Carpenter bees - Help!

[Cherry Alive]

We have a wee (or not) infestation of either carpenter bees or hornets in our metal window sill. My husband wants to use pesticide. I'd like to just seal it up. However, he pointed out they'd try to find a way to burrow out or would just die inside. Is there an environment-friendly (and SAFE) solution of driving away these guys so we can seal up the window?

[Jay'smom]

I'd be interested in this, too. We have carpenter bees and last year I consulted an entomologist (one of the perks of working for a university) but all he came up with was a pesticide. We caulk up the holes as we see them, and that has worked for the most part. These bees won't sting usually, but they really are a pest. We just have them in the detached garage overhang, so not a really big deal for us.

Hornets, on the other hand, would be a bigger problem since I think they sting. Try calling your local Extension office to see what they can recommend.

[infraread]

We have carpenter bees in our deck. They burrow into wood and live in there. New bees will come and take over old holes if you don't seal them up with something to deter them (steel wool works, or tacking on some screen over the hole). They look like bumble bees with shiny butts. The males don't have stingers (i'm told) but they are agressive and try to intimidate anything away from their area by buzz bombing you. I'm terrified of them, and it's pretty hard to reconcile that with teaching DS not to be scared of them because (theoretically!) they're harmless to us. Not very good for our deck, though

Last year we had hornets building a nest on the garage door. They looked like wasps, only the size of my thumb. The nest started out looking kinda like a grey golf ball, and in a matter of days it was bigger than a baseball and taking on hornet-nest shape. In my experience hornets are aggressive, and while I'm sure they're beneficial on some level, my opinion is they can be beneficial somewhere else. If you even think what you have are hornets, you should consider calling someone with experience to get rid of the nest. They can be moved, but it's dangerous. They can be sprayed, but that's also dangerous because you'd have to spray into the nest for it to be effective, and the opening is usually on the bottom, so you'd be underneath it. Hornets are best handled only by someone who knows what they're doing. I agree with Jay'smom, your local Extention office may be able to help.