Additional comment: These bees can be selective about the wood they will burrow in. So if you have a lot of old unpainted/unprotected wood around, they will tend to go to that wood first. If you have unpressure-treated wood they will choose that over pressure treated. So when making and hanging your traps take note of other types of wood are in the area. Paint and/or protect all other wood in the area. If you can use softer untreated wood for the trap that is better than new pressure treated. I happened to find some old but solid 4x4's and these worked perfect for my traps and the carpenter bees seem to love these. I try to make sure all the other wood in the area is painted. Also the bees seem to like corners, so hang your traps either in inside or outside corners of the outside of your structures. For example if you have a porch that sticks out from the walls of your house, then put the traps on the outer corners of the porch or on the place where the side walls of the porch connect to the wall of the house.
I’ve been seeing these bees lately hovering in front of me. I told them I’d leave them alone if they’d leave me alone. Hahaha . Well they left me alone a little while but I’m seeing damage they do!!!!! Oh nooooo! This will not work out!’!! I was going to get a small frying pan, sit on the porch and swat them down . Ping dead! Ya know. But I like this bottle of yours with the block of wood idea better lol. So next pay day we will get the materials needed and make a few then spread the idea to the neighbors too and we live need a little forest so maybe put some of these in the woods too. Thank you for the idea! They are getting pretty bad around here. It’ll take forever to get rid of the pests with a frying pan and I don’t want to get bit or stung! Ouch! Hubby is a carpenter so he’ll be into the idea too. Yay I don’t have to sway bees. Thank you bet much’
@@mypurpleflower6585 Yeah, unfortunately that is the problem with carpenter bees. One female can lay somewhere between 6-8 larvae in a season. Those will hatch the next Spring and stay in the same area. So the first year you may only see two (male and female) the next year you, might see 4 - 6 pair (depending on the male vs female makeup of the first generation). Within 3-4 years you're inundated with carpenter bees and their chewing up your wood at an alarming rate.
These work! I have one on my shed and regularly empty the dead bees from the bottle. I used a plastic water bottle instead, and glued the cap (with a hole in it ) to the block. No set screw needed.
I have discovered that using Bengal Roach spray in the area's that these Carpenter bees target, once their feet contact the Bengal it is game over! They don't drop dead immediately but they DO DROP DEAD. I also sprayed Bengal at my front door plus on the threshold area. Works fantastic!
I had an additional thought. Instead of the "set screw" you could get a piece of metal, nothing too thick, you want it so it's not too hard to work with, but stiff enough that it will hold the bottle. Cut a square piece just slightly smaller than the bottom of your piece of wood. Then, drill a hole the same size as the neck of your bottle (just below the "lip" on the neck. Once you have that done, cut the piece of metal in half. This gives you two pieces with half moon slots. Drill a hole in the center each metal piece just big enough to put a screw through. Flip the trap piece of wood upside down. Put the bottle into the center hole. Now take your two pieces of metal and slide them on so the half moons of each metal piece slide on each side of the neck of the bottle. Keeping the half moons tight to the neck of the bottle, put a screw through each piece of metal into the trap wood (be careful that your screws don't go into the tunnel that you drilled in the trap). This should hold the bottle in place as that "lip" on the bottle neck won't allow the bottle to slip out. Flip your trap upside right and you should be good to go. If you want. Drill a small hole from the top of the wood trap into the larger center hole. This will allow you to poor some soapy water through that small hole and into the bottle, once you have your trap flipped upside right. I always put about a 1/2 inch of soapy water into my traps. Also, do not clean out your traps for the whole season. The dead bees give off a pheromone that attracts other bees. So only clean out your traps once a year. Unless of course they get totally filled with bees FYI - You could probably use some stiff plastic instead of the metal.. might be easier to work with. Just make sure it is stiff enough to hold the bottle in place.
They shouldn’t be killed, they are beneficials and we are losing such insects at an alarming rate. Build a bee house where they can drill as they need and they’ll leave your house alone.
Due to seeing bees actually able to climb back out of traps I began putting an inch or so of cooking oil in the bottle. Once they hit the oil, no more escapes!
