A Bee Story....
After noticing some fine sawdust on the deck I went out to inspect and found a round hole in the bottom of a rail. I saw a beetle-looking creature moving around in there, and then it actually stuck its head out and inspected ME !! I sprayed some bug spray in the hole and forgot about it...until yesterday morning when pieces of shredded rail were all over the deck. A woodpecker had gone after the critter in the deck rail. Clearly, something had to be done.
After doing some research, I surmized that the critter was probably a carpenter bee and that the recommended method of eradication was wasp spray, which I should have bought yesterday afternoon instead of last night because the woodpecker came back early this morning. Yikes....pieces of wood everywhere !! I sprayed the railing and went back inside.
After chasing off the second woodpecker I noticed a good-sized buggie on the deck. OMGosh....I had no idea they were so big, or so pretty...
I was sorry that I had to spray the wasp spray, but as you can see, carpenter bees, and the woodpeckers who go after them, are very destructive. Notice Carpenter Bee chewing on the evidence... She defiantly picked this up right in front of me !!
I wanted to get a better shot, so I harassed her a bit, and then she came after me !! Sorry this shot is a bit blurry, but I was on the move. WOW...she was MAD....notice the lifted leggie in the front....she was chasing me....Not going back out there for awhile....
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Those bees are huge. I've seen them around here visiting my flowers. They hover and stare right at you. No manners. Leaving crumbs and staring.
No kidding !! I know....I hated that they came shortly after I sprayed (I know there were two different woodpeckers because one was bigger) but they didn't stay long cause I chased them off.
I covered the bee with a jar, so they can't eat it if they come back. I just wanted to wait awhile before taking the jar off.
"Carpenter beeeze" and "Leaving crumbs and staring" Too, too funny...LOL !!!
The railing is about 20 years old and it was resealed last year, but I read that although carpenter bees don't like painted surfaces, deck sealer doesn't tend to deter them.
I covered her with a glass jar before I went inside, so the woodpeckers can't get to her. I just want to wait awhile before I remove her...
Thanks very much for the link.....I'll go check it out. Now I'm kind of freaked out that there are more nests in places I can't see.
I did a look-around before I came inside after returning from the gym, but didn't see any more obvious spots under the deck.
I'll go check out your link...thanks again !!
They are big! I've had several around...though in CA they were all black.
What a story!! Thanks for sharing!
Glad he didn't get ya!
I learned from WB's link that the all black ones are the females, and they are much more aggressive. I didn't try to photograph the two new ones cause they were moving too fast and were very riled up. I got them covered up with the jar and left them alone.
Thanks for coming by !!
It was perfect. I had a bottle of beer, this Carpenter Bee was in the rafter of the shed in the very end. So I watched it go in, then put the bottle right over the hole and poof! The bee went right into the bottle! hah! gatcha!
Where's that Spider LB?
But you got great 'in action' shots!! :-)
Oh, LOL !!! It's just all the inflated rhetoric above !!
Actually, when he was coming after me I was backing away on my elbows and knees, snapping away....
LB....great wildlife photographer...LOL for real !!!
You are so quick !!! I can only attempt to be clever in my retorts.....but I'm laughing at you ducking and flapping your hands around, although no flying objects will be coming from my way !!! LOL !!!
You know it !!!
I'm hyperactive (for real) and I sometimes do strange things just to burn off excess energy....LOL...usually it's nervous energy....
\-/ <------ that's supposed to be a bee.....
Gorgeous pix!
We had carpenter bees in the garage a long time ago -- tough to deal with....((hugs))
Thanks so much !! I love you bee !! I think we are on our way to getting them under control....I was so surprised to see how big they are....especially the females.
Thanks again !!
Waterbaby gave me a great link and I learned a lot more about them....This one actually turned out to be a male and I don't think he was feeling too well after I sprayed. He didn't come after me until I aggitated him a bit so I could get him into a getter position the take some photos....but OMGosh....you should have seen the other ones !! There were two more big black female bees. They were very aggitated from the begining so I just covered them with a jar (so the birds wouldn't eat them) and backed off. I read that the females are much, much more aggressive. I can't believe I didn't get more resistance when I was originally trying to figure out what was up in that hole.
For sure I wish I wouldn't have had to use the spray....