It all began soon  after we retired.  We had dreamed of sitting on our front porch before dinner, sipping wine and enjoying our beloved Indiana greenery.  Unfortunately,   bees hovered over our wine, and mosquitoes enjoyed the taste of my skin.    After a few years, of slathering me with bug spray and swatting bees away from our wine, we decided to screen in the porch. That worked well for a long time, but just the other day, we noticed a pile of fresh sawdust on the ground . Upon closer inspection, we saw a deep hole under our porch railing.  Help! Bee drilling hole in house.

Last fall, we had a similar problem, when the squirrels began eating our house.  It was hot and dry, and I guess they were so hungry that the wood tasted pretty good.  https://livingwellafter80.com/help-squirrels-are-eating-our-house/

Okay, rodents with their sharp teeth, I can understand.  But I never dreamed a big black carpenter  bee could could drill herself a little nest inside our wooden porch railings. I scared her away for awhile with insecticide , and found the hole she was drilling.  It wasn’t very big, just about 1/4 of an inch in diameter.  Seemed like we could handle that.

I turned on my computer and keyed in  Bees boring holes wood.  What I read scared me.   It turns out  that carpenter bees like to bore little holes in wood for a place to plant their eggs.  Yikes, hundreds of baby bees can grow  and develop  into grownups, right inside your house.   Worse yet, if you don’t realize what’s going on, they will drill more holes and soon you will have swarms of bees invading your home.

Someone suggested filling the holes with putty.  That worked for a day, until the putty either fell out, or the bee bored through it.  Soon , the bee was back at work. Okay, now I was desperate.  It wasn’t going to be that easy.  First, I approached the hole in the bright sunlight, while the bee was out doing something else.  I filled a q-tip with insecticide, inserted it in the hole, and poked around. The hole was wide and deep.  Next, I wadded up some Saran wrap and stuffed it in the hole, covered it with aluminum foil, and sealed it with duct tape.

Now we had a really frustrated, angry, bee. banging away at our porch.  She couldn’t believe what had happened.  Frantically,  she flew up and down,  drilling  away with that stinger in an effort to get back inside her hole. That went on until dark.  I don’t know what happened after we went inside, but she’s not there today, and I think she may have given up.  But now we know we aren’t safe.  It could happen again, anytime, anywhere, this summer.

Watch out.  Are bees drilling holes in your house?