Battle of the Species - The Carpenter Bees Return

A few weeks back, as I was sitting on the brick terrace enjoying a morning cup of coffee, I heard the familiar steady buzz that indicates the return of the carpenter bees. I’d seen them among the azaleas earlier in the season, but had yet to spot any active boring or nesting activities. Now here they were, actually beginning to drill into the new siding we’d just installed at the front of the house after the roof replacement.



In beginning my tale, I would like to cite the wisdom of the Texas Agricultural Extension Service, part of Texas A&M, which says, “…ordinarily their tunneling is of little or no consequence. However structure repairs may be necessary if colonies are present years after year in the same timber. Effective control includes prevention, persistence in locating the nesting site, and insecticide applications.”


Another point I’ve learned is that the nesting sites serve two purposes, as a place for the larvae to hatch and mature, but also for over winter shelter. Successive generations will return to the same nest, extending the network and the damage, leading to potential structural damage.
All of these thoughts came to mind as I sat there with a cup o’ joe.








Fortunately, my friend Chris was visiting, and although we planned to do a short hike in SNP, he immediately saw the urgency of tackling these pests. So off we went on our project – first step, to acquire supplies to do battle. We figured we needed some heavy duty insecticide, and I knew we’d need a ladder for this – a good one, OSHA Type 1 (load capacity 300 pounds!). Off we went to breakfast at Farmboys, and then to the co-ops for advice on insecticide.




Breakfast did not disappoint, and neither did the advice we received at Southern States (http://www.southernstates.com/) where we learned our friend Kenny is recovering (get well soon, Ken). I was told, “we’ve got one thing, it’s very effective, but it is expensive.” I told the clerk that we were talking about saving a five-figure investment, so I was willing to look at what he had.


Unfortunately, I don’t have the name of this poison handy. But it is highly concentrated stuff – they use it to treat chicken coops throughout the county, where they mix it up in 50 gallon batches! I laughed when the clerk told me that. The square footage coverage told me I’d need only one gallon. Heading for the calculator for some math, we figured that six milliliters were needed per gallon. This package was the 50 gallon size; it cost $40, but it was all they had, and I figured “if it’s good enough for the chicken farms, it’s good enough for the Hawksbill Cabin.”

We shopped for a ladder, next step. I wanted one like the one I borrowed from some neighbors in Alexandria recently to clean my gutters, an extension job that could go up to 16 feet (and OSHA Type 1). Nothing doing in Southern States, the Page Co-op, or Wal-Mart. We were resigned to drive to the Home Depot in H-burg, adding two hours to the adventure.



After a custard stop (Chris recommends this one, near the Wal-Mart in Luray, by the way – especially, say, if you have just gotten stitches at the Luray hospital for a bizarre firewood chopping accident – we’ll leave that for another day) we headed off to follow the GPS to the Home Depot in H-burg.








A note for the record, if you need to go to a Home Depot, this is the one to go to – it is a super deluxe store, and there is plenty of help. Advice and car loading are available. I guess this is where they got the reputation, because you certainly can’t get this kind of service in Alexandria. The ladder selection – awesome, we had three to choose from. Finally, settling on the Gorilla model, we headed for Stanley.


Arriving back at the Hawksbill Cabin at 5:30 pm (thus always with Home Depot projects!), we assembled our gear:
Insecticide: check!
Sprayer: check!
Ladder: check!
Heavy duty latex gloves: check!
Breathing apparatus: check!

The battle was about to begin…