I noticed a little pile of sawdust under the deck this afternoon.
"Hmmmm that is odd."
Then I looked up. This is what I saw.
Bees!!!they have drilled holes in our new deck. Carpenter Bees.
Don't they know how hard Chris has worked on this deck! How dare they drill little nests there?!? Is the neighbors deck not good enough for them? Is the taste of new pressure treated wood better than older pressure treated wood? Probably, since it is chromated copper arsenate free, it is a little better for those pesky bees. Remember old treated lumber had arsenic. Yes, arsenic. So, the new pressure treated wood is a little better for us? Maybe, I don't know what is in it?
I guess I could google and tell you, but I've got supper on the stove and gotta go soon. If you are curious I am sure you will look for yourself.
I've seen them buzzing around for a couple of weeks now, and ignored them. I just didn't know they were drilling into the deck. Chris, who called every beekeeper in the state to save honey bees in an apartment complex he was working on, actually said... "Swat them down, and kill them." OK, so Honey Bees are endangered and vanishing. Carpenter Bee's are still thriving and making homes in people's decks.
Off to find wood filler... I know it is around somewhere.
I tried to take a pic of the bees, but failed.......so here is a link.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Oh No....Not the Deck....
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7 comments:
Jenni,
Thanks for stopping by my blog; it is always nice to make new friends. I don't envy you your bee problem...I dislike them intensely! I don't think we have carpenter bees in the north and I would like to keep it that way Thanks.
Janet
I have those bees (up here in Maryland). I got some pictures of them buzzing around my bushes
http://dogsandjen.org/house/blog/?p=402
And they put those holes in my fence posts. Stupid bees.
Jen,
Those are the bees with their little off white noses.
Great pic. I think my shutter speed on this ol' digital is just too slow.
girl, that was on my 'hate list' last week...i SO feel you! i spray some stuff in the holes and then caulk them as soon as the dying bees fly out. unfortunately it's a losing battle...they just make new holes. :-( let me know if anything you try works.
Jenni, we had the exact same problem at our old house - carpenter bees.
I'd never heard of them until I starting noticing those cone-shaped piles of sawdust. They can take down a deck! In the end we had to bring in professionals - they kind of "smoke em' out" and then plug up the holes. It was a bit of a nightmare - I hope yours are friendly, and get out soon!
It's my annual problem. I hate killing things but they leave holes in the redwood (it's their favorite wood apparently!) and the woodpecker tries to get at them, causing even more damage. It's spray, patch, stain every Spring here at Swiss Cheese House>
So glad we don't have those here! Good luck getting rid of them.
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