Paper bag stuff with plastic bags and hang upside down where bees are. They will think it is a wasp nest and not come near it. Hope this helps. It does work
Stain, paint or seal the wood regularly to prevent it from drying out. When the wood gets to a certain dryness it attracts them. They make a wood bee spray at diy or home repair box stores. Spray early morning or when cool or cloudy. Only one quick burst per hole will do the job. A can with a straw works best. This along with bee traps will get them under control. You want to put a male bee in the trap. That's the one that gets in your face. The males defend the female. That's when the racket or bat comes in handy. Start early in spring before it warms up above 70. Takes several seasons to get under control. Hope this is helpful to someone.
@@murphshall treated is better but untreated will work if stained or painted when it needs it. The idea is to keep it from completely drying out due to exposure.
@@richardtrowell8812 thanks Richard. I started with treated but because it's so wet, it splinters quite bad (in the hole) and didn't know if the smell would turn them off. I have a lot cabin (kit home) and they are burrowing in, laying their larvae, then the woodpeckers come - very frustrating. I'll take a file to it to clean it up. Glad I came across this and thanks for the info.
Good design but I would suggest making at least three(3) entry holes rather than your one(1), could double or even triple your catch. I make four (4) entry holes, one in each side and hang traps from the top. I have seen bees enter two or three holes at the same time.
My old house could have used about 8 of thise traps! 😂 Those bees were munching the thing to sawdust. I started pumping 7 into holes and would watch the dust pump out the opposite end of house!
I did my traps similar but I used a slightly bigger bottle (like a 1 quart orange juice bottle) then what I did was drilled a larger hole in the cap of the orange juice bottle and then glued the cap to the bottom of the piece of wood (lining up the hole in the cap with the hole in the wood. Then all I had to do was screw the orange juice bottle into the cap and bingo I have a removable trap. Then I took a small eye hook and screwed in into the top of the piece of wood. Now I can use any type of carbineer or snap hook and I can hang the trap pretty easily. Also, it looked like "Simon" only drilled one hole on one side. When I make my traps, I drill four upward angled holes, one on each side and all four of the upward angled hole connect with the bigger hole drill up through the bottom of the wood of the trap. This way the bee can enter through any of the four holes and she will still end up crawling down the center hole into the bottle.
Hay got to let you know i have a victorine home and my front porch always has the bees all around it and they are a pain so will be making your traps today and testing them out this was a great idea thank you. Will get back to you to let you know how it goes.
awesome! thanks for letting me know! Something I think helps is if you can plug any holes you see with caulk. That causes the bees to search for a new hole and they are more likely to find your trap instead of drilling a new one. Good Luck!
I was intently watching, focusing on how to build the trap, and then showed you smacking with a board. I busted out laughing and pictured me swatting at them. ( which is how I do it) with my wife laughing at me the whole time. I just finished making the trap as you showed. Time will tell now. Thanks for the video, not only was it entertaining, it was educational.
Haha that’s so funny! It took some time for the first bee to enter the trap but then once one was in they all started to use it. They may be attracted to the scent of other bees. Good luck with yours!
Making a bat is great fun. I made one before seeing this video. I made one out a piece of 1"x6" it sounds just like a player cracking a homeone when you are watching a game on tv
I have such traps and get a lot of them. When they’re buzzing around me I shoot them with a .22 loaded with tiny shot. Within about 8’, they just disintegrate. Obviously I’m in a country setting. Trapping is more effective, but shooting them is far more satisfying.
Got a big problem with these bees!, I sweat them to the ground with my ball cap and smash them with my foot!, I've killed like thirty in the last 3 days!, I will build these and try them out!. Good video!
These traps do work very well, I like the design of these. If you are able to find where the carpenter bees nest, in the past I have waited until dusk, sprayed bee killer up inside the hole, and then capped it with a piece of hardwood dowel covered in wood glue. Of course you have to be very careful doing this, but it works to kill them, and cap the nest. I just come back a day later and saw the dowel off flush.
That is a great idea! I have plugged all of the existing holes I could find but a few were drill through again by the bees inside. The bee killer is a good touch to keep them from getting back out. Thanks!
good video, and I liked the project....In the past I've used either a tennis racket or a racketball racket to knock them out of the air....then step on them before they can get away.
Very good, better than my way which is to use chalking and fill the hole when the bee is inside the hole. I shall make two and add then to my corner posts. Thank you for the idea.
