Carpenter Bees in swing set?


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Old 08-14-18, 07:41 PM
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Carpenter Bees in swing set?

I feel silly but never knew drew a comparison between carpenter bees and wood. These holes are in my swing set and look like some pictures I've seen during research. I banged the beam and nothing came out so I am thinking to just fill it with some steel wool and caulk, then sand it smooth before repainting. Is that a good approach?
 
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Old 08-14-18, 07:51 PM
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Carpenter bees are amazing. They don't actually eat the wood but they certainly bore thru it easily. That looks like the wood is stained which means if you use caulk it will stand out like a sore thumb. I'm thinking maybe a stainable wood filler.

minwax/wood-products/preparation/minwax-stainable-wood-filler
 
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Old 08-14-18, 08:01 PM
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Yes sir. Would steel wool be OK to fill the gap to make a flat surface for the wood filler? Does that look like bee?
 
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Old 08-14-18, 08:03 PM
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That certainly is the size hole they would bore.
I'm not sure if the steel wool is necessary but I guess it couldn't hurt.
 
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Old 08-14-18, 08:05 PM
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Odd given I've only seen hornets around the property. I could use filler but not sure how far back that hole goes. I guess I could just load it in and fill it all up.
 
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Old 08-14-18, 08:24 PM
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If I'm not mistaken.... hornets make a smaller 1/4" hole while the carpenter bees drill a larger 1/2" hole.
 
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Old 08-14-18, 09:29 PM
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Carpenter bees bore a hole then lay there eggs in the hole, if you seal it up and the lavie is still in there it will just bore another hole to come out if you do not kill it first with wasp spray.
Those holes are likely bigger because a woodpecker was trying to get at the larvie.
That wood is stained not painted, stick with a stain.
 
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Old 08-15-18, 02:33 AM
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I fight carpenter bees every year As Joe said, they bore the hole/chambers to lay eggs. Not always but the chambers can be extensive and compromise the structure of that board. Once hatched they like to return to the same area for the next generation. I take a insecticide duster and shoot sevin dust into the hole. That will kill any adult bees and the eggs when they hatch. While I don't normally patch the holes in the barn I do caulk the ones on the house. When caulking isn't acceptable you can use a dowel rod.
 
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Old 08-19-18, 01:25 PM
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Definitely carpenter bees with a woodpecker doing his thing looking for larva. The larva are in there and will hatch out in the fall. Once wood becomes conducive to carpenter bees, they and others will be back next spring. Learn about them and their habits and treatment ideas.

If they only infest that one piece of wood in the play set, then you could wrap and staple insect screening on and over it. Might not look too good though. It works well underneath banisters, railings, etc when that is attacked. I know of someone who screened in their wooden soffit and it worked and doesn't look bad as it is 2 and 3 stories up.

Otherwise, when you see the first evidence of them in the spring you could treat the wood with a residual insecticide or you could wait until a hole develops and you could spray into it at nightime when she is in there roosting.

You do want to plug the holes/galleries but treat inside them first with a residual insect spray such as a crawling insect spray. Can plug immediately.
 
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Old 08-19-18, 01:38 PM
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if you seal it up and the lavie is still in there it will just bore another hole to come out
No, the larrve do not have the capacity to dig through the wood, I get a few of these every year and just keep a tube of exterior caulk to seal the hole and they are done.

Simple interior latex caulk is not good, they will get through that
 
 

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