beyond hyper-vigilent. It must look crazy. I honestly feel like what I imagine a crackhead to be. With every falling leaf, I jump. Should the neighbours in the building behind me be watching, I imagine they find me worthy of institutionalization.
I called them “stalkers” because SERIOUSLY they seem like they are. Last week, one actually came up to my screen only seconds after I had spotted it and jumped inside. It circled 3 times and came back-right up to the screen seemingly initiating “show down.” Don’t think I didn’t have my finger on spray ready to shoot but WHAT THE…?!
It is 14:14 right now and I have yet to go outside. They seem not to be around UNTIL I am out. I’m sure you’ll ear me screaming if I encounter 1.
Am I the only person whose horse is being bitten and terrorized by these things? They definitely like old barn wood, and are all over the eaves of the horse barn. They just hit their stride in the last week or so, although their sound proceeded them. I’m frantic as one or two (the females?) get on the horses back and must bite him because he becomes something out of a rodeo, bucking and running. So whoever said they are reluctant to sting or bite don’t know what they’re talking about. They seem to present like horse flies, the males are off doing their thing, fighting and buzzing around, and the females must need blood to reproduce. I don’t know but I’ve got hundreds so for those of you who think they’re kinda interesting and only have a few, give me your address and I’ll start an adoption program.
I have had a big problem with carpenter bees for years. Much of the wood outside of my house (been in this house for 55 years) and over my deck has been riddled with their holes and several beams have been completely destroyed. I have Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, so cannot use any kind of pesticide. The last thing I tried, which works only for a few months, evidently, is a borate spray. Occasionally I manage to hit one with a fly swatter and then kill it. I HATE to kill anything, but when it’s eating my food or clothes or house, it’s WAR! From what I’ve read thru the years, it’s only the females that sting, and that only rarely and if you’re harming them. Good luck to all.
Thank you! I thought I was crazy but apparently, these bees like to “bug” people for fun. I was out laying mulch, doing chores and one kept messing with me the whole time. Hovering, then taking off. Hovering real close with a friend, then off again. The next day on the deck, instead of relaxing, we kept getting interrupted as they would hover real close, take off and fight, then come back. Good to know they are not big stingers. Just pests.
use carburetter or starting fluid…drops them like…ughh DEAD
Oddly we’ve got what appears to be only one that hovers around our deck. We’ve affectionately named him Darth Bee!
thank you, ive looked for simple information like this and so grateful im not the only one out there who’s trying to deal with them. But ive tried spraying them with bee spray, roach spray etc and even had pest control company spray them and nothing seems to kill them. and instead of a deck they are in this really large bush. other than removing the bush anyone got any good ideas? Im tired of making a run for my front door cause of them. they may not bite but i still cant get pass the whole flying big black bug coming at me thing. (Kids think its halirious.)
Thanks for clearing this up! I heard her first about 2 weeks ago and then found 2 more in my Honey suckle bush yesterday. We have just completed a 50 covered deck with wood top rails so these seemingly harmless noisy HUGE black bees must go! No holes in our deck!!
Thanks for the info on these monster carpenter bees. Once they found my flowers, they took over and I don’t see honey bees anymore – I would rather have them. Are they getting bullied?? My deck is synthetic wood so they must be coming from a neighboring yard.
Thanks so much now me and my parents can work on taking down the bee. One of my parents plugged the hole with a paper towel.THE bee might come again but we will be ready.the bee is so huge, i thought it would not even fit into the hole.I will take you and your friends advice.THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!!
o.m.g. i have a female bee or whatever living in my deck. poor honeybees i dont see them flying around anymore i see them dead on the ground!!!!even jane dosen’t see them?do thes bees sting? and what bee killing spray did you use? help me.i scared.
i found a hole in my deck and it is so far about 4.1/2 inches. holey wacomole oh crap and its a female diggin that. well i will take care of it.
please don’t kill them. there is a shortage of bees in the world and its becoming a crises. Carpenter bees are amongst the biggest pollinators. please dont kill them.
I have black bees that are living in a corner of our grass. There is a cement retaining wall on the on one side and there are small holes all along the retaining wall. I have only read about them living in wood. Do they burrow down in dirt also?
I was out cutting low branches off one of the trees lining our driveway today. My husband and I see these big black carpenter bees checking us out when we are outside, being agressive and dive-bombing us but not trying to sting. Today was a different story. Apparently I intruded on their territory! I was careflully going from tree to tree cutting off small, low branches, making sure their were no bee hives or swarming bees, when I was suddenly attacked by three of these big black things, not only diving at me, but either biting or stinging my let arm! I started screaming and swinging my cutting tool at the bees, swiping my hat at them with the other hand, hit my arm with the blade of the limb cutter and trying to run from them. All three pursued me into my garage before they decided to leave. In this process of trying to get away, I managed to kill one of them. Immediately I put a bakig soda paste on my arm and a glue bandage on my cut. Th stinging has mostly stopped now, and I certainly have a healthy respect for these big black things! Male or female, I don’t know, but I’m done cutting in my yard for the day. Have a great day, ya’all!
Ummm…Don’t believe anyone who tells you these bees are “harmless”. Those people just haven’t been attacked. My mom and I were attacked by three of them…all were HUGE. They went straight for our faces. Stung me on my upper lip twice. I grabbed it with four fingers and threw it into a rock. My mom got stung on her nose. We all ran. I’m convinced that it was a sting and not a bite b/c my lip felt like someone injected hot acid into it. It was swollen for hours. It was a terrible experience…and get this—-it happened when i was 12. I’m 35 now and I STILL remember it like it was yesterday.
i live in tn and in apartment building and i tell you that im scared beyond words of these wasps and humoungus bees. they are all over the place. not one but 20 or so .im afraid to go out my front door .what can i do. i so wish i stayed in california. this is not good for my mental stability .. help.
Rebecca, I’m in California and they’re just as bad here!
