Bees In My Fence

All of a sudden start to notice large bees hovering around your fence? This time a year they are most likely carpenter bees. Think of them as a mom and dad bee, mom takes care of the not yet born young and dad hovers outside of the hole the bee lives in and protects his family. Funny thing is the dad bee doesn't sting, the mom does. What the dad will do is intimidate the heck out of you. Go near the area the carpenter bees are living and you will get chased.

How do you get rid of them? Always use caution. There are pest control supply products you can buy online. The treatment is long and tedious. There are often times many many holes. The other option is hire a pro. The last and most expensive is to simple replace that wooden fence or structure with a plastic fence. I think I soon will be getting a plastic fence. I hate these bees!

Stink Bug Traps



Stink bugs have become a real problem over the past few years, they get into the home and are big and ugly and well, stink.  So how do you control these stink bugs? Kill them? Stink bug traps? I guess it's a little of both.

So just what are we talking about here? What is a stink bug and why do we care? Well Stink bugs, or the brown marmorated stink bug, is an import from China/Japan. The bugs are very dangerous and destructive to fruits and veggies. This becomes an economical pest and aside from being a nuisance to us, they are especially hated by farmers.

For the home owner, there are traps that you can buy that go by names like Strubes and Bio Care. There are also companies that specialize in stink bug control. Coopers Pest comes to mind in the Pennsylvania and New Jersey area. However you decide to get rid of them one thing is clear. It is important to do so.

Carpenter Bees

Great God's Trousers! The Wood Bees Are Back! That's right, wooden fences, fascia boards and any unpainted outside wood structures beware. The large bees that seem to make a perfect round hole in your fence post,  leaving a pile of saw dust behind,  are back to make your life a living hell. I hate these bees, better known as carpenter bees or more properly, Xylocopa virginica.

These carpenter bees can cause a substantial amount of damage for their size, unlike the other wood destroying pest, termites, these bees do not eat the wood. They burrow or drill into the wood and make a right turn. Now multiply this tunnel by many years and many offspring later, and you can see that the damage can be big.

So the next questions would be just how do you get rid of these rotten stinkin flying wood wreckers, and are they in the carpenter union? Well, you can exclude them or try to mechanically keep them out via painting wood surfaces outside with a heavy latex type paint. Even then sometimes they drill. You can use pesticides, this can be dangerous if you don't know what you are doing, so maybe call a professional, lastly...buy plastic!

No doubt carpenter bees are a pain...and if you catch them during their season you may have some success at getting rid of them over time, but this all depends on the seasons. This year in Pennsylvania they emerged early...in March...due to a very warm winter and an unusually warm month of March. Their 2 seasons are spring and late summer, around August.

So, if you are unlucky enough to have these bees using your home for a breeding ground, you can do what I do, grab a tennis racket and swat the living bageesus out of them, call a pro, or try to do it yourself. Either way, be very careful.

Wood Bees

Can I reiterate my complete dislike of wood bees or as they are officially called, Carpenter Bees. We've had an unusually warm March here on the east coast and a few weekends ago I was painting my wood porch in the back and was bothered all day by these bees. I know they can't really harm you unless you provoke them in an extreme manner, and when I say extreme manner I mean grabbing a female in your hand, but I still hate them. Half my day was spent in wait with a can of wasp freeze trying to shoot them out of the air. One day I will get rid of my wooden fence that surrounds my yard and replace it with a good old fashioned plastic fence. Anyway...guess spring, and carpenter bees, are here.