Avoiding End Of Summer Stings

Avoiding End Of Summer Stings

The final weeks of summer are here, and that means it is time to enjoy as much of the warm sunny outdoor weather as possible. There a few weekends left to dine on hot dogs, hamburgers, pasta salad, and deviled eggs, and to go with family and friends to local fairs and festivals. It is important to remember that if precautions are not taken, stinging insects like wasps, yellow jackets, and hornets may also join in uninvited and ruin your outdoor fun.

Not only are we trying to squeeze in the most of the last days of summer, but so are stinging insects. In the late summer and early fall stinging insects are more active and ornery because they are stressed out about making sure they find and gather enough food to keep their queens well-nourished during the cooler weather months of the fall and winter seasons. This is the time of year to be aware of stinging insects and to try and avoid as much contact with them as possible.

Stinging insects like yellow jackets and others are particularly pesky pests at outdoor events and cookouts because most of them like to feed on the proteins and sweets that we also like to feed on. They are attracted to open containers of sweet drinks and plates of grilled food. Some things you can do to help protect yourself and your guests at cookouts and other outdoor events include:

  • Make sure to provide trash cans with tight fitting lids for people to throw their empty plates and cups in.
  • If possible provide cups that have lids on them.
  • Go around and clean up any food and plates that have been left behind during the party.
  • Place food inside, have people fill up their plates inside, and then come outside to sit, eat, and mingle.

In addition to protecting your guests and your family at outdoor events, there are many things that you can do around your property to help deter stinging insects from becoming an issue whether it is cookout season or not.

  • Remove old tree stumps, fallen trees, or piles of debris that stinging insects could use to nest in.
  • Limit the amount of flowers and other colorful landscaping that you have planted on your property.
  • Place outdoor trash cans away from the exterior of your home.
  • Make sure that gutters are not clogged and that they are draining water away from your home.
  • Make sure that screens are intact, caulk spaces found around windows and doors, and place caps on chimneys to help prevent stinging insect from getting inside and nesting within your home.

If stinging insects have created a nest in close proximity to or actually on your home or have become particularly aggressive, the best way to deal with them is to call a professional. Their stings can be very painful and their venom can cause severe allergic reactions in some people; because of these dangers, it is best to leave controlling stinging insects up to professionals who are experienced in dealing with them.

At Russell’s Pest Control, our stinging insect professionals have the experience, equipment, and knowledge needed to safely remove dangerous stinging insects nest from your property. Our Power Platinum program provides year-round protection for your home and family against a wide variety of pests including stinging insects. Contact us today, for more information about our stinging insect control services and enjoy the rest of your summer, free of stings!

Get Protected From Knoxville Stinging Insects!

Get Protected From Knoxville Stinging Insects!

Wasps, yellow jackets, hornets, and carpenter bees, are all species of stinging insects that can be found buzzing around during the spring, summer and fall months in Knoxville. Even though these types of stinging insects are very beneficial to the environment with pollination and insect control, our homes and families still need to be protected against their damages and dangers!

Carpenter bees, for example, can create nesting holes in the wood on the exterior of our homes in places like siding, decks, and porches. Female carpenter bees live alone in their nests, but many females may live in the same piece of wood. Over time, and with the help of woodpeckers who make the holes bigger looking for the larvae that the female carpenter bees leave inside the wood, the damages that these pests can create to the structures of your home can be quite extensive.

Stinging insects like wasps, yellow jackets, and hornets move from becoming environmentally helpful to dangerous when they decide to create their nest in the walls of your home, on your home near a window or doorway, or on your child’s play structure. Stinging insects will defend themselves and their nests by stinging whatever it is that they think is a threat. When their nests are too close to your home then the chances of you, your children, or pets getting stung greatly increases, especially if the nest is built in a high traffic area. While the sting is painful enough to warrant action, the venom from wasps, yellow jackets, and hornets is strong enough to cause some very severe allergic reactions in many people.

As a homeowner, there are several steps that you can take to help protect yourself and your property from stinging insects. Some helpful prevention tips from the professionals here at Russell’s Pest Control include:

  • Making sure that all the wood on the exterior of your house, like siding, porches, decks, patio and lawn furniture and swing sets is stained or painted because carpenter bees prefer to nest in wood that is untreated.
  • Chimneys should have a tight fitting cap on them.
  • Holes or small openings in your home’s exterior walls or foundation should be repaired.
  • Caulk spaces around exterior windows, doors and utility entrance points.
  • Gutters should be routinely cleaned so that debris doesn’t build up and collect rainwater that the stinging insects can use as a source of water.
  • Make sure that outdoor garbage cans have tight fitting lids on them.
  • Remove old tree stumps or fallen trees that stinging insects could possibly use as a nesting site from your property.
  • Reduce the amount of flowering, colorful landscape found outside the exterior of your home.

