I have a problem with carpenter bees in my basement year after year. I have vinyl siding over wood siding. Can’t locate where they are coming in. Could they be coming in under siding in holes in basement wall which is a stone wall? What would I look for outside to find them?
I tried Bee & Wasp spray along the perimeter of the ceiling around the top of the wall of basement. This only works for a short time. I kill about 50 bees per year. Can you help?
This is an easy one. If you read the answer I posted about carpenter bees going under vinyl siding, you’ll learn this is an all too common problem when wood siding is covered with vinyl siding. As the post explains, the bees will still be able to smell the decaying wood hiding underneath and gain access to it through small seams in the siding. Once under the siding, they’ll drill their holes and be successful at developing to mature adults.
Now the real problem is these nests won’t be easy to detect because the wood is covered. In most of these cases, you won’t see any of the typical signs because the bees are drilling under the wood. This means the sawdust won’t be seen and neither will the holes they create.
And as fall turns to winter, they’ll move into these holes and overwinter in a nest that is very well protected from the outside cold. This means they’ll be quite comfortable with a good chance of surviving and entering the home.
So come the new year and the spring when they become active, they’ll try to emerge to go foraging outside but because the siding is tight and tough to escape, many will end up moving to inside the home. So my best guess is the nests that are harboring hibernating adults and pupae are releasing them in the spring and that some of these are finding their way into your home.
The good news is the treatment to stop this is easy and highly effective. Basically you’ll need to dust along every row of the vinyl siding with Drione Dust.
This can be done with a Hand Duster and/or a Dustick depending on how easy it is to reach the siding. If you read up on Drione, you’ll learn it’s highly effective against carpenter bees and lasts a long time. So for you home I would recommend a thorough dusting in the spring and then another treatment with Drione in the fall.
Drione: https://www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/dust/drione-dust
Hand Duster: www.bugspraycart.com/equipment/dusters/crusader
Dustick: https://www.bugspraycart.com/equipment/dusters/dustick
If done right, you should expect immediate results. In other words, I expect you could knock out the existing nests immediately and the residual of the Drione would keep new nests from forming all summer.
And if you dust again in the fall, you should be protected throughout the entire winter so that any coming around to hibernate won’t be able to survive in the abandoned nests. This should keep them away from your home and out of your basement.
Lastly, even if you do a good job of dusting this spring, I strongly recommend you spend some time going around the outside of the home looking for any carpenter bees flying around soffits, overhangs, gutters, etc. Now if you find bees in any of these areas, I would expect these areas would be entry points. So to make sure they’re not using them as entry points, you’ll need to treat them with the Cypermethrin talked about in our article here:
Carpenter Bee Spray: https://www.carpenterbees.com/carpenter-bee-control.html#carpenter-bee-liquid-repellent-spray
No doubt vinyl siding can present a bit of a problem when treating for nesting bees but it’s nothing a good amount of Drione Dust can’t handle. And since this treatment will work on all pests, it’s a great way to stop anything that might want to nest under it. Get your siding treated as explained and I’m sure you’ll be able to knock out any carpenter bee nests present and keep new ones away all summer.
Give us a call if you still have questions.
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1-800-877-7290
Julia Heath says
Your info on treating was very helpful, but the bees have bored a hole in my vinyl siding and I was wondering if there was any difference in treatment on vinyl or wood? Do you think the tunnels are in the vinyl or have they found wood under the vinyl?
admin says
Treatment is the same. As explained in our carpenter bee article, these bees are naturally attracted to the scent of wood so even if you have vinyl that’s effectively covering something that’s wood underneath, they’ll merely drill holes through the vinyl to gain access to where they want to be.
Additionally, one cannot rule out the chance that what you’re finding are exit holes from bees that somehow got “trapped” under the siding. As our article also explains, any nest that isn’t treated properly but capped will still hatch out young bees. And once these young bees get active only to find their nests have been covered by vinyl or some other material like caulking, what do you think they’ll do? They’ll drill their way out.
We see this happening quite a bit where people caulk up holes they’re finding but fail to treat with Drione. The problem is that inside the nest, eggs and larvae will be developing and in the end, the bees will be forced to drill their way out through some other path. In most cases they’ll do so close to the original exit holes. But we have many cases where this happens and the bees end up coming into living spaces which is an obvious issue. So if you suspect some holes were closed up last year (or covered with the siding now in place), it’s quite possible what you’re finding is really exit holes being drilled from bees trying to leave the wood.
In the end, one should never fill in these nests with caulking or any other wood filler until the nests have been dusted with Drione. The same is true with any kind of siding; none should be installed until the nests are properly treated. Treat first; cover later.
