The Seventeen Year Periodical Cicada : you would think we would have all we needed to worry about this spring.

However, just as many calls about carpenter bees as cicadas are coming in this time of year.

It’s maybe because the bees are here and the cicada are on their way. I was outdoors this past weekend where there was a long roofline of untreated wood. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that many carpenter bees boring into wood. These are the special bumble bees that excavate holes in wood in order for the female to lay eggs. They bore up under the wood not the sides or top but on the underneath side. The perfectly round hole goes up for a few inches then makes a right angle. It’s on this level hole area that the female lays her eggs. The carpenter bee started their drilling a couple weeks ago and will continue for another couple weeks.

It all depends on the type of wood as to the seriousness of the damage. They prefer untreated wood. Next to that they will drill into painted untreated wood especially with water base paint. They like even less, oil base painted untreated wood. The least likely affected wood by the carpenter bee is with pressure treated wood.

Like I mentioned, they only bore in the underneath part of the wood framing. Knowing where they drill, an application of Sevin sprayed to this area is all that is needed for near total control. However, read and follow all label directions on the label first.