Carpenter Bee Holes in the Fence

Carpenter Bees

• Unlike standard bees or honeybees, carpenter bees do not live communally in hives. Instead, male and female pairs burrow into wooden decks, walls and fences to make their homes. The female deposits larvae inside the burrow and both bees will spend time around the entrance hole, watching over the next generation.

Issues

• Carpenter bees aren’t an aggressive species, but they will sting if they are threatened or in defense of their burrow. The way they hover around the burrows can be intimidating, scaring people away from a fence in which they live. Their holes can make a wooden fence less attractive. Carpenter bees can eventually cause structural damage to a wooden fence by creating many small holes and burrows.

Solutions

• To get rid of carpenter bees, use a combination of insecticide and wood putty. Use a blower to puff diatomaceous earth into their burrows inside your fence. This natural insecticide dehydrates the bees, pulling moisture out of their bodies until they die. Apply the diatomaceous earth, wait five days, then reapply. If you don’t see any bee activity after another three days, seal up the holes in the fence with wood putty or other plugging material. If you leave them open, new carpenter bees could move into them.

Considerations

• If you only have a few carpenter bees making holes in your fence and no one in your household is allergic to bee venom, you can ignore them. If you do decide to use diatomaceous earth to get rid of them, remember to wear long sleeves and gloves to reduce your risk of being stung. While diatomaceous earth is nontoxic, it can cause respiratory irritation if inhaled. It can make pets or children sick if they eat it, so keep them out of the way when you are working with it.