Carpenter Bee Prevention Around Your Home

With warmer months arriving in Georgia, Spring and Summer are the perfect seasons for cookouts on the deck! As you are enjoying the nice weather, be sure to also keep an eye on your home. This is the time of year that carpenter bees make their appearance in Georgia yards and homes too.

While perhaps not as known for stinging, carpenter bees still have a reputation. They can ruin the outside structure and internal foundation of your home. Continue reading to learn the signs of a carpenter bee infestation. Then give Lookout Pest Control, formerly Any Pest Inc., a call for pest control services!

How to spot carpenter bees

Carpenter bees may look like the typical bumblebee at first glance.  They are black and yellow and approximately one inch in length.  The most notable difference between the bumblebee and a carpenter bee is the lack of fuzz. The bumblebees’ abdomen is hairy with yellow and black stripes while a carpenter bee abdomen is hairless and all black with yellow above it on its thorax. While the female carpenter bee does sting, it is typically only used as a means of protecting herself or the colony.  Male carpenter bees do not sting, but they will fly in an aggressive manner.  That is definitely enough to make any homeowner be alarmed!

Now that you know what to look for when identifying a carpenter bee, what do signs of an infestation look like?

Drilled holes in wood are often the first sign.  Carpenter bees burrow into the wood trim and exterior of houses.  This can include decks and furniture, windows, doors, stairs, and any other part of your home where wood has been used.  While they prefer bare wood, carpenter bees will also start their burrowing on surfaces with a thinner layer of paint.

While some people may think carpenter bees eat the wood they drill through, this is not actually the case.  They are simply burrowing.  Therefore, after they have made the tunnels in wood structures, another sign of their presence is piles of sawdust.  This is called ‘frass’ and the fresher the pile, the more likely it is that you have a recent infestation.

This is an inconvenience because of the damage it can lead to for your home.  However, it is also better to catch the problem early.  So you actually want to see those piles of frass because it could mean preventing a more extensive infestation.

How to protect against and prevent carpenter bees

If you already notice signs of an infestation that doesn’t mean it’s too late to protect your home!  It is important to know the right steps though so that you not only eliminate the problem but also protect against future infestation during the next Spring and Summer.

Everyone thinks carpenter bees come back every year, but actually, they never leave! Their most active the 5-6 weeks in spring when pollen is high. They bore a hole turn and make a gallery. They collect pollen in the gallery and lay an egg and then they pack sawdust in the gallery.  The process is called carton egg-laying. (Mud wasps or dirt dobbers do the same) the larvae grow over the winter and then emerge in the spring and start over. This means even if you aren’t noticing current signs of activity around a burrow hole, there is a good chance next year you will.  The initial burrow is only half an inch in size, but a colony can include several tunnels reaching deep into the foundation of a home.

It is important to find a professional who knows how to identify carpenter bee colonies as well as see just how extensive the damage might be.  Once the infestation is treated, it is important to patch up any holes or damage caused to your home.

Additionally, looking for any other possible spots that could be ideal for a burrow helps to prevent a problem before it develops. The best way to avoid wood destruction is by using a heavy coat of paint or stain paying particular attention to the underside of decks, railings, and the backside of fascia board below soffits. Other preditors can also cause damage. Woodpeckers love to find carpenter bee galleries and will destroy that piece of wood to eat the larvae inside.

Protect your home and increase the life of your outdoor furniture and other property.  Spring and Summer months in Georgia are known for bringing carpenter bee infestations.  However, with the right knowledge and help from experienced professionals, you can make sure to save yourself from the stress and financial burden of more extensive damage.

Professional Pest Control in Atlanta, Ga

Lookout Pest Control Can Protect Your Home.  Based in Kennesaw, Georgia, Lookout Pest Control is a family-founded pest control company.  We have over three decades of experience keeping homes protected against carpenter bees and several other pests.  Our technicians treat each home as if it were their own and are trained to deliver expert service.  Contact us online or call us today at 678-888-0035.