Video: Repairing Carpenter Bee Damage: Why & How

Welcome! I’m Mike Ryan here in the bee cabin.

I’m here today to tell you why you should fill those bee holes around your house before you hang our traps.

Here’s why: Carpenter Bees are territorial.

If you have a lot of bee holes around your house, deck or shed be sure to treat the holes!

The female carpenter bees are the ones drilling the holes. They lay their eggs inside the holes. And the male carpenter bee hovers around the hole and chases away all the other bees.

That male carpenter bee knows where the female drilled the hole. So if you hang your trap too close to that hole he may chase all of the bees away from your trap. This will reduce the effectiveness of our trap.

How do you treat the holes?

The best way is to plug them. You can use a wooden cork, like the ones we sell on our website. Just press the cork in the hole. You can even paint over it. Or use a wood plug, putty, really anything solid to seal the hole.

Now, here is a secret and another really important reason to seal the holes. The female bee drills the hole which creates a hollow area inside the wood. She is laying eggs and both adults are bringing pollen for the babies -- going in and out.

Woodpeckers can actually hear the baby bees in the hole. They start pecking at the wood trying to find a meal. This can really cause some damage -- sometimes more damage than the bees!

To learn everything you need to know about getting rid of Carpenter Bees, go to BestBeeBrothers.com. You can order traps and our see all our other great products.