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I was out by my shed yesterday and had some sawdust fall on me, looked around and saw 2 holes being actively dug out by the bees on one of the support beams for my shed's roof. I counted 9 entry holes, all the way from top to bottom. I'm guessing the whole piece of wood is hollow on the inside at this point. It's cedar and it certainly has not been stained in at least a decade.

The other support beam had only 2 or 3 holes in it, so they've probably been at this for a long time. I'd kind of hate to kill them or relocate them because it's only like 30 feet from my garden and they're still good pollinators. The shed is pretty old and a bit rickety at this point, so maybe I'll just let it go this year.
I was out by my shed yesterday and had some sawdust fall on me, looked around and saw 2 holes being actively dug out by the bees on one of the support beams for my shed's roof. I counted 9 entry holes, all the way from top to bottom. I'm guessing the whole piece of wood is hollow on the inside at this point. It's cedar and it certainly has not been stained in at least a decade. The other support beam had only 2 or 3 holes in it, so they've probably been at this for a long time. I'd kind of hate to kill them or relocate them because it's only like 30 feet from my garden and they're still good pollinators. The shed is pretty old and a bit rickety at this point, so maybe I'll just let it go this year.

20 comments

[–] angeredwhackjob 4 points (+4|-0)

They like unpainted/stained wood, or wood where the paint or stain is old and worn. Sister some fresh lumber onto the weakened pieces and paint.
[–] ScorpioGlitch 3 points (+3|-0)

Spray paint. Stain. Water/Weatherproof stain. If you really don't want to kill them, wait until it gets cold this autumn and seal it up. A sure fire way to test how bad it is is to get you a tube of caulk and a gun and see how much it takes to fill it. Or spray foam. If it's bad, you will need to repair your shed. All the same, I understand no-kill, I really do, but you need to decide whether or not you're willing to sacrifice your shed (and time -> money) to protect one or two of them.

[–] jobes [OP] 1 points (+1|-0)

Dealing with it in autumn seems like the best bet. I had seen 2 of them flying around the shed for at least a month before they started digging new holes, so it might just be 2 females. The shed itself has a fair amount of surface damage over a lot of exterior, a lot of wood gnawed off in a lot of places, a few holes going exterior to interior, vines growing inside of it, etc. The last 2 owners really neglected it, in fact the upper part of the shed is a cob-webbed mess of stuff that the original owner had left there when he sold it over a decade ago. It needs a lot of work regardless.
[–] ScorpioGlitch 2 points (+2|-0)

Oof, sounds like it might be worth it overall to scrap the shed and have a bonfire.
[–] jobes [OP] 2 points (+2|-0)

Honestly considering it. The shed is fairly impractical for its current use, which is to just store my tractor. The tractor is wider than the shed doors, so I have to hold up the grass chute with one hand and drive it in/out with the other. There is sooo much stuff that needs cleaned out of there and I have next to no motivation to do so since there is already so much else to do.
[–] GuyIDisagreeWith 3 points (+3|-0)

Get a plastic shed and let them eat the old one?

If you hadn't said "No Kill" I would have recommended this.

More seriously: How Much DAMAGE Can CARPENTER BEES Cause?!
[–] jobes [OP] 3 points (+3|-0)

Sounds like doing the painting/plugging/etc in the fall is the best bet
[–] OeeThaGreat 2 points (+2|-0)

Spray the affected area with a solution of citrus oil and water. Once they leave seal everything off with some spray paint.
[–] jobes [OP] 1 points (+1|-0)

I saw the citrus oil or boiled citrus spray which might be a good idea to try
[–] [Deleted] 1 points (+2|-1) Edited

I had quite the problem with these sons of mothers b4, it really turned my entire operation on it's head. One night I was out, naked, full moon, flailing my worldly body in the rapture of pure chimp energy. and there they were, in complete disregard of my potency, working away at there dastardly bastardly work, BUILDING GOD DAMN GOD. in the nooks, in the CRANNIES for CHRISTS love. in my ignorance I ignored them, IGNORED THEM in my captive chimp state, until dawn broke that is. and by golly, it was terrible. little tiny miniature workbenches everywhere god damn diddly. and oh oh. OH, once it gets to that point there's no stopping them. in a matter of days they've taught their sons all there is to know and they go setting up they're own christing workshops. why, in a week they made it into my HOME with their little delicately made furniture. there I am, sipping my tea like a good chap and there THEY are, staring back at me, smug grins all around, seated in much nicer chairs at much more expensive tables sipping their god fucking honey nectar. I don't know what to do, I just don't know what to do. It's gotten to the point where they've developed teams to patch up my shoddier woodwork around the place and god damn it, they're making me look like a fool in front of my wife and kids no less. take my advice friend, flee, just go, don't look back, just run, you'll meet new people, you'll start a new family, you'll get new friends, but you'll never get rid of the kneesy bees if even one still survives at your reading this transcript. fire is bright, fire is clean
[–] jobes [OP] 1 points (+1|-0)

What you should have done is divorce your wife and marry into the colony. You could have been a tool carrier for them, it would be easy work for you being so much lighter than you and they would have thought you were the god servant - not the clod shitty carpenter.
[–] [Deleted] 1 points (+1|-0)

Plug the hole with glued in dowels and repaint the surface.

As long as your shed looks like dead wood, they will keep burrowing into it.
[–] jobes [OP] 1 points (+1|-0)

Geez they are so picky about looks
[–] [Deleted] 1 points (+1|-0)

LOLS, they only burrow into dry wood, so keep it painted or they'll dig holes into it :-)
[–] jobes [OP] 1 points (+1|-0)

My raised garden beds are only like 50 feet away from the shed and they're made of unfinished cedar. I honestly wouldn't mind if they burrowed into those - I'd be happy to have them living in my garden. The males are fairly in-your-face aggressive (at least some of the ones living by the shed are), but they can't sting and they still pollinate like a normal bumblebee.
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