And in cases where holes do appear in vinyl, stucco or any other exterior material, dust it with Drione like you would any other nest. Next, let it sit a day or two and then go about cosmetically fixing it and you should be okay.
Drione: www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/dust/drione-dust
Hand Duster: www.bugspraycart.com/equipment/dusters/crusader
Robert E Rommel says
I live in a brick home. I have carpenter bees that are entering through holes in the mortar between the bricks and obviously nesting in the wood in the walls. I sprayed as best I could with insect killer, and I seem to have eliminated the bee problem for now. But there is no way to see where the bees are nesting because it’s inside the wall behind the brick. I see that Drione is the best remedy for these carpenter bees, but how can I address this issue with Drione behind the bricks? Should I close up any holes in the mortar? Thanks.
admin says
Liquid spraying the entry ways will only be a temporary solution. This is mostly due to the fact that the spray will be absorbed by the concrete and therefore offer very little residual. I expect that even if you kill any in the days following the treatment, they’ll just keep coming back. And since the liquid will only remain active for a day or two, re-infestations will happen within 1-2 weeks.
Secondly, don’t seal any holes. I say this for many reasons but the main concern is that you must think about where the developing larvae will go once their exit/entrance holes are covered and they cannot escape their home. This will usually happen late summer and in the fall. In our experience, when they discover closed holes, they will be forced to drill “inward” meaning that you’ll probably start having bees active in your living spaces.
But also know that dusting every crack, crevice and hole you can find in the mortar with Drione will stop them cold. Drione has a natural ability to float around hidden space behind the hole makes it ideal for this kind of space.
Additionally, even if you keep the holes open, the Drione will remain active for 6-12 months. So in cases where treatments are needed for brick homes, what we find is that if you dust the home every spring with Drione, you can usually stop insects from using these spaces for nests.
And this protection can last for the entire year. This makes the Drione application well worth the time and effort.
Drione: www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/dust/drione-dust
Hand Duster: www.bugspraycart.com/equipment/dusters/crusader
Lastly, if the holes are up high, get the Dustick. It will make the treatment easy and is well worth the investment.
Dustick: www.bugspraycart.com/equipment/dusters/dustick
Jocelyn X. Hurley says
I’ve had an ongoing problem with carpenter bees drilling holes in overhangs that are on all sides of my house. I’ve been spraying with the Cypermethrin and it’s worked quite well but I’m wondering if there is something else I can do that’s more permanent. What if I add some to the paint I use on my trim and siding? How much would I need? I generally paint every 4-5 years (a lot of touch up for sure) and if there is any way I can incorporate a chemical with the paint I’d do it.
admin says
If you review our carpenter bee control article, you’ll see we have a specific product that can be added to paint or stain which will provide much longer control compared to just spraying cypermethrin like you’ve been doing. Known as NBS, this is what you’ll want to use in your paint.
NBS Repellent: www.bugspraycart.com/exempt/additive/nbs-paint-additive-16-oz
Additionally, you must make sure any carpenter bee holes are properly treated. That means you need to closely watch and inspect all the overhangs around the home and carefully watch to see where bees are entering any crack, crevice or hole. These areas need to be dusted with Drione and then after a day, sealed.
Large cracks that cannot be sealed should be dusted every spring and fall. The use of Drione around the home every spring and fall will greatly help in keeping these bees away and more importantly, controlling the reproduction that sounds like is happening in your siding somewhere.
Drione: www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/dust/drione-dust
Hand Duster: www.bugspraycart.com/equipment/dusters/crusader
Dustick: www.bugspraycart.com/equipment/dusters/dustick
Carpenter Bee Control: www.carpenterbees.com/carpenter-bee-control.html
Amanda Y. Flynn says
What if bees are still flying around eaves after vinyl siding has already been put on?
admin says
If you review our carpenter bee control article, you’ll learn that merely covering the home with vinyl or some other material besides wood won’t make the bees go away. This is mostly because they can “smell” the wood underneath (as well as old nests) and will do most anything to get to the area.
Furthermore, if you covered any existing nests, the bees that were in the nests will merely figure out how to get out and continue to be active in the area.
So to stop the activity (and insure there are no entry/exit ports being used), you’ll need to dust under the siding using Drione. This is easy to do and highly effective. Even though you won’t be able to treat nests directly, the Drione just sitting under the vinyl will do wonders at both killing any of the bees that go inside and at preventing any new nests from forming.