It’s just a bee. Leave it alone or back into your bubble.
far too many people, can’t tell the difference
between bees and other insects like yellow jackets,
most bees are harmless unless you mess with them
they have better things to do
only bees i worry about is a hive of AHB
We have been dealing with carpenter bees for years. The best and most energetic way to get rid of them is to hit the males with baseball bats, tennis rackets or books. They don’t sting. The females are drilling holes under the overhang, into clapboard on our house. You can also locate them by watching sawdust fly out of your home………lovely. It’s a yearly thing we deal with. Watch out for whitefaced hornets though. I’ve noticed that they will attempt to get in to kill (eat?) the queen or larve? They are NOT fun!
All natural bee repellent. Drives them away does not kill anything. Results guaranteed
We have always had these hovering bees under our garage and my grandchildren have always been scared of them, especially when they hover right in front of their faces. I told them that they think they are flowers and if they will just stand still, as soon as they (the bees) smell them they will realize that they are not flowers and buzz away. Has worked until last Sunday. Came home from church and they attacked my dog and stung her on her backside and then proceed ed to sting my husband twice and me once on my shoulder. Stung really bad and left a bruise on my sting area. The “flowers” have declared war and are working on exterminating the pests!
‘save the bees’ is nice and all (been a vegetarian a long time now, I get it). But for people who carry around Epipens (look up anaphylaxis), and don’t live close to an E.R… well humans want to live too. Even if the males are harmless, the female isn’t. And if you’ve got 10 or 15 minutes to get help, why take the chance. Instead of preaching save the bees, offer up suggestions as to how to lure them away from homes with something they really like or need most. Don’t just finger wag. There’s too much of that on the internet already. Offer real solutions, or at least ideas. And, btw, this post is not for the author of the nicely written article. It’s for the preachers posters who probably still chomp on cows at the drive thru, just kidding. 🙂
Well said. People have to live too and can’t help how frightened they get
In Australia carpenter bees do sting
only the females I know I swatted one that I thought was a march fly they really hurt.
Only the female stings the male just hovers about your head and is harmless.
I read that the female does not like to sting but she also does not die after stinging and can do so again.
Annoying they are when they bore into your house though.
Also they are really tough you swat one it will sting you and fly off afterwards.
I pulled one out of the hole it was making with a pair of pliers and it was trying to sting them
eeekk run away.
Er yes they pollinate lucky I live in a place with native bees and European bees as well.
If you don’t want to kill them you could try to put a log standing up in the ground with the bark still on it away from your house… they seem to like that best of all…better than boards any way.
Good luck folks.
The carpenter bees bore holes in wood and lay their eggs. The males have a yellow dot face and supposedly do not sting. The females do and can, but usually they are busy with laying the eggs. The males swarm in packs. There are some 15 to 20 of them in my line of sight off my patio as I type this message. These bees don’t pollinate anything. They are not bumble bees, although they bear a resemblance. I may try the Bengal bee spray as someone suggested. I sympathize with everyone having this problem. These are not good bees at all. They are wood-drilling bees and there are scads of them.
Carpenter bees ARE important pollinators of many plant species – this info available on legitimate websites. A good chuckle reading the vegetarian’s post, complaining about ‘saving the bees’ The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimates that 4,000 vegetable varieties exist thanks to pollination by bees. Hope you’ll enjoy a diet of corn, soybeans and wheat in the future.
All the comments are interesting – pollinator, not a pollinator, I really don’t like to kill anything either but when my $5,000 pump house is being eaten up and is going to fall down because the wood is destroyed it’s me or them! As for putting an old stump near by……I live on 10 acres of wooded property and intentionally don’t cut down all my rotting trees so the wood peckers will have something to enjoy, but the bees picked my PUMP house. It’s on!!
Thanks so much for the information. I like being on my deck and in my yard, didn’t know the ones running around fighting was harmless.We are going to tell other as well.
I found an old Badminton Racket and when the bees hovers I use the racket to swat them into the next county. In the last 2 days, me- 12, bees- 0.
we sprayed off (only thing we had at the time) and it seemed to work. They just flew away. Then plugged the holes. They did not come back
Thanks for the advice. I just came in to get online and look for help as I can’t step out on my deck because of those stupid bees and the red wasps that have decided to shack up behind my shutters.
all these posts are hilarious….these bees have taken over my front porch and bored lots of holes in the wood above my front steps. I think I will go out tomorrow night and fill the holes with caulk or something as that seems to be the least poison spreading method discussed here. I don’t want them around anymore but I don’t spray poison around my son or my dog.
We have landscaping timbers forming a pen for our tortoise. In them, carpenter bees (all black female, all yellow male) have around 20 nests, so we always have several bees active at any one time.
The males have no stingers and are significantly outnumbered by the females, which apparently do have stingers.
In the 15 years we’ve had them, never has anyone been stung. You folks remind me of Chicken Little.
I am so tired of these bees!!! Our house had been vinyl sided two years ago and now all of a sudden they appear hovering around the screen door on my back deck. I will faint if they come near me, so I just stay away. They are like 747’s coming in to just hover. They never land! I tried spraying from a distance but they freaked out and flew really fast in circles. There are only ever two at a time and I cant stand them. There is no way I am looking under my deck for holes. Unless there is a suite I can put on first. Forget it. I’ll stick with the spray. I HATE bees. 🙁 – Rhode Island
So I’m not really a cruel person but I’m struggling a bit trying to convince my daughter of that fact. Our deck is/was infested with these friends of Mothra until a week ago. I bought a badminton racket at a garage sale for 25 cents and it’s turned into the bargain of the week. All it takes is a swat and the bee ends up wherever bees go when they die. After dispatching all comers the females seemed to wander off and all the holes bored into the decking have become uninhabited. I’ll plug them with steel wool so they won’t be revisited by anything else.
I moved into the farm country about 6 months ago and I just saw my first Carpenter Bee!!! How do I tell if it is a female or a male? Guess it doesn’t matter cause it is Dead Bee Walking ~ I have my Hornet Spray at the ready for the next appearance. Thank you so much for the info
Ah, so they’re Carpenter bees! I’m going out for hornet killing spray right away. Thank you!
