Carpenter Bee Control

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carpenter bee life cycle

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How long do carpenter bees live?

On average about one year. Here is the “expected” life cycle from start to finish.

Eggs are laid late spring to early summer in nests drilled out in dead wood. Nests may contain several eggs. Soon after being laid they’ll hatch and feed on pollen for a month or two before pupating to adults.

In late summer they’ll emerge as adults and spend the remainder of the year hunting for pollen. As fall turns to winter both males and females will hibernate till the following spring. They will use pre existing nests to hibernate and these nests will many times house several bees. Once it’s warm enough the following spring, they’ll emerge from their nests seeking fresh pollen and a mate. Soon after mating males will begin to die and females will both fill pre existing nests with new eggs as well as drill out new nests following their instinctive behavior to expand the local population. Females will live long enough to lay her eggs and maybe even most of the summer but usually not two winters.

As explained in our CARPENTER BEE CONTROL ARTICLE, they’ll commonly use the same nest over and over which is why nests on structures need to be dusted and sealed. Failure to fend them off when you first see activity will usually lead to more and more coming around.

Hope this answers your question!

jonathan

www.carpenterbees.com/carpenter-bee-control

Comments

  1. yes we have try every thing for the carpender bees so was looking at this page where can we fine the drione and the cyoermethriem the pt 515 wasp freeze thanks james

  2. I HAVE A CARPORT MADE OF 4X4’S AND THE CARPENTER BEES ARE DRILLING INTO IT HOW DO I GET RID OF THEM ?

  3. We have a large nest and we are not sure what kind of bee it is. Even the exterminators we called haven’t been able to identify them (they took samples back with them). We can hear them in the ceiling of my room, and I have seen them entering the outside of the house through the roof…at one point in time. The exterminators have been up in the attic and sprayed some of them (thinking they were the only ones there), but the ones that we keep hearing in the ceiling in my room are still there, and it sounds like there is a massive amount of them (they only make a “hive” noise when I bang on the ceiling…other than that I hear a strange buzzsaw noise that sounds like an occassional “drilling”). The exterminators have been back a couple of times, but we now can’t find where they are coming in from (because they just stopped flying in from the point in the roof that I had seen them go before) and are clueless on what to do next. My kids come in and sleep with me, but I am so terrified that these bees are going to find a way in somehow, or are doing damage to the house, that I can’t sleep at night. What should I tell these exterminators to do next? They have told me to call them when I see where the bees are coming in from…but I’m afraid that I won’t be able to find out that information, or that the damage will be more extensive by then…plus, I can’t keep going on with no sleep at night.

    • For starters I think you should get another opinion. Remember, you are the customer and you’re hiring a service company because you are relying on their expertise to solve a problem you’re not able to solve. I don’t think it’s professional that they are relying on you to “call them” when you see where the bees are entering. Additionally, I’ve never heard of a company that’s not able to identify most any pest in a day or two. And when it comes to bees and wasps, there are only a handful of species most of which are treated the same way without their species really mattering.
      At this point you should definitely get another company to come out and get their opinion on what the bees might be and how the problem can best be treated. If the second opinion sounds reasonable, I suggest you consider hiring them and stop using the first company.

  4. I’ve read the first five pages of your posts, but I’m still confused as to the carpenter bee life cycle and the appropriate timing for the different treatments. I have bees now. I know some (females?) are in the house, in the attic — I heard one gnawing away at the wood in my ceiling late last night, probably boring into a joist via the fascia board.

    But what to do? Do I treat the many bore holes I see with Drione now? Is plugging with cork necessary? How long should the holes stay corked? Should I also spray in the cracks between the fascia board and the soffit overhang? What will this spraying kill — the living bees, or the larvae? Will I have eggs emerge later, and if so, how much later — weeks, or end of the summer? When, if ever, can I fill the holes or replace the compromised wood? Should I treat with Drione again in the fall, or just use a repellent? Can I fill the bore holes in the fall?