If stinging insects ever do decide to nest on your property and they start causing damages or become dangerous to you and your family it is best to contact a Knoxville stinging insect professional. Trying to take care of a stinging insect problem on your own can lead to stings and injury.

At Russell’s Pest Control we can safely remove a stinging insect nest from your property and offer continuous control services to prevent future issues through our Power Platinum program. The Power Platinum program provides year-round protection for your home and family against yellow jackets, wasps, hornets, and carpenter bees! For more information about protecting your home and family from stinging insects from the Knoxville stinging insect control experts here at Russell’s Pest Control, contact us today! Start your pest control program so that you can get back to enjoying your summer, your home and your property without a single thought of stinging insects!

All You Need To Know About Bald Faced Hornets

All You Need To Know About Bald Faced Hornets

Stinging insects are one of the worst kinds of pests to invade your property. Not only can they inflict painful stings that swell and turn red, but there are many people who are allergic to their venom and require immediate medical attention if stung. Of those that we refer to as ‘stinging’ insects, the list is topped by those of the yellow jacket and hornet families. These pests are particularly aggressive and are capable of stinging over and over again. They are merciless if they feel you have threatened them or their nests, and they will ‘stick up for’ for each other coming to the aid of the other members of their colony. So, when you mess with one, you mess with them all. They truly are the mobsters of the insect world.

If you consider the name ‘bald faced hornet’, you may mistakenly identify these pests as being members of the hornet family when, in fact, they are a part of the yellow jacket family. Either way, these are very aggressive and dangerous creatures to mess with. Identification of these insects and their nests is very important to avoid being the focus of their attack.

Bald faced hornets are black with a distinct white marking on their face. Their thorax, abdomen, and legs also have streaks of white. These insects range in size from 13mm to 20mm, with the queen being the largest in the colony. A colony may contain 100 to 400 workers – most assuredly this is not an army you want to battle alone!

The bald faced hornet makes their nest by mixing chewed cellulose with their saliva. The papery gray nests that they make can be found nestled in treetops, bushes or shrubs, and under eaves or other protected places. They can be found as low as 3 feet off the ground or as high as 60 feet in the air. The nest itself can be up to 24 inches across and 18 inches high.

The fact that they can sting multiple times and that they come to each others aid means that bald faced hornet nests should be handled by trained professionals who have the proper safety gear and products to quickly and effectively eliminate the entire colony. Here in Tennessee, the name to trust for pest related issues is Russell’s Pest Control. Our year-round Power Platinum home pest control program is the best way to ensure year-round protection from bald faced hornets and over 30 other pests that can invade your home or property. If you desire a one-time removal of bald faced hornets, we can do that too.

For more than 45 years, Russell’s Pest Control has been protecting the people in Tennessee from damaging and dangerous pests. Our mission “To provide the highest quality pest management services to homes and businesses in Tennessee through our determined quest for customer satisfaction and employee excellence” says it all. Your satisfaction is our priority.

If bald faced hornets have decided to invade your property, give us a call. You will see just how affordable it is to have your home and family protected from these and any other unwanted pest.

Every Yellow Jacket Stings

Every Yellow Jacket Stings

We’re having a little fun on the blog today.  This post about yellow jackets is best read to the tune of Poison’s “Every Rose Has It’s Thorn”.

We both live in Tennessee
In the heat of August.
Although we both live close together
We try to be miles apart outside.
Was it my foot on your nest or the lawnmower blade?
Did the dog sniff your nest?
Though I tried not to disturb you,
Though I tried,
But I guess that’s why they say

Every yellow jacket stings.
Just like every winter has its spring,
Just like every June
Knoxville gets hot, hot, hot.
Every yellow jacket stings..
Yeah they do.

I watch where I step in the woods,
Sticking to the trails.
Hear others cry in pain when they
Alarm you
But I wonder, do they know?
The grounds are your home,
And we know you that you will defend it,
If I could have let them know somehow

I guess
Every yellow jacket stings.
Just like every winter has its spring,
Just like every June
Knoxville gets hot, hot, hot.
Every yellow jacket stings..
Yeah they do.