Ok so all the descriptions here match my problem exactly. I hate to kill them because I’ve seen too many loveable bee charactrers in Disney movies. But my patience is wearing thin with them and my wife is highly allergic. Time to get some napalm and go to war.
yesterday i was walking with the dog in the forest and i have been chase by these flying behemot not 1 but 5 in a 15 min period god i never run like that when i arrive at home my stress meter was full i usually go in forest to relax but with these thing forget about it
I too have had these bees for the last few weeks here in Indiana. I will try the above approach. The info here is appreciated. On a side note. I have watched these bees for a few days and it seems they do not like birds. I have seen them chase birds out of the area more than a dozen or so times. It’s funny cause the bird always tries to come back. LOL
thank you for the information
I can no longer use my balcony
everytime I go outside; I get dive-bombed
I am a bee keeper in Puna. The hive beetle and virroa mite have killed all but one of my hives. The last one could be gone soon. Other bee keepers on the Big Island have lost almost all their hives, as well. We have a very serious situation because of loss of pollination services. The carpenter bee is a fair replacement and without them we may experience huge reductions in all of the fruits, etc. that need pollination to produce. Carpenter bees rarely sting. Please be tolerant of them!
I am one those bees you all hate so much. You cannot beeeet us! We like to hover in front of you and call you names and stuff…so listen carefully.
We are supported and subsidized by the manufacturers of Bee Spray. They pay us handsomely to aggravate all of you so you all run out and buy their $4.50 can of spray. Our bee lobbyists have actually had the manufacturers add honey to the spray so if on the off chance you actually hit one of us…its like a sweet picnic to us.
So remember….BEEEEEE nice to us. We cannot be defeated. We OWN you!
The females do have stingers so be careful however just thought I would let everyone know that filling in the holes doesn’t work. My husband filled in a hole we found with silicone caulk and the next thing i knew the bee was drilling straight thru the caulk to get back to the hole. I have heard of shoving a moth ball in there works, but i can’t use that method because my son is allergic to moth balls. Hope this helps.
@B. Bumble
LOL!!!
WD40 works on these bees and wasps. Just spray it on the wood and they will leave it alone. Although, for wasps you do need to knock down the nest first.
Unfortunately, I am a member of this exclusive club too 🙁 Doesn’t everything in nature have a predator? Does anyone know what the carpenter bee’s predator is? Maybe the predator can help us?
We are loaded with then. I tried the spray that is a thin stream that goes far. They flit around so fast that i wasted the spray and killed no bees.
I read that the female has a stinger the male does not but will attack you if you get into their territory.
My husband has pluged the holes with putty for year but they are back every year. this year they dug the old putty out and the old dead bees fell out.. They say they don’t damage anything. i don’t believe them. They are destroying my house. I think i will get a tennis racket.
Lots of LUCK to everyone
I have never seen theese boring bees pollinate anything,I do see bumblebees pollinating and their always just busy working for the nest,bumblers live in nests,theese boring bees seem to be loners.
The facia boards on my garage are like swiss cheese now.Iv’e tried many sprays in the holes and soaking the boards both inside and out and soon as they are dry their back at it. and yes Me-Me i was wondering what eats theese things only thing i can think of is maybe a bee eater bird but we don’t have any here.
I didn’t want to side the garage and can’t really afford it now ..but theese bees are forcing me to at least flash the eaves and facia.
I can’t remember ever seeing many of theese when i was younger,it seems were in a population explosion for them and makes me think …yea whatever is supposed to keep these in check isan’t doing a very good job of it.
Ok here we go..grab the badminton racket and just wait.
I have a shed I keep my motorcycle in n the past few days putting my bike in at nite heard buzzing . I finally saw one go down n disappear underneath where there are about 50 babies that I saw,after lifting a piece of ply wood in . I’m allergic to bees any suggestions?
Thank you! I just finished killing 29 bees who seemed to think we wanted tenants in our garage. The ole broom was a great weapon to stun them, and my shoe completed the task. For those of you opposed to killing them, please come to Brampton, Ontario, Canada and I will let you take them off my hands. I have no spray at my disposal at the moment, except for WD-40- I’ll keep an eye on them until I can get the “real” spray. Thanks for your advice. Lois
I love the big black bee that collects nectar from the morning glories by cutting a small incision at the base of the flower.
I have never been stung by either honeys or bumbles or carpenters that are collecting nectar.
Instead, I gently touch them as they collect the nectar.
If any one of them dislikes my touching, it merely shrugs off my touch and flies away.
The large carpenters that hover near your face are LOOKING AT YOU.
Please stop killing them — they are wonderful beings of light!
Wonderful comments… a great read.
Interesting how the females are the ones to beware and the ones who are doing all the work, while the males are just fly around and fighting with each other. I’ll spare you the obvious human analogies.
Best of luck to us all !!!
Saw Black Bees hovering around our black & white dog today. Glad to know they are probably are male and won’t sting him. They ignored the other colored dogs. Maybe they thought he was a giant bee.
This is a great website and I’m still laughing at all the humor. I live in an apartment in Kansas and we have a carpenter bee arrive around the end of April each Spring and it ‘hangs’ around for about a month.
I read on another site that when we’re around the hovering pesky male we shouldn’t swat at it because it can make it become very aggressive. But I love the stories about swatting them with a badminton racket or a broom. I’m not sure I’m ready to try that because with my luck I’d trip and fall, like the klutz I am, and end up getting dive bombed!
Sometimes I get so flustered and freaked out as I’m walking up the stairs as the dang bee hovers around me that I’ve cussed it out and told it to get lost. Talk about looking like a real nutcase if anyone was walking by my apartment and saw me cussing and talking to myself!!
I have these huge bees around my deck but ive notice they are coming out of the ground! there have been several large “ant-hill” looking piles in and around my flower beds. I went to seep them away and spray with ant killer when i noticed there were large holes and saw one of the bees crawl out of the hole and fly at me.
Do carpenter bees also live in the ground?
Hello could I object some of the content from this record if I tie-in back to you?
I brought in two old treated gates that I sanded down and painted white to use as headboards for two twin beds for my grandchildren. I have had a total of 5 bees so far come out and end up buzzing in the window. I never thought about this before I brought in the gates – which look so good that I do not want to get rid of them – so my question —- Will they ever stop – could there be too many and they will contiune to come out?
