Battle of the Species: More on Carpenter Bees

I had a question from a reader about the Carpenter Bee Chambers I bought last year – so I wanted to add some information about them.

I am sparing the gory details of all the critters that were trapped in the chambers – I had flush mounted and soffit mounted units installed. Lots of smaller bees, and a few spiders, but no carpenter bees.The jury is still out for me on the chambers. I still think they are a good idea, but I am going to write to the guys at Carpenter Bee Chamber about what I experienced. They are good about responding.

Here's what I think happened in my case - 1) I treated the cabin with an "industrial" pesticide called Tempo (see this morning’s post). This is normally not something I would do, but given the extensive termite damage we'd repaired I couldn't stand the thought, especially after seeing the damage to our other buildings. I installed the chambers after this, so maybe it reduced the effectiveness of them.2) Because our outside woodwork is stained a dark brown color, I also stained the chambers so that they wouldn't stand out as much, because last year's "hot spots" were all near the front door.

Again, the chamber guys advised against this. After I've heard back from the chamber guys, I'll post their answer on the blog. I hate carpenter bees, and I will do whatever is necessary to reduce their numbers and get rid of them from my cabin.

Still, they are welcome to live elsewhere on the property, just not in or on the main house. This year seems to be a big bee year already. I don’t remember it being this bad last year.

A final note, for anyone who is already stepping up into the battle - if you are already seeing damage, you've got to kill those bees before they reproduce. The offspring are programmed to come back from where they hatched...there will just be more next year.Did I mention I hate them?