I have grandkids that live on a farm with way to many of these bees in the barns. I introduced them to a fun game who can hit the most bees in a predetermined time. Your bee bat is ok but try a badmitten racket. Lighter, faster and covers more air space. Very satisfying and fun for young and old.
You are very talented and I love the idea of the bottle but not everyone owns saws and power tools! Do you sell these bc if u don’t you should think about selling these? Great invention but not everyone can do this
They usually hang around telephone poles.... just plant one a few ft away... you save a bee that also helps FLOWERS seeds grow. ... they help bloom your flowers for Easter n all thru summer....think about that!!!!! Thx ✌️
Gonna have to build a few of these. I have found that a badminton racket works perfectly for swatting/cheese slicing carpenter bees. Also keeps me in good form for my game;-)
In close quarters I use one of those aluminum pie pans that comes with a pie from the grocery store. Makes a nice sound when it connects with the pesky things.
I will make YOUR trap ahead of the need. I had ONE carpenter bee in my painted wood the first year, and then 4 the next year. I swear they tell their friends (no proof). All 4 were faster than I was swinging a broom; soon they were smart enough to stay 6 feet away from me. Finally, I had to sit like a statue, minimal eye-contact, wait for them to enter the hole, then jump up and SPRAY a wasp-killing spray in the hole. Then fill the hole with putty, sand, paint. Repeated 3 more times. NO bees for two years now (does this prove my theory?)
@@SimonSaysDIY since writing this, I am very sorry. Carpenter bees are pollinators, but don't make honey. They don't sting. Alternative methods are available to us. Paper bag, fake wasp nests or noise from wind chimes, etc. OUR bee population is in trouble in the USA.
When I changed the fascia a few years ago, which was 1x4" red cedar 12' long installed about 30-33 yrs ago, I found full length parallel tunnels in the boards made by carpenter bees, one board had 5 such tunnels, others 2 or 3. The bees overwinter in the tunnels and emerge in the spring and re-use the same tunnels year after year. Used Hardie board to replace. There can be 6-8-10 bees in one tunnel over wintering.
Take WD-40 with the straw nozzle and spray in there. It kills them, I once got one drilling into the porch. I sprayed WD in there, and it buzzed like crazy in there, and backed out of the hole and fell to the ground. Just one more use for WD40. Bug killer!!
They liked the pressure treated wood of our deck and railings. No such bees where I now live in Alaska but bad in Michigan. If I still lived there I would make a couple of these. Good idea.
Thanks for the great practical information to a real problem I have. They are everywhere in Michigan now - 4/3/21 and I expect them until the next hard frost
Also rather than caulking the holes you can get plug Cutters and all different sizes make your own to fit but 3/8 always work for me spray into the hole insecticide and then glue plug into place matches a whole lot better than caulk.
I personally like using my badminton racquets. Got one in 4 different locations ready and loaded! Better than the bat you showcased. But, Like the traps too! I might need to take the time and do this one. 3 barns, and a 50 foot cedar deck, and carport. I mix two kinds of sprays every year to keep them away.
Nice job and it looks great! How about using either using a plastic screw, or adding a thin bead of hot glue or a rubber band around the top of the bottle or at the tip of the steel screw to act as a bumper between the bottle and set screw? I might make the block a bit higher, and I'd use natural wood, not pressure-treated, if available. You can also decorate the bottle with paint or self-stick appliques that will still allow plenty of light in and block the sight f dead bees. You could even turn the unit into a lamp for after dark by winding a solar wire and seed LED light set around the outside of the glass and hot-gluing into place!
Thanks! I hope they work well for you! :) I found it helps to put the traps up and just wait. When the bees are active, It may take a few days before you catch the first bee after that more quickly follow. It also helps to plug the existing holes the bees are currently living in. The bees will look for a new hole before chewing a new one. Good luck!
Nice design. A suggestion - for the set screw, if you off set it so it runs in at a tangent along the side of the bottle, not as likely to break from tightening.
@@SimonSaysDIY - You're using pressure treated wood in the video - carpenter bees usually avoid pressure treated wood. Always use "softwood" like pine, fir, etc. (not hardwood), and use either well weathered wood or new unpainted, untreated wood.
@@johnnellis3025 - The video show "NEW" pressure treated wood being used, which means it smells and tastes bad to the bees. A deck, depending on the age, will have weathered and lost much of that deterrent, especially if it hasn't been painted or stained since being built. Pressure-treating doesn't protect the wood forever.
