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Old 06-08-2010, 11:32 PM
 
106 posts, read 240,497 times
Reputation: 31

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I have never seen this in my life. Yesterday I went out on my deck and noticed 5 1/4 inch holes in a row but not exactly in a horizontal line. These were right in the top railing of my deck. (Where one would stand and lean on or hold on to). They are not clean holes as if you would take a drill bit but the outside are chiseled and rough. There was also saw dust underneath mixed with some soft gel-like granular material. My wife and I are stumped. Even if we had termites the holes could not have appeared overnight. Could this be a Woodpecker?
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Old 06-09-2010, 01:45 AM
 
67 posts, read 179,464 times
Reputation: 39
Wood boring bees (aka carpenter bees). I can't stand those buggers!!!!
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Old 06-09-2010, 06:27 AM
 
1,183 posts, read 2,896,498 times
Reputation: 1079
Yep. Carpenter bees.
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Old 06-09-2010, 07:27 AM
 
Location: Jefferson County
380 posts, read 1,163,274 times
Reputation: 104
They look like a bumblebee, but the abdomen is shiny and the wings are less round.
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Old 06-09-2010, 08:39 AM
 
106 posts, read 240,497 times
Reputation: 31
Amazing. Is there a deterrent to this? Thanks for input all.
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Old 06-09-2010, 09:08 AM
 
106 posts, read 240,497 times
Reputation: 31
I found what I was looking for here:

Carpenter Bee Solutions - The Best Carpenter Bee Trap & Other Carpenter Bee Control Products
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Old 06-09-2010, 09:12 AM
 
106 posts, read 240,497 times
Reputation: 31
One last thing:

This happened the day after i cut two trees in my backyard. They must have been living in one of the trees.
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Old 06-09-2010, 09:16 AM
 
617 posts, read 1,359,723 times
Reputation: 543
Quote:
Originally Posted by SunnaH View Post
One last thing:

This happened the day after i cut two trees in my backyard. They must have been living in one of the trees.
I don't know if carpenter bees live in trees, they generally do exactly what you're describing, find some wood and make nests in it. If you were to split open your deck, you'd be amazed at what they can create.

One positive is that if they're male, they can't sting, but that's probably not much help if your deck is being invaded. I'd go with the solution in your link.
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Old 06-09-2010, 05:38 PM
 
4,709 posts, read 12,704,135 times
Reputation: 3814
Quote:
Originally Posted by SunnaH View Post
....They are not clean holes as if you would take a drill bit but the outside are chiseled and rough. There was also saw dust underneath mixed with some soft gel-like granular material. My wife and I are stumped. Even if we had termites the holes could not have appeared overnight. Could this be a Woodpecker?

They must be amateurs! The carpenter bees around my house bore perfect holes....as good as I could do with a drill and a sharp bit.

Those critters are amazing...one time I misplaced a wooden handled broom for a few weeks....I had leaned it up against a tree in my yard. In that time, one of those bees had bored a hole up the center of that broom handle and taken up residence. Next time I used the broom, the handle shattered all over the place...LOL.
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