Say Goodbye To Carpenter Bees With A Solution You Already Have

Carpenter bees can be a real nuisance, as well as a potential health hazard for your home. Although they aren't eating the wood around your house, these bees do bore into it and cause a significant amount of damage. Because of this, if you see signs carpenter bees are lurking around your home, you need to eradicate them ASAP. Luckily, you likely already have the solution for your problem on hand. All you need to get rid of these boring bees is a shop vac with a small nozzle attachment.

That solution may sound odd at first. However, in much the same way you would use a shop vac to clean out your backpack after a camping trip, you can vacuum carpenter bees from their tunnels. This solution works to remove these invaders for much the same reason it is so effective at cleaning out bags, sofa crevices, and all those hard-to-reach areas of your car. Essentially, the shop vac with a small nozzle attachment uses a relatively focused, high-speed vortex of air to suck items out of small openings and crevices. This makes it incredibly effective for getting carpenter bees out of the labyrinth of tunnels they create in wooden boards. As an added bonus, this method is 100% chemical-free.

Not only is using a shop vac to remove carpenter bees safe and effective, it is also incredibly easy. If you don't have a shop vac, you can use a household vacuum, as long as it is powerful and has a small nozzle attachment. Once you've identified where all entry holes are and fitted your vacuum with a small nozzle attachment, wait until evening to ensure all the bees are back in their tunnels for the night. Then, place the nozzle over the hole, turn on the vacuum, and allow it to run for a few minutes. Keep an eye on the entry hole for a bit after you remove the vacuum nozzle in case any remaining bees crawl out of the hole. At that point, simply vacuum these stragglers up as well.

Typically, this method is most effective on nests that are relatively new, without an extensively long tunnel system. So, it is important to get the shop vac out as soon as you see carpenter bees hovering and boring holes. Don't worry that your shop vac is going to be overflowing with angry bees: Carpenter bees are solitary creatures, and at most, nests will have one to six adults, depending on the time of year.

That said, after vacuuming the bees out, it is also important to take steps to prevent a future infestation or stop any larvae that the vacuum can't suck out from maturing. Spray the inside of the hole with almond oil, a natural ingredient carpenter bees hate. This will help prevent them from returning to the area in the future. Then, plug the hole using caulk or wood putty. For an extra measure of prevention, apply a thick coat of paint, taking care to cover all of the exposed wood.