Carpenter bees are considered a pest in the United States. Normally, these small insects create their homes in dry logs. Still, in this country’s urbanized areas, they are dedicated to creating nests in houses’ walls. This can put the state of the infrastructure and the lives of the people inside at risk.
Also, if there are children at home, it is a risk to have insects like this because bees can sting them. However, it is unnecessary to resort to extreme actions to end this pest within your home because natural alternatives promise excellent results and guarantee a pest-free home.
What Is A Carpenter Bee?
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Carpenter bees, scientifically called Xylocopa Violacea, are among the few types of bees that do not live in hives or groups. This little bee lives alone and with her young before they learn to fend for themselves. They are known colloquially by the name of “Carpenters” because they tend to live within the trees’ hollow wood. In the United States, they are considered a pest because they inhabit the walls of houses and destroy the infrastructure completely.
How To Identify Carpenter Bee?
The carpenter bee has particular characteristics that differentiate it from other bees, such as its black body and its particular yellow fur on the back. This makes it look a bit bigger and sturdier than the other bees.
Where Do They Hide In Your House?
Normally, carpenter bees hide in the wood, specifically in the house walls, where they have easy access to the outside and are kept protected at all times; for this reason, it is very difficult to locate them after they create their nest.
What Attracts Carpenter Bees?
Many elements can attract carpenter bees and invite them to live in your home without you knowing. You should know that deadwood is one thing that attracts them the most because they can make their nests inside it. The thing is, if you live in the United States, you know this is a big problem because the vast majority of houses are made of wood.
They are also very attracted to the smell of garbage and rotting food because part of their diet is based on rotting fruits. During spring, they are also very attracted to the scent of flowers, so they come to pollinate them. The pollination process is indeed necessary to preserve the environment. Still, you cannot let these bees get so close to your house because they can create a nest inside the walls and put the infrastructure’s integrity at risk.
If you go shopping or want to be in the garden for a while, try not to use any perfume. Most of the world’s colognes and perfumes are made with the concentrated extract of natural origin elements (fruits, flowers, tree bark, leaves, sage, etc.). This catches the attention of the bees, and you run the risk of being stung.
Do Carpenter Bees Sting?
It is rare for carpenter bees to sting someone, but it is not impossible. In this type of case, they also have unique characteristics that differentiate them from the bees. First, being nomads, there is no queen bee, but there are males and females in the species.
Males are characterized by not having any stinger to defend themselves against a predator’s attacks, so they are more vulnerable. On the other hand, females have a small stinger that they rarely use. It is important to remember that, if a bee stings, you must make sure to extract the stinger with the toxin that it expels in your body to avoid many days of pain and discomfort.
Are They Harmful?
The bee injects a minimal amount of venom into people’s bodies by stinging them with its stinger. They immediately lose it and may even die from it. Most people do not feel pain from this insect’s bite; some others experience a brief discomfort, and rarely do people have an allergic reaction to a carpenter bee sting.
Also Read: Best Carpenter Bee Traps
How To Get Rid Of Carpenter Bees Naturally?
Many natural alternatives allow you to kill a pest like carpenter bees. These alternatives are completely environmentally friendly and work as a long-term solution, so here are some of them:
Bee hotels
These are small houses made of bamboo wood (which is more attractive to bees) where these small insects can nest and completely forget about their home. Best of all, they are extremely simple to do and don’t require a lot of effort. You can also buy them on buying and selling platforms such as Amazon at the global market’s best prices.
Citrus oil
This organic component is a natural repellent for all kinds of bees, so it is perfect for preventing bees from nesting on the walls of your home. You can put some of this oil in a dispenser and spray it on the outer walls of your home to keep them from getting close. Best of all, you can easily make it at home by taking the peels of some citrus fruits and dipping them in a little water in a saucepan over low heat for a few minutes.
Dressing the wood
This is a way of saying that you should cover the wood of your house’s walls with some synthetic material that keeps the bees away, such as paint. When you paint your house walls using at least two paint coats, you guarantee a bee-free home.
Fill holes
If the bees notice a hole or crack in your house walls, they will take advantage of it and create nests. For this reason, you must take care of keeping them away by covering the holes that open in the walls.
Create a decoy
Despite being related, bees and wasps never make nests or hives close to each other, so you can create a wasp nest decoy hung from the ceiling to keep bees away from your home.
Play music
It is scientifically proven that bees can only support listening to synod frequencies of up to 55 0 Hz maximum. This means that you only need to turn up the volume on your stereo a little, and the bees will stay away, and best of all, you can enjoy the music you like best.
Killer Racket
Bees keep looking for a new home during the spring, so if you notice some bees snooping around your home, you should only squash them with a badminton or tennis racket.
Insecticide
Today, many repellent sprays are friendly to the environment and scare away annoying carpenter bees for a long time.
How To Prevent Carpenter Bees In Your Yard?
In spring, there will likely be many carpenter bees buzzing in the garden. Still, you can keep them away by following these simple tips that we give you below:
Take out the garbage regularly
Garbage is a magnet for bees of all types because there are many remains of food. This is not counting the fact that there may also be remains of sweets. For this reason, it is essential to maintain the exterior of the home extremely clean and litter-free.
Avoid sugary drinking drinks
Sugar attracts wasps, and people are at risk of being bitten by these insects.
Cut flowers and aromatic plants
If there is any kind of plant organism in your garden that generates pleasant smells, you should prune them a bit. Bees are particularly attracted to this class of plants. For this reason, it is necessary to cut them a little to avoid the accumulation of bees in the garden.
Use incense
Incense is a natural neutralizer of bees, so you can keep them completely away if you frequently burn incense around your home.
