Bugs! Help?

[jwhite]

I bought a hand built aromatic red cedar cabin last September, it was love at first site...)

Today I was doing some cleaning outside and noticed some fresh fine saw dust. On closer look I found a hole in one of the logs about a half an inch round, I stuck a wire in the hole and it's about 6 to 7 inches deep! :shock:

Well the wire upset the occupant and the hole started humming!

I sprayed it with some bug spray and in a couple of minutes a very unhappy bumble bee emerged.

I told my wife and she said that bumble bees don''t bore holes...SO?
What would bore in to my beautiful log?

I thought bugs didn't like cedar?

Thanks in advance
Jimmie

[Dthfrog]

Far be it from me to discredit your wife...BUT I have seen bumble bees eating into unprotected wood. Painting the wood will keep them away but that would ruin the look of your house.

[The Biss]

Sounds like carpenter bees. These look just like bumble bees and chew the kind of holes you are describing.

http://www.bugspray.net/pictures/beenest.jpg

http://creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/misc/bees/xylocopa_bee.jpg

[Basil]

yep, you got a carpenter bee there. Painting helps some, but I've seen them dig into painted wood as well as pressure treated. The problem is they don't eat the wood, so they don't care what it tastes like. That makes treatment difficult. They are on of the hardest pests to defend against with a wooden home.

Now the good news! It takes many many years for carpenter bees to significantly affect a log. The holes they bore are large, but if your logs are very thick the hole is generally not a structural problem. Treat it with dessicant to kill the bee and larvae, treat it with fungicide, stick a dowel in and seal the hole back up. The hole is more of a threat as a toehold for fungus and rot than anything else.

These kinds of bees rarely sting. You would practically have to hold it in your hand and start squeezing to get a female to sting you. If I remember correctly, the males don't even have stingers. the males are more agressive, yet unarmed. If one starts buzzing you, ignore it and it will go away. No point in testing it!

I've been told that sevin will drive them away, but it is a very potent chemical. I've also heard that borate will help keep them away. Any type of dessicant in the hole will kill the entire family.

[dbtoo]

I've been told that sevin will drive them away, but it is a very potent chemical.
I've used sevin around my house (not log), and it left a white residue that took a long time to wear off.

[clairenj]

I have sprayed our older log home with borate solution and the bees and their larvae came out of the wood. They do not like it. Neither do carpenter ants. Whether or not they eat it, they sure won't chew on it after borate is applied. I used two different products. One has a glycol base and I used that when the weather was going to be very wet and snowy and I used another that was a powder; board defense. There is a thread somewhere on this forum about a home made remedy, but I am trading deals with the supplier of this product in our area so for me it is easier. Borate is the way to go. I treated our new logs as I peeled them because those spotted sawyer beetles were hovering and landing about me as I worked last summer. While we are talking bug repellent, let me plug a company called Lymonessa. They make a natural spray that REALLY works. bug away. they sent me a care package since I am working in a wooded area above a swamp. It was all for free as long as I promise to tell everyone my results. I am.

[Basil]

I was the one that posted about the home brewed borate solution, but have yet to mix up a batch. Borates eventually wash off, so I was wiating until my logs were completely covered before applying. I'm encouraged to hear that it works with carpenter bees, I had been told that it wouldn't help.

[modell]

jwhite - Regarding your comment about bugs not liking cedar, that's not completely true. Cedar has some bug repellent characteristics, but is is not bugproof. I also have a small eastern red cedar cabin (aromatic). Carpenter ants and bees love it. They "usually" will not enter the heartwood - the red part - but that is not always the case. Most of the time they bore through the white sapwood and take a 90* turn. You can spray, but you also need to fill in holes to discourage future occupants. Another method I've found that works pretty good is to give each of my kids a flyswatter and tell them to have at it.

[Appalacious]

My grandma used to give me a nickel for every carpenter bee I killed outside her redwood carport. preferred method was butterfly net, drop to ground, step on it. Tennis rackets were good to, but many times the death was unverifiable because they were hit so far. I made a ton of money, but I did learn- as was stated before- that they rarely, if ever, sting. I would just stand in the middle of a swarm and commence destruction without fear of retaliation.

and they will bore through painted wood.

you could put your ear up to a redwood post on the carport and hear what sounded like an industrial floor humming away. it was crazy. carport still stands though after 50ish years.
J