Our new home has a yard filled to the brim with flowering plants, which means that we are able to provide a happy home for lots of different pollinators in our community. That’s a great thing, overall, because as you may already know, North America’s bee population is in serious decline. Keeping our pollinating insects alive ensures that we all get to stay alive, because it means that the crops will continue to grow. So, yeah, it’s kind of a big deal!

But what do you do when the pollinator is also a pest to your actual house? Carpenter Bees are a specific threat we have encountered in the last month. Spring is the time when these bees emerge, and while they do pollinate flowers, they also love to drill holes in wood, as that is where they like to lay their eggs. This can cause structural damage to your home, for sure.

I spoke with the experts at Arrow Exterminators, my preferred place of business for all my pest control needs. I explained that I was reluctant to have any sort of chemicals sprayed anywhere near our gardens as I felt that we needed to keep the bees around. I wondered if they might have any alternative suggestions, and I was surprised and delighted when they offered a suggestion that was in the best interest of the bees and that wouldn’t even require a visit from their company to my house. Just one more reason I really trust Arrow Exterminators: they are committed to responsible and ethical pest control management, and not simply dedicated to the pursuit of spraying chemicals as an answer to every problem. Go Arrow Exterminators!

So what was the advice? Well, it was simple: carpenter bees strongly prefer bare wood, so to keep these insects from inflicting damage on your property, keep a thick layer of paint on wood. It’s much harder for them to chew through the paint and more often than not, it will deter them. Staining wood can also help, but it isn’t as reliable of a method as painting. Additionally, it was suggested to be sure to keep garage doors and shed doors closed as much as possible during the spring, as this is the nesting season and you don’t want to find a nest in your garage!

We have some unpainted wooden outdoor furniture that the Carpenter Bees seem to LOVE, so an upcoming weekend project will be to get that all painted in the hopes that we’ll send the message to those bees that they can hang out in the garden, but nest building is prohibited!

Have you ever had to deal with pollinating pests around your home? Do you have any other tips for how to keep your property AND the bees safe? I’d love to hear in the comments.