I brought in two old treated gates that I sanded down and painted white to use as headboards for two twin beds for my grandchildren. I have had a total of 5 bees so far come out and end up buzzing in the window. I never thought about this before I brought in the gates – which look so good that I do not want to get rid of them – so my question —- Will they ever stop – could there be too many and they will contiune to come out?
Investigating another very large bee larger than the carpenter bee which will come out at night if you turn on your porch light is when I came across this site. Here is a sure way to rid the bees. When you discover the hole in the lumber and know the bee is in there, spray the inside with WD-40. That will do them in instantly. Sorry if it affends the bee lovers, but man and nature unfortunately have to live together and the destruction of property and major annoyance by bees is not my cup of tee. They can go find a tree to live in. Another thing, Bubble Bees, they can not be killed wit “Hot-Shot” you can read about this in another web search. It takes a special kind of chemical. Carpenter bees may be from the same family strain and that is why the spray’s really don’t have much effect on them.
Has anyone heard of a Lg Black bee other than the Carpenter bee. Does any one know how potent the Sting is of the female. My husband died of Anaphlactic shock after being stung by a large (size of dime) black bee
Take some 2 liter soda bottles. Cut the tops off about 1/4 of the way down. Flip the top over and staple it back on so the top is now a funnel down into the bottle. Put some sweet liquid in the bottle and you have cheap effective bee traps. Just set them around where you want the bees removed.
Hey Ramon, that is a great idea. I think i will try this when the need arrives.
Thanks for posting this letter. This is EXACTLY what we are dealing with. I will have my husband go outside to deal with this problem. For the last four days, I’ve been watchign the same two bees live in the air space over our newly built deck. It’s too much of a nuisance to ignore them. We spent way to much money on this thing for bees to move in and live there. They must die.
I have had the same problem for 3 years! They are sooo irritating!!! I have just used my tennis racket to smack them, they go flying and land on their backs panting like what the hell! I look into their big bug eyes and say “I don’t want to kill you but I will!!” They usually leave me alone for a bit and if they come back I just lift up my racket and they seem to recognize it as they dart away. Lol. Thanks for the info! I’m gonna try and find this female attracting all these fighting males. They brawl all day and ruin my relax time!!
Very funny. What a great read. I appreciate the comment. Glad to help.
I
Enjoyed reading all of your posts. Thanks fo the info. It’s time to put this plan into action. List of supplies needed: wasp spray, starter fluid, 2 liter bottles, sweet liquid and DO NOT forget the badminton racquet. LOL thanks for all the ideas! Let’s take back our territory!!
Ha.
While outside trimming back the Wisteria, before it takes over my terrace again this year, I sense someone hovering over my shoulder, turned my head to look… and THERE HE IS!!
He kept me off my patio all last summer… held hostage inside, looking outside through the window! WELL NO MORE OF THAT THIS SUMMER! I ran inside, to the companion that always looks out for me, straight to Google! Within seconds, I had typed in the search box “HUGE BLACK BEE” and in a few moments I had my answer, along with a much lower heart rate. Your thoughtful insight is sincerely appreciated. … I am also sending this link to family and friends hoping to prevent another cardiac event
Thanks for this info on the carpenter bee. Many solutions to a problem but it sounds like get to the female and troubles will go away.
Great stuff…thanks. My challenge was finding the nest. I had to wait til dusk and watched the males return home for the night. Their nest was in the hole of the fence post where the fence connects into to post. I sprayed in there with everyday insect killer and thy never showed back up.
There’s another way r
My 3 year old son who is apparently afraid of no bee, actually hit one with his wiffle ball bat out of mid air when it hovered in front of him. We were equally shocked at the solid contact cuz the thing slammed into a nearby paver wall. It was awesome.. It died instantly and I was so proud of my little slugger.
So, if I don’t want to crawl under my deck to spray the wholes….do you have any suggestions?
Had these bees near my garage in front of my house and would send my kids running in various directions. These bees were drilling their holes in my wooden fence. Would find them hovering only feet away. With that I took hold of the nearest batmitton racket and patiently waited for just the right moment and then…SMACK!!! One the bee was down I put it out of it’s misery. Eventually I ended up getting rid of and replaced the wooden pieces of fence that the bees had drilled into. The other day I saw a few of these bees doing their hovering deal in my backyard. So far I am 3 for 3. Am improving my aim and swing.
Thank you! We really weren’t sure where the hive was. This Spring there has been at least one hovering over our deck. So glad you posted this, now we just have to take care of every hole in our deck!
This is so funny!! I was trying to shake my rugs out on the deck and I was so fed up I busted in the kitchen and searched and this came up. So glad to know I am not alone. These bees are driving me NUTS! I will def try what you recommended thanks.
These suckers have been annoying us the past couple years. They hover around our porch all day. There are like 10 of these things out there. Thanks for this tip. We’ve sprayed before but it didn’t work. I’ll try spraying it every other day.
These bees have come every year..but this year they are worse summer is barely here and they are multiping fast. They make the holes in the back pourch over head and fly around all day. at night the hoover around the light if some one leaves it on by mistake then they fly in the kitcken thank god for the inside door . they are horable fly right at you and they dont stop all day long u have to try to killl them. i am so tiered of them stingers or not im getting a solution right away.
lord help me rid these horrable bees
i am so scared of them i am to the point i hear them buzzing every where i go. i have to get rid spray here i come!!
Meee tooo! I just found the piles of sawdust for the first time, but I have seen a bee disappear into the wood fence, and I had no idea that I had invited anyone to live here. I will certainly try some of the suggestions I’ve seen here!
Wake up and smell the coffee, people. Carpenter bees are harmless! There is a GLOBAL POLLINATOR CRISIS. Try being a little inventive and think about a different way to live with them instead of only thinking about yourself.
Had carpenter / wood bees for years – off and on. Some tips: Easiest way to catch them was with a butterfly net. Plus it was fun. You can catch them alive, put them in a jar, and bring them somewhere where they belong better. I didn’t save them, I stepped on the buggers in the net.