Use two screws and thread it in? No screwdriver needed to remove. Cut the top of a plastic cap off and glue it in? One hole on each side of the bottle with a "U" shape wire pushed in below the lip? Rubber tube friction fit?
We use a badminton racquet to whack them, or butterfly net to catch & squash, plus traps. Your trap idea is the easiest to build that I've seen so far! Great job! When we empty our traps we have to empty into a clear bag bcz some are still alive & then we squash them. Using your bottle trap, people could just put the cap back on and throw away. Maybe use a plastic bottle & cap.
So I just built a dozen of these, (before seeing your video), and I can tell I made a bunch of mistakes. Here they are, in no particular order: 1.) I put a quantity of 4, 1/2" diagonal holes going into the main vertical hole, 0ne per block face, (which means that the bees has three other choices to not die in). 2.) I used wide mouthed bottles that had tin lids stapled to the block, allowing wide access to the hole going back out! 3.) I missed out on the reason to buy 3 quad packs of IBC sodas, (some of the best on the planet)! 4.) WD-40 for taking the adhesive off the bottle?!? Now that was worth watching your video for all by itself! This explains why my prototype was so phenomenally unsuccessful at catching the little wood munchers. Did I see you caulking up the existing holes the carpenter bees left? Also, what size Forstner bit did you use for the bottle? 3/4"? Thanks for posting this. I may be able to salvage my blocks with 1/2" dowel pegs stuffed in the extra holes and replace the wide-mouths with soda bottles if the main vertical hole is 3/4", (which is what mine are). Looks like it's rework time for my traps! Thanks for posting this!
haha, well I have heard of traps with that design working but it may depend on the bees in your area. A few things that I found helps attract the bees to the trap is: - Filling any existing holes with calking or wooden dowels causes the bees to search for a new hold before making a new one. - Placing dead bees in the jar before hanging up. I noticed that it took a long time for the first be to be caught in the trap but then many more started to use the trap. they may be attracted to the scent of other bees. - Placing the traps on a frequent place the bees search. I watched the bees and they seemed to search the side of the rafters and especially at the corners of the roof. to answer your questions, yes I used caulking to plug the holes. a few times they chewed through the caulk but I just filled it back up again. As for the size of the Forstner bit I used, I believe it was 1 inch. But depending on the bottle you may need a larger size. Good luck with your traps! Thanks for watching!
@@SimonSaysDIY FYI if you (only) caulk up the holes, it will not kill a bee in there, nor will it kill the eggs that have been laid. Make sure to put poison in the hole first 👍
@@SimonSaysDIY I'm so looking forward to building some of these on my house, my neighbors tell me there are a lot of carpenter bees in my area. My house is new so an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
I've been buying and using carpenter bee traps for several years now and the main problem with them is getting bees to go into them initially if it's a new trap. Once a dead bee or two is trapped, the scent will attract more but it can take a while to get the initial bee "seed" trapped. What I did this year was get some bee attractant off amazon and it worked AMAZINGLY well but my traps fro last year are falling apart so I may just DIY a few more this year. I've got plenty of spare wood. Also, we have a $1 per bee bounty at my house so the kids will be out there with tennis racquets going to town.
Instead of the superlong anchor screw and wood filler, how about a backside hanger tab or recessed key hole hanger? A slope on the top surface would shed rain water and moisture better.
since they actually pollinate more plants than honeybees, you can build them a nesting box away from your house and shop and they will still help your garden and flowers to flourish
@@BS.-.- i get that. But the bees are destroying your property and costing me money. And not allowing my family to enjoy our backyard. So that problem is greater than keeping bees around to pollinate
Yeah, if left alone they can cause extensive damage over the course of a few years. It worked well for us! Good luck with yours! It helps to plug any existing holes you see. That well make them search for a new one.
@@nancysmith9487 These bees _don't_ make honey, they are solitary wood-boring bees, that are very destructive, and very common in the SE USA. I wish them no ill in general, but, like most other people posting here, I have no qualms about trapping and killing those that want to eat my home. Oh, and I looked all the way to the end of the comments and didn't see your post about honey, or under anyone else's post about honey.
