Carpenter Bee Trap Not Working?

3 Reasons Your Carpenter Bee Trap May Not Be Working

During this time of year, customers often ask why their carpenter bee traps are not working. After years of experience and selling over 1,000,000 carpenter bee traps, we’ve noticed there are two types of customers – those who buy the traps proactively, and those who buy them as a reaction to being pestered by carpenter bees once they’ve already become a problem. Our proactive buyers got their traps a bit earlier in the year and had them up at the beginning of spring. These buyers are our seasoned pros. They know the best way to catch carpenter bees is before they even start buzzing around.

Our second group of customers, the reactive group, buys the traps as a result of being annoyed – understandably – by the big bees. Some of these purchases come late in the bee season – around May and June. And there is nothing wrong with this! The traps will still work well! But you may have to do some legwork to get the carpenter bees into the traps. Try the steps below to help get your traps going. (And if you’re asking yourself, “How do carpenter bee traps work?” learn more here.)

1. Check if there are active nests. Have the carpenter bees started drilling holes? Are they consistently flying in and out of a sheltered area? Is there a male carpenter bee protecting a hole? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you’ve got work ahead of you. Carpenter bees are extremely territorial, and once they have established a nest, they won’t notice a decoy...aka the trap. You will need to Treat the nests by filling the holes (read our tips on how to do that here). When a customer tells us their trap isn’t working, frequently it’s because of active established nests. Once the nests are closed up, the carpenter bees will begin to search for new homes and be much more likely to go into the trap.
2. Trap Placement. Is your trap getting bounced around by the elements, or are you moving and rehanging in different places? Is it getting pelted by rain? Is it easily visible? For best results, mount the carpenter bee trap or hang it along a wall where it can move in only two directions. Try to place it in a semi-sheltered area that is still visible. If you can’t easily see the trap, then the carpenter bees can’t easily find it either. Check out this video about how to hang your carpenter bee trap for more help.
3. Be patient. Not all traps will work immediately when they are hung up. Some will, but the majority take a few hours to a few days. Remember, carpenter bees are creatures of habit with a strong sense of smell, and your new carpenter bee trap came from a warehouse that smells nothing like your outdoor home environment. The trap needs some time to acclimate to the surroundings. Because our traps are 100% chemical free, we rely on the carpenter bee’s senses to find the trap. This can take them a few days.

If you’ve followed these three steps, then your trap is ready to capture carpenter bees. To speed up the trap’s effectiveness, try this trick: place a dead carpenter bee in the bottom of the trap. What attracts carpenter bees is the smell of other dead carpenter bees, so the more dead carpenter bees in the trap, the more carpenter bees you will attract. If you can’t get a dead carpenter bee, try our Bee-Licious Bee Bait for the same effect.

Always feel free to email us your questions about carpenter bees and your Best Bee Brothers products at customersupport@bestbeebrothers.com.