My Bee Man told me to plug the bee holes with steel wool. When the baby bees are born, they sense the air coming through the steel wool, eat the steel wool thinking it’s wood, then the stuff rusts in their stomach. I’ve tried that and think it works.
Also heard that paint works best on the wood, more so than stain. So to protect in future years, I’ll paint the wood. Maybe with a little insecticide in the paint.
I also Googled “huge black bees,” got to this site, and enjoyed reading all the posts. Well, most of them. When my oregano is in bloom and I see how many real bees are around, I don’t see the need to keep a couple of monsters that will cause structural damage. At first I thought the pile of sawdust under a chopped down stump was the work of termites, so I’m relieved and looking forward to some target practice! My next Google search will be how to get rid of the raccoons that are tearing up the lawn looking for grubs…
the carpenter bees at my hose like to live in the roll up awning on my kitchen window,last year i thought i got rid of them by rollingand unrolling the awning trapping them inside thus killing them sometimes in the morning i would unroll and dozen or so would fall off i also used fly paper and sticky mice traps but this year to my surprise they are back in numbers at the same spot so the war begins again!! i used to think them harmless but after reading previous comments i think ill start to use weapons of “messy” distruction, wish me luck
Hey T and all the other people who say to leave the bees alone.
A) Let’s talk after they infest YOUR house.
B) There are plenty of places for these things to live that do not cause damage to our property – so we are well within our rights to get rids of these things.
C) For those of you who say they don’t sting, you are wrong. The MALES do not sting, but the FEMALES DO. They do not wear nametags, so you do not know which one is hovering around your head.
D) Each female lays larvae inside each hole, 3 months later they hatch and try to escape thrugh the existing hole. If you have plugged this hole, they will simply bore a new one. Eventually they will multiply into the hundreds and quite possibly end up boring right inside your attic, garage or home.
D) When these bees have bored their way into your home, I want you to post here again about the polinator crisis and how tyou are successfully living side by side with your new friends.
I tend not to write a bunch of responses, however I browsed a bunch of comments on this
page How To Get Rid of Those Large Black Bees Hovering Around Your Deck. I actually do have some questions for you if it’s allright. Is it only me or does it look like like some of the remarks look like they are written by brain dead folks? 😛 And, if you are writing at other places, I would like to follow you. Could you post a list of every one of your social networking sites like your twitter feed, Facebook page or linkedin profile?
I have been bitten/stung/whatever twice in only a few days by these creeps! They have started hiding out in our clothes on the line! To anyone who says they are harmless – I have welts that say otherwise!!
Calling an exterminator tomorrow b/c we can’t see the underside of our deck to find the holes.
I like the valuable information you supply in your articles.
I’ll bookmark your weblog and check again here frequently. I’m
relatively certain I’ll be informed lots of new stuff right right here! Best of luck for the following!
march 13, 2013
we came across this so heres some of our best as we have all these bees.
first the carpenter is mean and they bite or sting depending on which it is male/female and how they feel.terror is their game so we found a nice and not too toxic way to fix your problems that worked best.
1. at the begining of spring and before they are out check your wood post and porches usually the holes will be under and boring up. make note of all of them.
2. go to lowes and buy three cans of the super/large most expansive spray foam. them fill the holes that exist.
3. when its warm watch for these guys then at night quitely spray the foam real good in njew holes and this has helped tremendously. you dont have to worry about them rushing out as this foam is very very tacky. when it reaches them they are istantly caought up in the goo,wings ruined and they are not boring in a different way out seems to work on eggs as we dont inccur any more holes and after our original its only one hole or two a year.
WOW. instead of killing them why not make them a home so they dont interfere with yours? The only reason they are taking to your deck is because humans have taken most land and trees away. Pollinators (AKA as bees) are responsible for 1 in every 3 bites of food and drink you consume. So maybe instead of killing them you could be grateful for the pollination job they do. Unless you want to live on wind pollinated grains and have most fruit and veggies disappear. Simple bamboo poles or some dead wood on your property with holes drilled into it will be suffient for them. You can look up native bee houses and how to make them online.
I found this right on time…I can’t see under my deck but this is what I am sure I have…IDC if they are “harmless”, scare the hell out me, as I am very allergicc to bees…calling the exterminator…
My little boy came in from out screaming saying that a bee stung him. He pulled down his pants and to our suprise the bee came flying out. It was a huge black bee!!! I left it in the bathroom and closed the door and put a towel under the door so it wont escape. I’m scared of it. How do I get this stupid bee out???
Ok, so, easy remedy for big black bees! Ready? Lol! Put a piece of cardboard in the hole that the bees made! I did this last summer & viola’…no more bees! They found another place to go! No pesticides & no harm to the bees!
That is a good idea. Stop up the holes with cardboard or something similar should work. Boy, that would tick them off.
they really arent bad. dont bother me at all
I live in a third floor apartment and these bees have taken over my balcony. the seem to be nesting in the roofing or behind the gutters so I cant see their holes. My neighbors across from me must think I’m nuts out there swinging my broom at them lol.
Ohhh wow, thought this was weird and had to google it, ya I will have to look to see where they are hiding, we built a deck last fall and now finding this bee always scares me hovering on my deck…..thank you!!!
I sprayed WD 40 into the holes. When the bee emerged, I hit it with a fly swatter (it couldn’t fly when it was “well oiled” I killed 4 so far .
I am having a pest control company come on Friday to finish the task.
Valuable information. Lucky me I discovered your website by accident, and I am shocked why this accident did not happened in advance!
I bookmarked it.
I have a type of black bee (looks like a carpenter bee) that is extremely attracted to urine. There are swarms of them by my deck. Are these the same as carpenter bees?
Please stop poisoning the insects! Leave them be. No need to kill them or the unintended insects who will no doubt suffer from the poison.
Write more, thats all I have to say. Literally, it seems as though
you relied on the video to make your point.
You clearly know what youre talking about, why throw away your intelligence on just posting videos to
your site when you could be giving us something enlightening to read?
Those of you bleeding heart tree huggers who say don’t kill the bees must enjoy having your little kids bitten and stung by these things. I hate them. I say take a flame thrower to them. By the way – carpenter bees don’t pollenate stuff.