Good luck! I would fill any holes already Bering used by the bees if you can, this will prevent further damage and it will help the bees find the hole on the trap instead of all the others. Thanks for watching!
I did the same thing making a bat out of a piece 1"x6" I call it "The Stinger". They sound just like when you are watching a baseball game on tv and someone cracks a homerun.
The trick to these traps is to get them up early, as soon as possible once the weather starts to warm. You need to catch the females before they start laying eggs. The males, which are the ones you see most of the time zooming around are relatively harmless and catching them is not all that helpful because more males will come. If you catch and kill the females you will quickly eliminate the population and the females come out first and start burrowing. So get the traps out ASAP, if you are in Northern climates get them cleaned up and put out as soon as freezing weather ends. As long as the traps don't freeze up and burst, you are OK putting them out.
My choice for bee bopping is using a badminton racket, lots of surface area, light weight and makes a satisfying sound when carpenter bees are struck.. try it out. Find rackets at Goodwill and pay $1 each.
It probably bee better if we didnt kill them... One way you can prevent them from coming to your house is making sure everything is well painted and no open wood is on your house, silicone on cracks, and putting up a carpenter bee house away from your home by some flowers are all really nice methods to keep them from attacking your home without straight up killing then... Also if you leave the bottles there, the dead bees pheromones will attract more.... It a good trap design though.
Lol, I have these little pests on my deck. They try to fly in your face to intimidate you, lol 😂. I tell them to go away in a stern voice and they do lol. I really love your idea. I don’t want to kill them, I just want them to vacate MY deck and move someplace else.
Thanks! :) you can try to fill any holes you see with wood filler or caulk. that will cause them to find a new home and the next one may be a dead tree somewhere else. I have also been told planting Marigold is a natural deterrent for carpenter bees.
3/8" drill is the right size hole. That is the size the bee makes. I make mine with a 3/8" drill. I also add water in the bottle, about 2 inches. Add a eye let to the top and hang it with an "S" hook. Also if you want to hit them try a tennis racket, bad mitten racket and even a racket ball racket. The males can sting you.
I was plugging the holes with dowel rod pieces, and found that 3/8" was too loose, and 7/16" was needing a little sharpening to get started in the hole. So, I determined that the holes were 10mm... Just proves my thought that that carpenter bees are a commie plot, since all the communist countries are metric, not SAE. 😎
I sit on my deck and shoot them with the grandson's Red Ryder BB gun. Keeps me in shape for wing shooting when hunting season rolls around. Tip: Buy plenty of BBs.
I put a mason jar on the bottom. The rim is screwed to wood and then you put about 1 inch of sugar water in jar. Hang up and catch bees. I was a bit skeptical but within an hour I had several in one and one in another. After about 3 weeks I had a total of 14. No more squirting WD-40 in the holes. That method did work but you had to search out each hole and that took a lot of time.
We use to make little projectile with rubber band and shoot at them as kids. If we were lucky we get one that can fly, remove their sting, and tie sewing thread around it's neck and fly them around. We did this to all form of insects. The fav was the Japanese beetle or the dragon flies.
Carpenter bees are important pollinators of many flowering plants found in our gardens, natural areas, and on farms. In fact, 15% of our agricultural crops are pollinated by native bees such as carpenter bees. Because of how hugely beneficial they are to local ecosystems, many beekeepers say it's important to safely move them instead. Carpenter Bees are naturally repelled by the smell of citrus, it can be tempting to simply exterminate them, but you should take a more peaceful route.
"Carpenter bees have short mouthparts and are important pollinators on some open-faced or shallow flowers; for some they even are obligate pollinators, for example the maypop (Passiflora incarnata) and Orphium, which are not pollinated by any other insects. They also are important pollinators of flowers with various forms of lids, such as Salvia species and some members of the Fabaceae".
Killing carpenter bees is a mistake They are important pollinators for all of your flowering plants and fruit trees. If you want to keep them away from your building frame work mix up a quart of liquid plumber/caustic soda, with 4 quarts of water. Paint your deck framing material with it and let it dry, stain over the material with a color of your choice, This will lock in the caustic and repel all wood drilling bugs with out killing them.
Carpenter bees are important pollinators. They are part of the web of life and play a role in the environment and these methods aid in the collapse of species. The males are territorial and appear more aggressive but do not sting. Is there a more creative way to address this ?
