Carpenter Bee Control in Upper Marlboro, MD

Do carpenter bees need to be controlled at all?

Not always. The UME factsheet says carpenter bees are not aggressive and are pollinators, so treatment is generally worth it only when they are damaging wood. A home with a few holes in a rarely used board may not need more than a finish and a filled hole.

The bees themselves are not the problem for most people. A large bee hovering near the eaves can look alarming, but the male that does the hovering has no stinger, and the female stings only if she is handled.

The damage is the reason to act. Galleries bored into a board weaken it over time, and holes reused year after year can make a deck rail or a fascia board unsafe. The technician looks at the wood's condition to decide whether the damage justifies the work.

A homeowner who wants to leave the bees alone can still protect the wood. A finished board is less attractive, so the damage is limited even if some bees remain in the yard.

Why does paint or stain help?

The UME factsheet says carpenter bees favor bare or weathered wood, so a painted or stained surface is much less attractive. Paint or stain does not stop a bee that is already nesting, but it reduces the number of new nests in the boards that have been finished.

Bare wood is the target. The bees look for soft, untreated surfaces to start a gallery, and a board that has been weathered to grey is an easy choice for them.

A finish is most useful on the boards that are most exposed: the fascia, the underside of a deck rail, the eaves and any trim that has been left bare. The technician marks those boards and explains which should be finished first.

Paint and stain need upkeep. A finish that has peeled or faded can lose its effect, so the return visit checks the condition of the boards and the plan says when they should be refinished.

• Finish bare or weathered fascia, rails and trim first
• Refinish boards when the paint or stain has faded
• Fill holes after the bees have gone, not while they are active

When do carpenter bees start nesting?

The UME factsheet says females look for nest sites in April and May. That is the window when a new gallery is started, so protecting bare wood and checking the boards before it begins is the most useful step a homeowner can take.

A check of the eaves, rails and fascia before the spring is a simple way to find the boards the bees are likely to choose. Looking for fresh sawdust and new holes in those months shows where the activity is.

Holes that are found after the nesting window still need attention. A hole that was started in the spring may be used again, so the technician checks the holes in the following season as well.

The schedule of visits follows that pattern. The main work is planned before the nesting window, with a check afterward, so the homeowner is not caught with an open board halfway through the season.