I use a racketball racket and launch them into the neighbors yard each time I go outside. Normally I would just leave them alone but they are invading my space by hovering in front of my face constantly. They make a nice little “tink” sound when the racket makes contact with them. 🙂
I am so grateful for the few of you who are aware of what’s going on, but for those of you who are still a bit in the dark.. Try not to fear so much, yet take initiative and really research what important roles these bees play. Did you know that honey bees in all of Europe, all of China and all of the US are now reliant on antibiotics because of their weakened immune systems from pesticide use? The carpenter bees aren’t killing these honey bees, look around -there’s dead honey bees everywhere you go now! This, yes, is mainly due to our large scale farming techniques we have developed over the years, but those of you who will…without any thought…spray these chemicals, are perhaps also unaware that every time you allow chemicals into your air, drain or soil you are inevitably harming you and your family. If you think of only yourself, you may think this is not enough to harm the planet, however…we are now living amongst 7 billion people. With 7 billion decisions to make I hope only the best are multiplying, please think before you make one. Your children, of whom many of you are concerned about, are being affected in a much larger scale by our inability to connect with what’s going on around us…by our lack of understanding which causes us to be reckless. Please, if you are allergic, take care of it responsibly by simply not allowing them a way into the soft woods that make up or surround your home. Otherwise, help the earth and yourselves by building these necessary critters somewhere to live other than your home if you wish it not to be destroyed, (because of depleting habitats for MOST animals and insects from our rapidly growing population, our homes are becoming the next best thing). Anything that pollinates is important, anything that can be saved -should. Look it up, or look around. Think. Observe. Look after your children, grandchildren and those to come.
here’s something short and easy to understand: http://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=8049
P.S. if you need help identifying male from female:
http://www.ehow.com/how_5939145_tell-bee-male-carpenter-bee.html
Look. Listen. Observe. You don’t have to be a tree hugger to do it either, I promise…no one will think any less of you if you become suddenly more knowledgeable.
I just have fun with them making it my day to day routine to go out with a fly swatter and see if I can’t get one or two. They fly around if you miss….never attempt to sting…but it is a lot of fun to try to see how far you can make one sail after you smack it hard enough. They do eat bugs usually coming over the top of the house and I have seen them chase birds. They look up to the sky and if it moves, they chase it.
Until I re-sided my house in Hardy board; It was old untreated cedar siding as I had purchased it originally. They made MINCED meat of my face-boards. But the laughs and fun me and my sons got out of trying to keep the house upright was worth the price of re-siding. You think you are agile? try one of those kiddy plastic ball bats on those hovering ones… you will dislocated every joint in your skeletal system trying to hit one after you miss the first swing. They are like trained F-16 pilots. Our Jack-Russell spots for us and eats everyone we connect with. We have literally killed the grass by spinning in one spot trying to defend our faces. It is too easy with a tennis racquet. Just toss up a small stone.. it will chase it down and come comfortably into “serving” range.. The Females are the non-stop timber carnivores who are no less damaging than Free-willed flying drill bits. On a quiet day I could sit on the porch and hear the multitude just chewing my home into sawdust and pushing it out tauntingly for me to sweep. The saw dust sweeps pretty easily but the sticky yellowish stuff is a result of an orifice very near the stinging one… and requires liquid removal… I tried all the things I could think of.. putting tin foil balls in the holes.. stones.. cross-tying with staples… They just back up and make an alternate entrance to the ant-bed like tunnel system of mazes. I actually think they figured out my intent and re-modeled to improve the acoustic resonance of the chewing noises! I realized the females were the dirty looking bumble-bees in the azaleas and changed tactics to discourage the males from the need to hang around and my puppy did get stung in the mouth many times. Yes!.. many times.. Evidently the pain was no match for the crunchy deliciousness. Any way.. Once my “hardy” board was installed and my face boards are now metal coiled wrapped… they changed their target and began consuming my garage. It looked like the feds tried to kill Bonnie and Clyde in there. There were so many holes I don’t think they even had room for the tunnels! After winning the first war I don’t think they planned to live in them to begin with! So now my garage is ALSO covered in hardy board and I now sit on the porch with a big smile as they are now joyfully hovering around my neighbors eaves…. 🙂
Forgot to give my name… and this.. If you wanna hear something kinda cool.. wait til right before sunset; find one of those boards they have drilled into and smack it with a hammer. It will sound like something out of star-wars.. Wait–for–it— They come piling out and it looks like something from star-wars..
How pathetic! scared by a few bees? It’s always pathetic to see a human’s mind dominated by insects. When that happens, you become less than an insect.
Great advice. My friend was being pestered by what turned out to be a male. I watched where he went and discovered he disappeared into a perfectly round hole on the underside of some wooden furniture (for a connecting bolt).
So I waited until he came out and then pushed in a thin pine needle to check for any others. I then had the begebees scared out of me as it buzzed furiously – there was obviously another one in there.
So I waited again and a female (with a splash of yellow) came out. Hurrah! No female to attract the males. I checked again (nothing) and then sprayed the hole which we will now also seal with a cork.
Many thanks for the info on the species and the treatment.
Excellent site you’ve got here.. It’s difficult to find high quality writing like yours nowadays.
I really appreciate individuals like you! Take care!!
Undeniably imagine that that you stated. Your favorite justification seemed to be on the net the easiest thing to consider of.
I say to you, I definitely get irked whilst other people think about
concerns that they just don’t understand about. You controlled to hit the nail upon the top as well
as outlined out the entire thing without having side effect , other folks can take a signal.
Will likely be back to get more. Thanks
spray talstar p… proceed to sweep them up.
Pingback: How To Play Soccer Bees Drilling | Soccer Training Pro
Pingback: My Best Review on How To Get Rid Of Dark Under Eye Bags - Home Remedies For Bag Eyes
Uh,mjljkljjpkkljokm,ll.m,k,lmj,ln,m.k.l,.k,lm,,
Mall..k,
K.k.jlkjh
Oknnj
Jouhhjhhjjjhhjimdfgdv
Hjkbnjn
Pingback: how to get rid of fruit flies - trondolo site - trondolo site
I have one that hangs on my deck hovering all day too. I go about my business and he flies a few feet away when I go outside. I don’t bother him and he doesn’t bother me. I think we’re becoming friends!