    Apologies for so many questions, but while your site is tremendously informative, the exact chronology of when to do what procedure is unclear.
    Thanks,
    Keith

    • @guest: Sorry for your confusion but I’ll try to answer all your questions as best as possible. As for reading posts; they can give bits and pieces to solving problems and many times will not present the complete answer. For this reason, I suggest you read our Carpenter Bee Control article which delves into a lot of detail the posts don’t detail. Now onto your questions…

      1) “But what to do?” That’s an easy one. Dust all holes with Drione and leave them open for a few days. All the surrounding cracks and crevices should be dusted too. Cork the holes in 2-3 days and you’ll have it covered.

      2) “I treat the many bore holes I see with Drione now?” See answer to 1)

      3) “Is plugging with cork necessary?” Yes.

      4) “How long should the holes stay corked?” Indefinitely. This insures the dust remains active to “get” any hatching pupae or larvae.

      5) “Should I also spray in the cracks between the fascia board and the soffit overhang?” See answer to 1)

      6) “What will this spraying kill — the living bees, or the larvae?” All living insects including bee larvae and adults.

      7) “Will I have eggs emerge later, and if so, how much later — weeks, or end of the summer?” Eggs will hatch throughout the entire summer and fall; some will overwinter and hatch next year. To get all these it’s imperative the holes are dusted with Drione and left unfilled but plugged with Corks so emerging young can move through the open space and come in contact with the dust. Corking insures the dust will remain active.

      Eight) “When, if ever, can I fill the holes or replace the compromised wood?” 2-3 years after the initial treatment when you’re sure all activity has been controlled.

      9) “Should I treat with Drione again in the fall, or just use a repellent?” This is a personal decision. If you watch our Drione video, you’ll learn this is a great product to use as a repellent. In fact, I would say it’s one of the best available period. But because it’s harder to apply compared to traditional pesticides, most people opt for the liquid spray. Of course, using both would be ideal.

      10) “Can I fill the bore holes in the fall?” See 4) and Eight)

      Here are direct links to the information and products listed above:

      Carpenter Bee Control: www.carpenterbees.com/carpenter-bee-control

      Drione Dust: www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/dust/drione-dust

      • @admin: Thanks for the reply.

        The 2-3 years timeline poses a problem for me, as I have some serious wood damage from our brutal New England winter that needs to be repaired this summer or fall at the latest. Hopefully by removing and replacing the infested fascia boards at that time I will also be getting rid of any remaining egg chambers.

        Great Web site, by the way. You provide a lot of incredible information here.

        • @Keith: Two points. No doubt these bees can cause significant damage. That being said, unless you plan on doing the repair in the next week or two, there is no reason for you not to treat now. This way you’ll be stopping the current activity which will effectively stop any more damage.
          Now if you decide to replace some wood 1-2 months from now, great. By removing the old wood, you’ll effectively be removing any eggs and/or pupae so they won’t be at threat anymore.
          So for now, treating as much of it as you can would be ideal. And at some point doing repair work makes perfect sense and in the end, will cut down on their activity too.

  5. I have read all the articles and will have the Drione I ordered soon. Our bees have attacked our Rainbow playset. The kids can’t play on it right now, but I am wondering if the Drione is going to pose a health hazard after we fill the holes with it? We obviously don’t want the kids getting sick from it, but do need the bees gone. Thanks for all the info.

    • @Carrie: On the Drione product page here:

      www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/dust/drione-dust

      There are two videos. The “safety” video covers all you need to know regarding the safe use, handling and storage of this product. The simple answer is it will not pose any kind of hazard once applied and the holes are sealed. And if you keep the kids and pets away during the application, any immediate risk will be avoided. But you should most definitely review the video to learn all you need to know before treating.

      As for your second question; nests will most definitely host several queens. As explained in our Carpenter Bee Control article, the first female will lay 5-10 eggs and these offspring will try to utilize the nest from whence they were born. That means it’s quite typical to see multiple queens using any one hole.