Though I tried to avoid you
I am now in so much pain.
I head to the doctor
Because the stings, oh the stings, they inflame!
I know I could’ve avoided you today on my walk,
If I had paid attention,
Instead of playing with my iPod
I let my feet run away!

Now I wonder when I will learn,
Will I ever be stung again
To hear you get angry, makes
Me want to run and hide.

Every yellow jacket stings.
Just like every winter has its spring,
Just like every June
Knoxville gets hot, hot, hot.
Every yellow jacket stings.

If you’ve had it with yellow jackets in Knoxville, contact Russell’s Pest Control today!  Our experienced pest control professionals are ready to help you get rid of stinging insects and other pests this summer.

A Halloween Fright: Giant Hornets

It’s time once again to add a page to the chronicle of Russell’s Pest Control Halloween blogs. On some occasions, we’ve discussed local pests that are particularly creepy and alarming. Last year, we examined a frightful fungus that preys on ants. This year, we’re again going to travel far from home to have a look at a particularly terrifying little beast.

Perhaps you’ve heard talk of aggressive, predatory hornets in East Asia that are wreaking havoc on some cities there. These little beasties, whose common name is simply the Asian giant hornet, claim an average of 30-40 lives per year in Asia. In 2013, however, they exploded into public notice when they started attacking cities in China. More than 1500 people have been injured after encounters with these horrific hornets, and experts are scrambling to determine what has caused the increase in aggression (some reports are saying that the giant hornets may be attempting to reassert their dominance over threatened territory, but there are several theories out there). If this isn’t like the plot of some terrifying, modern Alfred Hitchcock flick, then I don’t know what is.

The average giant hornet in these large colonies is about two inches long, but those are just the every-day citizens. The queens (pictured here) are about the same length as the palm of an adult human’s hand. The drones have stingers that are about ¼ inch in length, and they pack a particularly potent venom. Those injured by the hornets compare the sting to a hot nail or a bullet, and as few as ten stings can be hazardous to a human, even if the person is not allergic to the venom.

Even before their sudden spike in aggression, these hornets were a major problem in the Asian agricultural economy. Giant hornets require protein in their larval stage, so the drones will often invade honey bee hives to steal bee larva to feed to their own young. Because the hornets have such a size advantage, a few invaders can completely wipe out a large honey bee hive in a shockingly short amount of time, and Asian bee keepers have faced the devastating effects of these gruesome giants. In case you were wondering, the hornets use their oversized jaws to kill the bees by decapitation. So, that’s just great.

When you’re fighting a zombie, a shotgun is supposed to be the weapon of choice. Werewolf slayers favor silver bullets, and vampire hunters usually carry around a trusty stake. When you’re fighting killer giant hornets…well, the list of appropriate weapons is fairly short. Pest experts were rushed to the area to try to eliminate the large hives as quickly and safely as possible. Those who aren’t willing to wait are resorting to gasoline-fueled fireballs, which is rarely a good idea but does, again, sound like something out of a movie.

And, just in case you needed a bit more creepy news to really set the Halloween tone, I should also mention that at least one country in Western Europe has reported seeing these giant hornets. We have discussed the dangers of introducing pests into new ecosystems before, so we’ll have to wait and see if these hornets can survive outside of their native environments.

Happy Halloween!

Carpenter Bee Maintenance: Winter Work For A Spring Problem

Because East Tennessee season changes are so unpredictable, it’s probably a good time to address any cold weather maintenance projects now before the spring sun wakes up the hibernating insect population. With that in mind, let’s revisit carpenter bees and discuss what you could be doing to prepare for them now even though they may not emerge for a few weeks.

You remember carpenter bees, right? They’re the large, loud bees that like to hover near your head when you’re enjoying the spring sunshine. Homeowners will often encounter carpenter bees on their decks. This is because carpenter bees are wood-dwellers, so they probably have nests in the deck, or the porch rails, or the wooden siding. It is quite unusual for carpenter bees to sting, but they’re still unpleasant and potentially damaging companions.

Although carpenter bees are not considered as destructive as termites, they can really do a number on your wooden structures. You may only see a few holes (although a badly infested location may have dozens of holes), but the nests behind those entrances can easily go on for over ten feet through your board or plank! Taking care of these creatures early can save you a lot of grief later when you have to treat for the bees and replace the wood that they destroyed.