Boy, I don’t know it it will help me. I just 4ft 11 and weigh not too much. Who are frightened more of Spiders, thier just too creepy to even look at, But, these bees are not any different, thier big , black and really nosy. It seems only when I am out trying to do what I normally do, which is work with paint, cardboard, and things like that is when this one particuallar one comes out and I know it must be the same one. Because there is only one, never seen more than one. but like it comes out of no where and comes shooting towards me like it is taking revenge for calling my other half thinking he is big and scrong and of course fearless at least I thought anyways, Well, he claims he stands out there and never sees it in sight. Then he either is too scared knowing how fearful I am that i put on some kind of good act that it scares him too or that bee just wants me hopefully it just likes me and likes hanging out with me, but I don’t like it and wonder how I could tell it without it getting too mad at me if only it stayed its distance.
Where is it when it isnt there? I wonder if it sleeps here waiting just for me .. help somebody please ! I like the idea of spreying but to scared to go out side .
Hi, we don’t have a deck but our house is siding. Can they be living in there? I read this and checked for holes but I don’t see any. Just the seams and such. We do have a wooden fence with the fence posts? The fence wood itself is paper thin but there are posts that are thick. We have a heavy wooded area right behind us too. The bees are super scary, the ones that patrol my backyard keep my 2 year old locked inside.
We have one male every season it seems and he is quite amusing… every time I come out, he comes out and checks me out. He goes back and forth in front of me in a “threatening” way, but ever since I learned that they are harmless, I just let him bee… pardon the pun 🙂
Another thing I find amusing is that, just like large crows being chased by fearless smaller birds, this guy has a tiny enemy that chases him around the yard… hilarious!
my 2 cents…
We have at least 40 big, black bees swarming around our salvia. They are sucking the nectar out of them. They arrive every year, are interested solely in salvia and leave within weeks. No problems except they scare everyone and are VERY noisy. Don’t see them boring holes in anything (we have plaster siding), so may not be Carpenter bees. Any ideas what we are dealing with?
We are being bothered by at least 2 of the biggest hairy bees I have ever seen. We have a brand new deck, so I don’t think they are boring holes in it. We are due to soon have the deck preserved with a satin polyurethane. We have a fire wood pile that is sitting on the ground close by the deck. Do you think they could actually be in there? How should we handle getting rid of them. I have no qualms about killing them, unlike some of the other commenters. Whether they sting or not, I find them unwelcome.
Comment above
Hi, ive been trying to research this all last summer.. They just came back., My issue is, I can’t find any holes.. My balcony is all concrete and brick & im on the 15th floor.. Does anyone know if they bore holes in concrete.. If so, how can I get rid of them?
I’ve been dealing with these territorial, bumbling bees for several Springs now. They seem to be housed in the gutter or the wood part under the side of the roof. We live in a tall 3 story townhouse with siding. In our 3rd level bedroom, we can hear them hitting into the windows! Since we don’t have a high ladder, we’ve even considered leaning out of the window and spraying up into the gutter. As I stand at my front door, I can observe wooden curlings, or sawdust, falling right down on me. I hope we come up with a solution soon, before calling in a pro.
I thought I was the only one under attack!! When I first moved to my 40 acre farm in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains we only had one that zoomed around us. My youngest named it “Joey” so we left it alone. Now that the kids are gone, 17 years later, going out on my deck to relax looks more like LAX!! I don’t like spray, but when through a whole can of it trying to kill just one. Nothing. Then I went to 4 fly swatters together in a fan-like bunch. Got one. I think I’ll resort to just going into town and buying a couple of badminton rackets and just get some cardio workout with both arms swinging like a couple of windshield wipers on crack… All the tree-huggers that say “leave them alone” aren’t at my house, trying to get some chill time. So, unless they want to come and fan them away from me while I’m relaxing, then just shut it. LOL I have 40 acres, the ones that don’t bug me have free reign over the rest, and that includes drilling holes in my 2 barns till I catch ’em… Thanks for the info!! LMAO at the comments, too! I’m like the girl that’s screaming bloody murder while sunbathing. Luckily, no one can hear me scream on my farm. Ciao!!
OMG that is hilarious!!! Im still laughing
Boric acid is a dust and can be used to kill any insect. I know this from my Entomologist friend. Now, on to my turmoil. I went outside to cut the backyard and there were so many of these huge bees flying and fighting all over the place I ran back in the house. They didn’t bother me but I was not sure if they could sting or not. Needless to say I got online and did my research. I’m glad I came across this article/blog. My weapon of choice is a plastic rake, they never see it coming, lol!
I’m so glad you took the time to explain how to get rid of those annoying BEES!!!! They have hijacked my porch for about three years now!! I often thought, ” I hope my neighbors aren’t watching”! I look fearless, until I walk outside on my patio…lol! I am excited to go home and look for holes and afraid of how many at the same time. I’m ready to get my spray on and plug on! I am going to remain consistent, even if it means for three weeks, I am ready for WAR!! Thank you so Much!!!
Pingback: how to get rid of wasps | android firmware download
Pingback: How To Build A Deck Around A Pool | Top 10 Amazing
Go to Harbor Freight and buy one of their electric fly swatters that runs on batteries It looks like a tennis racket.I have a ball knocking them out of the air It also helps your tennis swing.
Once you’ve found where they’re burrowing it’s easy to deter them. Bee spray or pesticide is effective, but any sort of compound that will irritate or repel them will get rid of them eventually. The long range of the spray is really nice for keeping your distance.
Pingback: How To Get Rid Of Your Money In Gta 5 | Khpost168
Getting the powder under the deck is the hard part!!
So try this: put the powder generously on the ground along the upwing side of the deck. use your leaf/grass blower to blow the powder under the deck completely (watch for it to come out the opposite side). Apply when the underside of the deck is dry for best results. You may have to repeat after the undeveloped bees hatch. Good Luck!
