How to Spray Logs to Prevent Carpenter Bees

Carpenter bees are an annual threat.

Unlike honeybees with their hives, carpenter bees dig long, perfectly round tunnels into wood to lay their eggs and hatch their young. Log homes, woodpiles and other valuable logs are vulnerable to carpenter bee damage, and homeowners need to spray regularly to prevent the pests from destroying their property. If you own a log home or are curing logs for burning or carving, you need to spray them in order to keep them safe from the damage carpenter bees can do.

Things You'll Need

• Sprayer
• Insect repellent liquid
• Duster
• Carpenter bee repellent dust

Instructions

1. Spray at the most effective time of year. Carpenter bees are at their most active in the spring, when they are drilling new nests in your logs. To keep them from boring into your wood, use preventive spray as soon as it is warm enough to do so. Enough chemical will last throughout the season to deter the carpenter bees. Preventive spraying is the only sure way to keep carpenter bees away from your property. Once they've dug into your logs and laid their eggs, the eggs cannot be killed by spray.

2. Spray thoroughly. Fill your sprayer with insecticide effective on carpenter bees such as Cyonara 9.7, and thoroughly spray the logs you want to protect. Cover all exposed sides of the log with an even spray, completely dampening the wood. Spay again in two weeks for better protection from the bees' damaging holes.

3. Take extra measures to remove an infestation. If you already have carpenter bees damaging your logs, you will need to spray more than twice during the spring season. Wait another two weeks and spray again with insecticide. Once the spray has dried, follow up with a carpenter bee repelling chemical dust such as Delta Dust. Pour the dust into your duster and dust all carpenter bee openings you can find.

References

• Carpenter Bee Control, Treatment and Prevention
• Get Rid Of Carpenter Bees