What you may not realize is that carpenter bees are practical creatures, so they often re-use and expand the nests that they were born in when making plans for their own offspring. This means that if you had carpenter bee holes last year, they’re probably occupied right now by adult bees that are hibernating for the winter. You can recognize one of these holes because it will be fairly large and almost perfectly round, and it probably will have a small pile of saw dust nearby since carpenter bees eject the wood that they chew instead of eating it like termites do.

If you know where the holes are, you can try to take care of your carpenter bee problem before it starts all over again. Using a spray that is labeled for carpenter bees in their holes ensures that the bees will come in contact with pesticide when they try to emerge. Please note that an on-the-spot product that you would normally use to knock down a nest of active wasps won’t work here; you need something that leaves a residue behind, not something that kills on contact and then immediately fades.

But, if you really want to create trouble for them, you should get some wood putty and block up the holes after treating them. Then, you’ve sealed the bees in with the product, and they are much less likely to successfully emerge. After blocking up the holes, put a couple layers of paint or sealer on the wood. While this won’t guarantee that other carpenter bees won’t use that nesting site, it is a deterrent to them.

It’s always possible that treating individual carpenter bee holes is not up your alley, and we at Russell’s Pest Control perfectly understand that feeling. Rather than fussing with finding an over-the-counter product that’s labeled for carpenter bees, you may want to call in the professionals. We can conduct a free inspection to evaluate the problem, treat as needed to get the population under control, and give you personalized advice about what to do to keep the carpenter bees at bay in the future.

Parasitic Wasps And Zombie Caterpillars: A Halloween Chronicle

In keeping with tradition, it’s time to take a break from our typical timely pest control advice to check out a creepy critter for Halloween (see previous Halloween posts here and there). This post is not for the faint of heart (or stomach), but read on if you want to know more about carnivorous larvae and zombie caterpillars.

There is actually an entire family of wasps with the common name Parasitic Wasps. These creatures can vary widely is size, behavior, and habitat, but they all have one thing in common: They all begin their lives by chewing their way through another creature.

Our parasitic wasps of choice for today are found in the caterpillar wasp family. These wasps find a vulnerable caterpillar minding its own business on a plant somewhere. They then use a hollow, sharpened spine on their back ends to puncture the skin of the caterpillar and lay one or more eggs inside the caterpillar’s body. Over a few days or weeks, the eggs hatch, and wasp larvae emerge. Luckily for them, they are surrounded by a convenient food source! These wasps literally begin to eat their host caterpillar from the inside out. By the time they have consumed enough of their food source to break through to the air, the young wasps are old enough to survive outside the protection of the caterpillar’s body. They can move on, eventually maturing into full- sized wasps that can repeat the procedure all over again. Of course, the caterpillar doesn’t survive to see the wasps grow up and fly away.

This process would be creepy enough on its own, but all sorts of crazy variations can be found in this system. For instance, some plants produce a chemical that, when combined with caterpillar saliva, attracts parasitic wasps in droves. The plants are saved from becoming a meal for the caterpillars because the caterpillars become a meal for someone else.

These wild wasps also have unexpected connections to zombie lore. For instance, some wasps inject a special virus into the caterpillar when they lay their eggs. This virus hijacks the caterpillar’s immune system so that it can’t attack the wasp larvae before they can hatch and take over their host.

In an even weirder twist, some parasitic wasps can actually “brainwash” the caterpillar host to protect the young wasps when they emerge. In those cases, the wasps do not consume enough of the host caterpillar to kill it when they hatch. Upon reaching the open air, the wasp larvae quickly spin cocoons so that they can complete their life cycle and emerge as adult wasps. The poor caterpillar then stands guard over the cocoons and thrashes to try to ward off other creatures that could potentially harm the developing wasps. The caterpillar typically doesn’t survive long enough to see the wasps emerge from their cocoons, but it will stay on as a zombie guard until it eventually expires.

In good news, pest control experts and homeowners in Knoxville and surrounding counties needn’t fear parasitic wasps and zombie caterpillars. It’s very unlikely you’ll ever even see one of these, much less see one in your home. But, if you do happen to come across a caterpillar in your house that’s groaning and says it wants to eat brains… well, go ahead and give Russell’s Pest Control a call. We’ll do what we can to help.