Pingback: How To Build A Large Deck | My Blog
Pingback: How To Build A Deck Around A Round Pool | My Blog
What do you do if your deck is ground level and you can’t see where the holes are?
why IF YOU CANT GET UNDER YOUR PORCH TO LOCATE THE HOLES. THERE ARE NO HOLES ON THE SURFACE OF THE PORCH. THE BEES CRAWL BETWEEN THE PLANKS AND GO UNDER THE PLANK.
HELP!!!!!!!!
Pingback: How To Get Nectar In Family Farm Seaside | Goldepuntin GameGoldepuntin Game
Pingback: Getting Rid Of Acne In Your 30s - How to Get Rid Of Your Acnes
Pingback: How To Maintain Brick Pavers In Orlovista Fl | Brick Pavers Orlando
Say “thanks†you to your mothers and fathers which they gave you the world
Pingback: What To Put Under Patio Stones In Orlovista Fl | Brick Pavers Orlando
An interesting discussion is worth comment. I do believe that you need
to publish more on this issue, it might not be a taboo subject but typically people
don’t talk about such issues. To the next! Many thanks!!
Hi everyone, I’m a new parent and I’m desperately to get my four month son to sleep longer during night. Right now I am fortunate to have four hours rest a night. Bless
Thanks for all input! I am watching the hover bee from my ldining room.
Going to buy spray today! Will save me more money than replacing deck with composite!
Bee kind to our pollinator friends
Zdumiewające dołączenie do przedmiotu. Rewelacyjne objaśnienia.
I have to laugh at some of the comments here. They obviously are not property owners with home values to consider if they think this is about “Being afraid of a few insects”. Carpenter bees have no other purpose than to destroy your wooden buildings and decks. If left untreated they expand their colony every year and winter inside the wood that eventually looks like swiss cheese. I, too, thought they were nothing but a nuisance for several years until this year I had an explosion of them. Upon inspecting my second story deck and the understructure I have seen their bore holes every couple of feet. Every day more than 40 of the pests hover around my outdoor dining making it impossible to eat there comfortably. I then discovered some of them were living inside my teak table, also!!! That did it for me. I have ordered some Best Bee Brothers traps which apparently are 100% guaranteed so although they are expensive I intend to get my money back if they do not work. In the past I do recall asking my Terminex guy if they could do something about it and they declined saying I would have to find the holes myself, put insecticide in them, then put steel wool into every hole. Who the heck wants to go through all that? I’ll update you with the effectiveness of the traps in a few weeks. Ugh.
I have come to the understanding that the big nasty bees have an attitude. I try to do a stand off with them sometimes pick up an object to swing at them just in case. I was watching them one day to try and understand why they are so mean to me when I go outside. As I was watching them. I found out I am not the only one they don’t like. They chase off anything that moves. Even birds. I saw them chasing off a wasp smaller bees and well basically anything that moved. When I step outside I can hear them and I know I am going to have to make a run for it swinging my arms like a crazy woman. Bet my neighbors are just amused to that site. I am going to try the method mentioned but to be honest I will do it at night when the sun goes down because that is when they go away or atleast I think they go somewhere. I have had about three that want to fight with me daily. Feeling like I am being terrioized in my own home. The tennis racket makes it fun when you knock them down but they are strong little things. They get back up and be like come at me bro. I got this. I will not let a bug freak me out so bad that I stay indoors all summer. They are scary sounding with nasty little legs hanging while they hover over my head. Smh.
I’ve been buzzed whenever I walk around the yard. I have a propane torch (handy little device from Harbor Freight) that has been a lot of fun. It burns propane and when the handle/trigger is pulled it emits a blast of
very hot flaming lp. It is much like napalm, but much smaller. With a little practice I’ve been able to reach them in flight. Just got in from torching 9 of them. So many more to go. But now at least it’s fun!
Next I have to start going after the holes and I’m going to try WD-40 as one poster suggested. Since the flying population has decreased I will just spray directly into the holes. Check back to see my progress . . .
Hi, sometimes I receive a 403 error when I view this webpage. I figured you would like to know.
I have this bib mammoth of a bee, could be carpenter but I have sprayed it several times with wasp/hornet and home defense spray. It won’t die!!!!! I do not any holes bored or anything and it just hovers over the stairs. What am I missing here?
Hi im only 11 but thanks for the info cause theres that huge black bee in my back yard and if theres one thing that im scared of its bugs and insects anyway i told my parents to buy the bug spray and im sure that your method will work.also no affense to the pollinators but if theres a place where we dont need you its our house.thanks again eric and keep writing good methods cause we need them ;/
I read your suggestion and I was just wondering did the bees ever return. My aunt suggested that we use caulking to plug up the holes. It is beyond uncomfortable to stay outside with these critters. Never knew they were called construction bees. Thanks for the insight very helpful and relieved to know I am not alone. TO HELL WITH THE WOOD/CARPENTER BEES
Valuable information. Lucky me I found your site by accident, and I am shocked why this accident did not happened earlier! I bookmarked it. keagegedecgdaegb
Really enjoyed reading ur blog. deegkfdedefg
There are some interesting points in time on this article however I don’t know if I see all of them center to heart. There may be some validity but I’ll take hold opinion until I look into it further. Good article , thanks and we wish extra! Added to FeedBurner as properly
He is a professional who crafts a unique piece of furniture as per your needs and imagination. Be it a job of fixing your dining chair with a new leg or something as big as crafting a dressing table, you need a skilled carpenter Dubai to get it fixed.
I’ve read all of the posts, and nowhere does it mention how much damage these bees can do. I have about 20 around my deck every day, but they have never bothered me. Nevertheless, I have found about 30 holes in the 2×8 rafters holding up my deck cover, and recently saw sawdust coming down over my table. Does anyone know if these bees actually damage a structure?
please sign me up for specials
What if holes are under deck which we cannot get under?
Pingback: Ringing In Ears Sinus Congestion | My Tinnitus Wiki
I read most of the POSTS. I’m not one of the enviromental wackos. Did any of you hear or read that the bees are dying? The bees are the ones to polinize the flowers. W/o them just about all the plants, flowers and tees will die. When that happen, we don’t have to worry about Climate Change. we WILL join the bees.The scientists have NO clue how to stop the problem.