Carpenter Bees Woodpecker Damage

They will tap out the length of the tunnel pulling the grubs from each chamber.

Carpenter bees woodpecker damage. Carpenter bees usually won t sting but they can damage wood near your home. Woodpeckers will drill into the wood trim searching for food. A woodpecker can damage your redwood trim looking for carpenter bees. Identifying carpenter bee damage carpenter bees are one of the primary wood damaging insects in the u s.

Some bees leave bullet holes. They can actually detect the presence of the larvae inside the wood and will peck away at the nest opening often causing considerable damage. Carpenter bee activities can cause extensive damage to wooden structures including your home and threaten their integrity. However homeowners in areas with large carpenter bee populations look at these wood damaging insects differently.

Some of the worst damage as a result of carpenter bees are caused by woodpeckers. Carpenter bees bore small holes in moist or rotting wood that then turn at a 90 degree angle into lengthy corridors with chambers where they deposit eggs. Carpenter bee damage carpenter bees prefer to excavate their nests in soft unpainted wood such as the back side of fascia boards siding window trim and porch ceilings. Bottom line if a woodpecker is attracted to your carpenter bee nests and you haven t handled them properly the damage to your home can increase dramatically.

What to do about woodpecker damage. Once the eggs have hatched and the larvae start fattening up they make delicious little morsels for woodpeckers. Woodpeckers are protected birds so keeping them away from carpenter bee nest sites usually involves either repelling them or excluding them by blocking the area. Unfortunately the holes they leave behind can be quite large and unsightly leading to rot and decay of the wood even more quickly than the damage left behind by carpenter bees.

I assume that carpenter bees were named for their affinity for wood because they do love to chew it up. However carpenters use wood to build things whereas carpenter bees tend to damage the wood in whatever you ve already built. Wood peckers do more damage than carpenter bees when they peck their way into the nest to enjoy some tasty bee larva. Perhaps a sacrificial wood structure can save your house trim.

They also bore into decks outdoor furniture fence posts and swing sets. Here s how to fix them.