      Now once you treat with Drione, you should be able to get rid of all the activity. Eggs hatching in the future will die from the dusts residual along with any hatching pupae. But as our article explains, failure to treat the exposed playset with either Cypermethrin or NBS Repellent means you’ll most likely continue to get more bees coming around starting new nests so don’t forget this key part of the program.

      Carpenter Bee Control Article: www.carpenterbees.com/carpenter-bee-control

      Cypermethrin: www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/liquid/viper-cypermethrin

      NBS Insect Repellent: www.bugspraycart.com/exempt/additive/nbs-paint-additive-16-oz

  6. Sorry for the second post, but more questions come to mind ad I am watching them buzz my platset. Why do we seem to have so many queens? We kill many more queens than we dialed and we have seen different females going into the same hole? This is the first year we have had the problem (waspand other bees usually stop all play in late August and September, but never this early). We are still early im the summer so I am assuming after the Drione application we will effectively stop their life cycle and none will last into the fall. Is this correct? I am also actively stalking my whole house looking for. Activity, but haven’t seen any yet.

  7. Thanks. I have watched the videos several times and am just awaiting the products so I can get started. I will apply the NBS repellant (also thanks to you for having that into your article) when I restain everything this year (gotta get rid of the suckers before I restain). I must have misread the articles because I didn’t catch that there could be multiple queens in one hole (I thought they would bore a new hole). Anyway, my oldest has fun playing tennis with the bees and thanks to all your info, we have learned more than I ever wanted to know. 🙂 the kids and I examine both female and males (dead of course) and now,they go around the neighborhood telling everyone about the bees.

  8. I went about this all wrong according to your site. I didn’t even know what a carpenter bee was until yesterday. I sprayed bug killer (store bought generic) into the holes. Two large bees fell out. I caulked all 8 holes. They are in a wood fence post that sounds like it has been “hollowed” out when we bang on it. Will they die in there? Did I make a major error by sealing them in? How many could possibly be in there? It is a standard 4 x 4 wooden post. Thank you so much.

    • As our main article explains, the hollowed out holes should be dusted with Drione and then plugged with the 1/2 inch corks we mention. This way the holes in the posts will remain “open” inside which insures hatching larva will crawl over the dust and die.

      Now since you “know” there were at least 2 bees using these holes, its safe to say there are some 10-20 eggs that will be developing over the course of this summer and fall. Unfortunately they won’t be able to use the old bored out tunnels since you’ve filled them with caulking.

      So if they don’t have the old nests anymore what will they do? Well, what we see typically happens in such cases is that the developing larvae will simply drill new holes for nesting and eventually, exiting the wood. And this will probably happen later this year and then again next spring so keep an eye out for it by inspecting the wood every couple of weeks.

      And when you notice new holes, do the right treatment to insure they don’t come back. Dusting is definitely the way to go since it will last 1-2 years thus insuring it gets anything that hatches in the future. And leaving the bored out nests open is also important so be sure to just plug them (don’t fill them).

      As for the eggs still present in the old filled in tunnels; its not likely they’ll die because traditional sprays break down within a few days and the eggs are impervious to chemicals for months.

      Unfortunately, since the holes are filled with caulking, I don’t think you have many options here besides waiting for new holes to appear.

      Now we have had customers remove the caulking they’ve used to plug the holes so if you’re able to get it all out, you might can get the nests treated properly now. But this will depend on the type of caulking used, how deep you injected it, etc. The bottom line is if you can’t pull it all out, you won’t be able to get the nests treated properly.

      Drione: www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/dust/drione-dust

      Hand Duster: www.bugspraycart.com/equipment/dusters/crusader

      Carpenter Bee Article: www.carpenterbees.com/carpenter-bee-control

      Give us a call if you need more help. Our toll free is 1-800-877-7290 and we’re open 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM Mon-Thur; 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM Friday and 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM Saturday, Eastern Standard Time.

      Jonathan
      Customer Care
      bugspray.com
      1-800-877-7290

      PS: Please show your support for our business by purchasing the items we recommend from the links provided. Remember, this is the only way we can stay around and be here to answer your questions and keep our web site up and running. Thanks for your business!



