If you see a giant carpenter bee buzzing around your front porch, you might be afraid if you don’t know it. But don’t worry. Female carpenter bees can and do sting, but they’re not aggressive and typically won’t inflict a sting. On the other hand, Males are highly aggressive and defensive of their nests. Ironically enough, they don’t have a stinger! But there are other dangers you need to watch out for when carpenter bees. That’s why they need to be a part of your Rockville pest control plan.
How To Identify Carpenter Bees
Carpenter bees in Rockville can sometimes be easy to confuse with bumblebees. They’re big and fat and fuzzy like bumblebees, so differentiating between them at a glance can be challenging. However, if you look closer, you can tell the difference. A significant difference between carpenter bees and bumblebees is their coloring and hair distribution. Carpenter bees have hairless, shiny abdomens, while bumblebees have a fuzzy black and yellow abdomen.
You’ll also notice significant differences in their behavior. Bumblebees are social bees and live in underground colonies that can have hundreds of different individuals. Meanwhile, carpenter bees live alone and build nests by chewing through wood.
Does Anything Instantly Kill Carpenter Bees?
There are a few non-toxic carpenter bee deterrents and killers that you can use to get rid of them on your own. Keep in mind these only work for one or two random carpenter bees. Getting them to work on full-blown infestations is a lot harder.
One of the best carpenter bee repellents is plain old vinegar. Take a spray bottle full of white vinegar and spray carpenter bee holes full of it. This will kill their larvae and drive the adults away. A strong enough vinegar solution will also kill adults on contact. Three-part water and one-part boric acid spray will do the same thing.
Treat exposed wood around your property with essential oil sprays if you want more bee-friendly solutions. Smells like peppermint, tea tree, and citrus all repel carpenter bees, so spraying them around areas like porches, wooden posts, decking, etc., can encourage bees to move on to somewhere less stinky.
What Damages Can Carpenter Bees Cause In Rockville
Carpenter bees may not be able to do the same level of damage like carpenter ants or termites. However, they can still mess up the wood on the outside of your home – especially if many individuals have all decided your house is an excellent place to set up shop. If you get enough carpenter bee females boring holes into support columns or deck flooring, the damage can threaten their structural integrity. So one or two carpenter bees isn’t much of a problem, but an infestation of dozens or hundreds of them is different.
What Is The Best Treatment For Carpenter Bees
Carpenter bee removal is not easy once you get an established infestation. Natural remedies like vinegar or boric acid will get rid of a few bees, but many of them require much more than these treatments can offer. The more you start messing with carpenter bee nests, the more likely you are to wind up stung by one of the females inside. The good news is professional pest control help can eliminate carpenter bees for good while keeping you safe.
Here at Womack Pest Control, our carpenter bee treatment methods are effective against these destructive bees and safe for people. We can get rid of your infestation without the risk of painful stings. So give us a call or visit our contact page to get started!