Yellow Jackets Are A Summer Problem

The summer is half gone, and as the season passes, behavioral patterns for the insects around us begin to change. Around this time of year, Russell’s Pest Control begins to get many phone calls about bees and wasps, particularly yellow jackets. Since you could be encountering these creatures much more often over the next few weeks, let’s have a look at yellow jackets and why they cause such trouble for people in East Tennessee.

Although they have the black and yellow stripes that we associate with the generic term “bees,” yellow jackets are, in fact, wasps (which makes them cousins to bees). We’ve covered some solitary members of this family before (cicada killers and carpenter bees), but yellow jackets live most of their lives in large groups.

A yellow jacket nest is started by a single pregnant queen at the beginning of spring. She emerges from hibernation and begins to build a nest for her future colony. Yellow jackets aren’t overly selective about their nest location. You can find their large hives hung from a tree branch, connected to the roof of a building, or tucked neatly underground with a tunnel leading out to the lawn. The queen’s nest is made up of perfectly symmetrical, regular hexagons, which she fills with eggs as quickly as she can so that she can get help building the remainder of the nest. In a short time, she’ll have all the help she needs. That single queen can lay about 25,000 eggs!

What’s interesting about yellow jackets is their feeding habits. The adults need sugars to survive, so you will find them sipping nectar like any friendly honey bee. However, the larvae need protein to survive, which sometimes earns them the nickname “meat bee.” These wasps will not apologize for getting the food that they need. They are aggressive foragers, and, in the spring, you are likely to find them landing on your cheeseburgers and hotdogs and leaving with chunks of food for their young. Actually, yellow jackets are also serving as pest control experts during this time; they willingly hunt other pests and feed them to their larvae. As the year progresses, the adult yellow jacket population increases, which means more sugars are necessary to sustain them. That’s when you find them buzzing around your desserts or even inside your soda can (yikes!).

People tend to have bad experiences with yellow jackets for one of two reasons. In the first case, people are likely to get stung if they flail and swat at yellow jackets that are foraging for food. These aggressive wasps will not hesitate to sting if they feel threatened, and people who panic increase their risk of a yellow jacket attack. In the second case, people run the risk of being stung if they block the flight path of yellow jackets trying to return to their underground nest. Most of the insects in this family have about a ten-foot flight pattern that they always use to return home. If a person invades that airspace, the yellow jackets could descend as a group to try to clear away any threat to their nest.

You should know that these creatures function like pack animals; if one yellow jacket attacks you, many more are likely to come to their companion’s aid. Unfortunately, they also have a nasty habit of pursuing their victims, so it’s best to put a lot of distance between you and the contested space if you find you’ve been stung.

We like to give good advice for readers who may want to handle a pest problem without calling a professional like Russell’s Pest Control. However, be warned that you should only deal with yellow jackets with the proper protective equipment, and you do so at your own risk. Although a yellow jacket sting may only result in localized pain and swelling that lasts for a day or two, anyone allergic to their stings can experience very serious and even life-threatening reactions.

If you are able to locate an above ground nest, you can try something as simple as knocking it down. Do this only while wearing a proper bee suit, and try to approach the nest in the evening when the wasps are more docile. Additionally, there are traps available for yellow jackets; these are most effective early in the year when you’re more likely to eliminate a larger percentage of the nest’s adult population. There are also insecticide bait stations that allow the wasps to take “food” back to the colony, and the food kills the larvae before they have a chance to develop. Even over-the-counter versions of those baits can be quite pricey, and you may be better off contacting a professional like Russell’s Pest Control for a free inspection before you spend money on a product like that. As always, you can give us a call or contact us online.

The Cicada Killer Wasp: A Gentle Giant

In high summer, we often get phone calls about different sorts of bees and wasps that are becoming more prominent (and, perhaps, more aggressive) as we continue in our stretch of warm months. There are many species of bees and wasps in Knoxville and all of East Tennessee, but today we’ll take a look at cicada killer wasps since they sometimes cause concern for homeowners.

Cicada killer wasps are often called ground hornets and are conspicuous in any yard. They have dark bodies with pale yellow stripes on their abdomens. However, their most notable feature is their size; a cicada killer can easily hit 1 ½ inches long, making them one of the largest members of their family in this area. You’re not likely to have trouble identifying cicada killers nearby, so what do you need to know about them?

