Don’t see that every day
Mentioned before how I have a carpenter bee problem and I tend to thwack them, or have the kids thwack them, with a tennis racket. Well, I really tennis elbowed one and didn’t see the body corkscrew to the ground and thought ‘da hell?”. Then, I look at the racket and see this:
This creeped the kids right out. It was still buzzing.
April 24th, 2014 at 7:49 pm
Help me! HELP MEEEEE!!!
(Yeah, yeah, I know, wrong bug. It’s what I thought of…..)
April 24th, 2014 at 10:01 pm
I just loaded up some 357 Mags for Carpenter Bees. 2 grains of bullseye, some gasket maker for wadding, as much crushed walnut media as I can pack into the brass, and a little more gasket maker…I will let you know how it works.
April 24th, 2014 at 10:23 pm
I favor the electric racquets from Harbor Freight. That big noisy POP tells you you got a hit although we have some wasps that get back up and come looking for you if you don’t hit them again while they’re down.
April 24th, 2014 at 11:20 pm
WD40 kills hornets instantly in their nest. Should do the same for bees. The one bee/hornet, etc labeled spray I bought one time was just a thin petroleum oil anyway. Might as well use the WD40 and have it for other chores too.
April 25th, 2014 at 12:34 am
I would get an electric racket bug killer…
April 25th, 2014 at 6:27 am
Sounds like a good use for the Bug-A-Salt
April 25th, 2014 at 7:30 am
If you really want to have fun with carpenter bees, use an airsoft rifle. Pistols are ok, but limited on rounds and fun. Besides it’s great practice.
April 25th, 2014 at 9:45 am
Did the same with a yellow jacket that decided I looked fun to buzz when walking to the courts. He wasn’t buzzing, DOA.
April 25th, 2014 at 12:04 pm
We always use badminton racquets – they have good reach, are really quick, and since they’re so lightweight you don’t have to be as worried about accidentally taking out windows/furniture/etc…
And they’re strung closer than a tennis racquet so you’ll never “stick” one!
April 25th, 2014 at 12:17 pm
When I was a kid I used to snap beach towels at these big brown wasps we has in Hawaii. Mean SOBs. Nailed one in the front yard and stomped him on the sidewalk. Did I mention they were tough? Bastard shook it off and came after me with blood on his mind.
Spent a week with my whole sholder swollen like a canteloupe.
April 25th, 2014 at 1:22 pm
Get some Sevin™ Dust at hardware store. It’s fantastic on them.
Get a hand duster, or use an old condiment squeezer you can rinse, destroy and throw away, and dust those holes!
They dig in a short way then dig 90 degrees sideways. That area is where you want to reach. They lay eggs and seal them off and do it again. The dust in the hole will kill the adults and newly hatched ones too.
Apply as needed, if you have them at all then there are others off your property that may move in too.
Unless the value of thwacking them is higher, then nvm.
April 25th, 2014 at 2:23 pm
The hardcore use ping-pong paddles.
April 25th, 2014 at 9:32 pm
I killed all the carpenter bees around my house. Learned a valuable lesson. I killed all the pollinators in the immediate vicinity. Seems they were doing better than honey bees at pollinating my garden. Record low yields.
April 26th, 2014 at 5:47 pm
when i was a kid, dad and I used to plink at them with a daisy powerline 880; one stroke of the pump allowed, and we had a cheapo scope mounted on it. Dad got pretty good at it; he could pretty reliably hit them in a hover. I never did manage it, though I got a bunch once they lit on something. I’ve been using the grill brush on the ones that are eating my outdoor tables, though. not significantly easier than using a bat, but it’s handy.
April 27th, 2014 at 12:39 pm
Dadof4Says has the right idea. As more come around they will use the hole made by others instead of making a new one. Lazy bastards. They’ll pick up the dust and go off to die.
April 27th, 2014 at 10:39 pm
When I was a kid we used badminton rackets to kill bees and wasp.