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| Mickler talks about ‘the flying cordless drills’ |
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04/05/09
KEITH MICKLER, FLOYD COUNTY EXTENSION SERVICE AGENT
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March and April usually brings the first sightings of the “Flying Cordless Drill” (aka the carpenter bee) to north Georgia. Carpenter bees are the large, black and yellow bees often seen hovering around the eaves of our houses, wooden fences, underside of decks or even your head on warm days. Occasionally carpenter bees are mistaken for bumble bees but differ in that they have a shiny black abdomen in contrast to the yellow abdomen of the bumble bee. In today’s article, Wade Hutcheson, UGA Spalding County Extension agent, shares the following information about combating these flying cordless drills: “We used to try to hit them with baseball bats. A tennis racket would have been a better choice, but there were no tennis courts on our farm. We would also catch them going into their holes, plug the hole and listen to their angry reply. Carpenter bees were a lot of fun for growing boys. Homeowners, though, usually aren’t into fun things like that. They just want to get rid of these obnoxious bees. People who live in cedar-sided homes see no humor in them at all. It’s about this time every year that people see large, black bees hovering around their heads and homes. They’re probably carpenter bees. We get very little benefit in pollination from them. Another difference between carpenter bees and bumblebees is where they nest. Bumblebees usually nest in the ground. Carpenter bees build their nests in tunnels they create in wood. They chew a perfectly round hole about the size of a dime, and sometimes larger. Male carpenter bees seem to be mean, but it’s all an act. They’ll hover in front of people who are near their nest, even dive-bombing occasionally. But the males are harmless. They don’t have stingers. Female carpenter bees do have stingers, though, and their sting can be quite painful. Take it from me, who had to be stung several times before I learned to leave them alone. The females seldom sting unless they are handled or aggravated. Even if they don’t sting, female carpenter bees aren’t harmless. It’s the fertilized females that excavate the tunnels and lay eggs in a series of small cells. They provision each cell with a ball of pollen and a little wall between cells. The baby carpenter bees will feed on this pollen until emerging as adults in late summer. The newly emerged adults will overwinter in the abandoned nest tunnels to return again the next year. Carpenter bees prefer bare, unpainted or weathered softwoods, especially redwood, cedar, cypress and pine. Painted or pressure-treated wood are less likely to be attacked. Common attack zones are eaves, window trim, fascia boards and decks. Sawdust beneath the hole is an easily recognizable sign of attack. Control is a combination of things. A fresh coat of oil-based paint is very effective. They don’t like paint. Wood stains and preservatives are less reliable, but better than bare wood. Preventive sprays applied to wood surfaces are effective only for a short period, meaning that you would have to repeat the application about every two to three weeks. However, where the bees have already attacked, spraying insecticide on the wood surface does no good. You have to inject the insecticide it into each hole to be effective. An aerosol spray for wasp and bee control will work if you direct it into the hole. You can also use insecticidal sprays or dust such as carbaryl (Sevin), cyfluthrin, permethrin or resmethrin. It’s best to spray at night to kill the adults and the brood. If you spray during the day, the adults may be gone, and they may just start a new colony. Remember, the females can pop you pretty good, so treating towards sunset or at night, when the bees are less active, helps you, too. Or you could make it a two-person job and arm the other with the tennis racket.” For additional information on insects in and around your home, contact the University of Georgia Extension Office in your county.
Keith Mickler is the agriculture agent for The University of Georgia/Floyd County Cooperative Extension. Located at 12 E. Fourth Ave., Rome, GA 30161, telephone: 706-295-6210. Office hours are Monday-Friday 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
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