What are carpenter bees and what do you do about them?
Carpenter bees are visually very similar to bumble bees and may pose a real threat to your cabin. They will drill a perfectly round half-inch hole directly into the exposed wood of your cabin, and will build a nest inside the logs, log siding, and any other exposed wood on the exterior of the cabin. These carpenter bees will constantly fly around the cabin and become-ing a real nuisance. Eventually woodpeckers will begin chiseling the affected wood and will cause significant damage to the exterior of the cabin.
Shown below is a carpenter bee hole.
Here is a carpenter bee’s nest after a woodpeckers chiseled it out to get to the larvae.
What do you do to prevent this? Keeping exposed wood painted or stained helps, but our experience has shown that you should still have your cabin professionally treated for carpenter bees early every spring.