The Macomb Daily

Carpenter bees to blame for round holes in your wood house

- By Gretchen Voyle For MediaNews Network

Q: I have a house that has cedar boards and bats on the walls. Part of the house has a semi-solid stain and part has never been stained because it is a new addition. I am finding round holes in the siding, one-half inch in diameter. It looks like somebody ran a drill bit into the wood. There is even sawdust on the ground under the hole. Here’s the strange part:The holes are only in the unfinished wood. Is this vandalism or bugs or what? How do I get it to stop?

A: You might think of this as vandalism but mommy carpenter bees think of it as home building for their future-children.

Most people have heard of carpenter ants but carpenter bees are not as well known. Both involve some woodworkin­g skills to the determent to your home.

In the late spring, female carpenter bees look for places to lay their eggs for the next generation. This requires chew

ing incredibly perfect round holes into wood siding, post, decks or fascia boards or about anywhere there is solid wood. They prefer unfinished wood, but it seems that they will occasional­ly put holes in stained or painted wood. In Southern states, they will go after all kinds of wood, regardless of the finish. That’s why those big wooden columns on the antebellum mansions have been replaced by aluminum columns with pipes in the center.

Carpenter bees are three-quarters to one inch in length. The thorax, behind the head has yellowish orange fur with a shiny black spot in the middle. Their abdomens are also shiny, hairless black. Hind legs have a dense brush of hairs.

There is a passing resemblanc­e to a bumble bee, but those nest in the ground. Carpenter bees are solitary, but there may be multiple females in the area making nesting galleries, accounting for the holes.

Their holes are perfectly round and coarse sawdust can be found below the hole. Mommy makes a tunnel in and places a ball of pollen and nectar inside. She lays one egg on the ball and walls it off with a lump of chewed wood. She then does it all again until the hole is filled. The eggs hatch and the kiddies feed on the pollen balls. From egg to adult takes about seven weeks.

Carpenter bees will inhabit the gallery holes for winter protection. It is possible for a female to use a hole another year and make the galleries branching.

Carpenter bees are great

pollinator­s but the house wrecking has to stop. Females can sting but are not very aggressive.

Spray the holes in the evening when it is dark. Use an insecticid­e, preferably water-based. You don’t want oil spots on the

house. After a few days when you are sure there is no insect activity, patch the holes with wood putty or something similar. But the message is clear to get the rest of the house done with the semi-solid stain now.

Q: I have flower beds and a vegetable garden. There is no border, like edging or patio bricks between the grass and the dirt. As the season progresses, the grass creeps into the beds and takes over. It seems like I am doing more grass pulling than anything else. I can’t afford to put in edging around my many beds. I don’t want to use weed killer spray, either. Is there a solution?

A: One solution, coming up. The first time you do this will be the most work. It’s called hand edging.

You ideally do the hand edging in spring, when the soil is damp and grass and roots are not growing wildly.

There are several tools you can use, but the results are the same.

You will put a straight edge between the grass and soil where the line is supposed to be. Landscaper­s often use a flat-edged shovel. Or you could use a soil knife. It is important that the cutting edge is sharp.

Facing the bed, step down on the shovel and cut a clean line. Toss the soil and grass parts into the bed. Sort out the grass lumps so they do not root themselves again.

You’ll be left with a clean drop off about two or so inches deep with the soil gently sloping away and up into the bed from the cut. Grass will not grow over the cliff that you created. Keeping that clean edge drop-off will stop the grass invasion. Occasional­ly during the growing season, touch up the mini cliffs around the beds.

 ?? COURTESY JULIA WILKINS CC BY-SA 3.0 ?? Carpenter bees have a passing resemblanc­e to bumblebees, and they are good pollinator­s, but they like to raise their kids in your wood.
COURTESY JULIA WILKINS CC BY-SA 3.0 Carpenter bees have a passing resemblanc­e to bumblebees, and they are good pollinator­s, but they like to raise their kids in your wood.

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