The first step to dealing with these wasps is to take a breath and not panic. Let’s face it: It’s alarming to have a bug this size whirring past your head, but they’re not as big of a nuisance as you might think. Cicada killers are classified as solitary wasps. That means that there is no hive or nest filled with family members that they’re returning to after buzzing around your lawn party. In fact, ground hornets are more like carpenter bees (who also live alone) than standard wasps or honey bees. Solitary wasps spend the winter underground in their larval form. They spin cocoons in early spring and emerge as adults about a month later. During the rest of the spring and summer, ground hornets are content to dig out a spacious new burrow for their young and supply it with ample food. This is important because the adult cicada killers will all die out in the fall; they have to carefully supply their underground nests with dead cicadas so that the larva can survive the cold months and start the process over next year.

Why does this matter to homeowners? Well, it tells you something about the behavior of solitary wasps. Bumble bees, honey bees, yellow jackets, and wasps can be nuisances because they are so protective of their territory. They have a hive and a queen to protect along with a few thousand eggs. In fact, those insects all post sentries near their homes to alert them if intruders come too near so that they can try to scare them off. Solitary wasps don’t have a colony to protect. You have to seriously aggravate them (probably on purpose) to make them angry enough to sting. And, as with all members of the bee and wasp families, only the females possess stingers in the first place. Male cicada killers may be very curious about your outdoor activities, but they are in no way able to hurt you.

Homeowners who find cicada killers in their yards don’t need to worry. Children should be taught not to attack these wasps, but the ground hornets’ tendency is to cause no hurt to your family or your home. Now, there are other species of stinging pests that are also gearing up this time of year. Yellow jackets and some wasps and hornets can be rather aggressive and should be treated with caution. If you need help identifying what’s buzzing around your home, you can always give us a call. If you want someone to come out and inspect your home, you can always reach us here.

Carpenter Bee Identification

Knoxville, Maryville, Lenoir City, and many other parts of the greater Knoxville area took a beating from the recent storms. Our thoughts are with our neighbors, and we hope that the cleanup work is coming along. We thought that, since many people are doing work around their houses, our readers might appreciate information about a pest that can be treated with some simple home repair work. Today, let’s look at carpenter bees.

Carpenter bees are very large, and they have the unpleasant habit of hovering near their nest sites and chasing anyone who comes too close. You probably started to notice them zinging by your head in mid-March when the weather started to warm up. Still, they are rarely aggressive and will only sting if threatened. Unlike their bumble bee cousins, carpenter bees are not hive creatures. They build solitary nests by drilling through wood and creating a cavity in which eggs and larvae are protected. These bees do not eat the wood as termites do, so a common indicator of carpenter bees is small piles of sawdust on your back deck or on the porch below your wood siding.

If you want to treat for carpenter bees, here are some tips to consider. Using an over-the-counter product in the holes is a start, but it won’t eliminate your problem. If possible, use a flashlight and treat the holes at night when the bees are inactive. If that idea is not practical in your case, bring a spray can with a product that you can use to knock down and kill the adults so you don’t get stung while you work (I have a friend who uses a wiffle ball bat for this portion of the work, but I don’t recommend it). Then, use a product that leaves a residue in the holes so that your treatment lasts longer. Remember, most of the spray cans for bees and wasps are only for immediate contact use; they will kill a bee that you spray but will not leave lasting protection against the bees. Many over-the-counter products are labeled to last up to three months, and you’d be better off trying one of those in the holes. Always use products that are labeled for the pests you’re treating, and only use them in ways that the label allows. Also, remember to position yourself carefully if you’re treating high places; you don’t want the product that you use to fall back down on you while you work.

Treat the holes in early spring and again in summer to make sure you’ve contacted all the bees with the product. Then, in the fall, fill the holes with wood putty. The bees won’t want to chew through the putty and will not be able to re-use the same holes. Finally, if you are doing some home repairs in the coming weeks, we recommend that you put a coat of paint or varnish on the affected wood. Pressure-treated wood is still vulnerable to carpenter bee attack, but a coat of paint will frustrate a bee’s chewing efforts and may make it think twice about sharing living space with you.

We get many calls about carpenter bees because they can be tough to treat. Their nests are often hard to reach, so many homeowner’s don’t want to deal with the trouble. At Russell’s Pest Control, carpenter bee treatments are done with a large sprayer or blower that can more easily reach the affected areas to alleviate the problem. Sound like a service you could use? You know where to find us, and you can always call us for more information.