Basically the vinyl will protect the Drione so it will last a good year or more. And it will work on any pest so it’s a great way to get the home protected for all pests. Just a puff or two every 2-3 feet will do the job; try to treat every other row of siding to insure adequate coverage. And if you start high up on the siding, you’ll be able to see if the Drione is filtering down and if it is, you won’t have to treat those lower areas because it’s just that effective and even light amounts will do the job.
Drione: www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/dust/drione-dust
Now if you can’t reach the area with a standard Hand Duster, use a Dustick. And I recommend dusting as much of the home as possible. This way the whole house will be protected.
Hand Duster: www.bugspraycart.com/equipment/dusters/crusader
Dustick: www.bugspraycart.com/equipment/dusters/dustick
Lastly, once the Drione is in place, you can spray the siding with Cypermethrin or NBS to chase away any rogue males lingering. Both of these sprays are highly repellent to bees and they’ll avoid areas where it’s applied. Mind you it won’t stop any that already have nests but for those coming around because they smell old nest sites, it will work great.
Cypermethrin: www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/liquid/viper-cypermethrin
NBS Repellent: www.bugspraycart.com/exempt/additive/nbs-paint-additive-16-oz
All our information can be seen here:
Carpenter Bee Control: www.carpenterbees.com/carpenter-bee-control.html
Give us a call if you have further questions or concerns. Our toll free is 1-800-877-7290.
Katrina Sweeney says
I shot a puff of Drione into the air at a wood-boring bee that was coming after me. It left me alone. I sent a puff into the bee holes in my porch posts and haven’t seen any bees since. I also puffed around areas of the house where ants are. It’s been successful so far. I sent puffs up the siding because an exterminator who came last year said the dust will go behind the siding where I’ve seen ants go. Seems to work. I need to figure out how to get the squeeze right with the bellow so more puffs of dust, rather than a stream of dust, comes out of the bellow. I’ll definitely order more before I run out of this container.
admin says
As you’re learning, Drione is highly effective on all kinds of insect pests. In fact, it’s the one product I’d choose over all others if I had to pick one and only one material to do pest control.
That being said, Drione can be tricky to apply. First, you need the best duster. And for me, the best duster is the Centro 14 oz with the 12″ extension. View the video’s we have on this duster and I believe you’ll find it will outperform the model you’re using making this tool the “best” overall duster to use for making Drione applications.
Drione: www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/dust/drione-dust
Hand Duster: www.bugspraycart.com/equipment/dusters/centrobulb-14-oz-w12-ext
Give us a call if you still have questions or concerns. Our toll free is 1-800-877-7290.
Customer Care
www.bugspray.com
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!
Orville Banks says
What if bees are still flying around eaves after vinyl siding has already been put on?
admin says
This will happen for one of two reasons. First, it’s because there were some nests that were covered up and the “scent” of previous bee activity is drawing attention from new bees looking for a good place to live. The other reason this commonly happens is because bees are attracted to certain colors and plants. So it could very well have something to do with the color of nearby vegetation or even the color of the vinyl itself. Fortunately it’s easy to stop this unwanted activity.
Start by getting some Cypermethrin or NBS and apply it to any surface where they’re active. Both products are repellent to bees and they’ll avoid areas where applications are made. The Cypermethrin will kill bees that traverse over any treated area; the NBS is merely a repellent and won’t kill anything but will chase them away. Both are safe for use on siding, plants, etc.
Cypermethrin: www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/liquid/viper-cypermethrin
NBS Repellent: www.bugspraycart.com/exempt/additive/nbs-paint-additive-16-oz
Lastly, if there are in fact nests still behind the siding, get some Drione and dust underneath all areas where you see activity. This is both easy to do and highly effective on all insect pests so treating under these sections will insure no nests are developing or still living.
Drione: www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/dust/drione-dust
Hand Duster: www.bugspraycart.com/equipment/dusters/centrobulb-14-oz-w12-ext
You may also find our complete carpenter bee article informative since it covers all common treatments and scenarios around the home where these bees like to nest.
Carpenter Bee Control: www.carpenterbees.com
Give us a call if you still have questions or concerns. Our toll free is 1-800-877-7290.
Customer Care
www.bugspray.com
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!
Darnell Garrett says
Recently there were a good number of ant colonies in the basement and I couldn’t figure out where they were coming from so I sprinkled some around the corners of the basement and around the basement door and cracks and holes. I even dug a few small holes and sprinkled a little dust and ever since I used it I didn’t see any sign of ants except dead ones. I had to sweep hundreds of them! I never thought Drione dust would work this well. Highly recommended.
Drione: www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/dust/drione-dust