  9. We had carpenter bees coming into our old stone foundation (which had weak spots) with some occasionally finding their way into our basement. We had our foundation redone (not because of this) so I’m assuming we’ve sealed off their ability to get outside. In the week since we redid our foundation, we’ve found or killed at least 10 bees, 3 were huge. I can’t seem to find openings into the basement. It’s getting colder out now. How should we handle this? Will they just die off without access to the outside?

    • Anne,

      If you read our article above, you’ll learn carpenter bees drill nests in wood and not concrete. Furthermore, they generally don’t nest in the ground. So with that being said, I’m not convinced this is how they’re getting inside your home through the foundation.

      In fact if they’re carpenter bees, they’re more likely entering through holes that have found their way “inside” the home. We see this happen from time to time when nests are left untreated for several years and if you do a thorough inspection of the homes exterior, chances are high you’ll locate their 1/2″ drill holes on siding, soffits or facia boards if in fact you have carpenter bees active. And if you do find any such nests, get them dusted with Drione ASAP and then plugged with corks.

      Drione: www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/dust/drione-dust

      Corks: www.bugspraycart.com/equipment/equipment-plugs/cork-12

      Nows since bumble bees look exactly like carpenter bees and nest in the ground, it wouldn’t surprise me if this is what you have entering the home and not carpenter bees. You can read up on bumble bees here:

      Bumblebee Control: www.bugspray.com/articles99/bumblebees.html

      In the above article you’ll learn about another product known as Deltamethrin Dust which is better suited for treating anything nesting in the ground. So if you locate a nest outside and close to the homes foundation in the ground, get it dusted with this dust for quick control. Bumble bees will readily nest under pine straw, wood chips, decorative rocks, etc.

      Delta Dust: www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/dust/deltamethrin-dust

      Lastly, it is important for you to locate the main nest site if you wish to get this problem under control. And if you’re not able to locate the nest locations, I’m afraid we won’t be able to help much so you may have to hire a service company to further assist.

      But do give us a call if you think you have an idea where they might be nesting and we might be able to shed some more light on solving the problem. Our toll free is 1-800-877-7290 and we’re open 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM Mon-Thur; 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM Friday and 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM Saturday, Eastern Standard Time.

      Jonathan
      Customer Care
      bugspray.com
      1-800-877-7290

      PS: Please show your support for our business by purchasing the items we recommend from the links provided. Remember, this is the only way we can stay around and be here to answer your questions and keep our web site up and running. Thanks for your business!



  10. What can you do when you can’t access the holes because they are drilling in the fascia that is 10 ft high from a highly sloped roof (i.e. fascia of second floor overlooking roof of first floor)? Furthermore, they are obviously drilling in the back of the fascia since the front is covered by some sort of vinyl piece. They find their way between the fascia and the siding. There is no way to access or see the holes leave alone the height issue and the fact that the roof is sloped. There are so many of them flying around… dozens… I want to get to them but can’t reach them and can’t see their entrance holes.

    • Chris,

      If you review our article on this bee, you’ll see Drione Dust. And if you view the video of it where we talk about “why you need to use Drione Dust”, you’ll see why it will work for this job no problem. Basically the dust is like smoke. So simply squirting it up into any crack or gap you see the bees using will get them. The Drione will definitely float up and into the holes and have enough of an impact to shut them down and prevent new nests from forming. You can see more on this here:

      Carpenter Bee Control: www.carpenterbees.com/carpenter-bee-control.html

      And the Drione vids can be seen here:

      Drione: www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/dust/drione-dust

      Lastly, to access the nests, use a Dustick. It will reach up to 25 feet high no problem.

      Dustick: www.bugspraycart.com/equipment/dusters/dustick

      Give us a call if you need more help. Our toll free is 1-800-877-7290 and we’re open 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM Mon-Thur; 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM Friday and 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM Saturday, Eastern Standard Time.

      Jonathan
      Customer Care
      bugspray.com
      1-800-877-7290



  11. My only question is how long do carpenter bees stay around? When do they finally go away?