Have you ever wondered about the brownish stains near carpenter bees’ nests?
This unsightly stain is carpenter bee poop.
Unfortunately, this unsightly stain is from carpenter bee droppings – to be blunt, carpenter bee poop. These stains are just another reason to treat those nests and prevent future carpenter bees from invading your home!
Carpenter bees like to keep a clean nest. In order to do that, the females dig tunnels using their mandibles to vibrate against the wood grain to carve out small granules that resemble sawdust. Then the bees push out their excretions and the wood shavings to make room for more digging.
Since the bees’ waste is very sticky and acidic, it can easily stain wood and siding and is difficult to remove.
This carpenter bee is working hard to keep its nest clean!
To prevent future stains, you’ll need to first treat the carpenter bee infestation by hanging traps to remove the pests. If you don’t get rid of the bees first, they will just continue to create more stains. Once the bees are gone, priming and painting over the stain is usually the best course of action to clean the mess.
The good news is that the stains will not attract carpenter bees to the nest next season. However, an untreated nest will most likely attract new carpenter bees to occupy the residence. But as long as you treat the nests, you can worry about the stains later.
Want to learn how to treat carpenter bee nests? Check out our great DIY tips here.