Signs You Have Carpenter Bees in Your Long Island Home
You have carpenter bees on your Long Island home if you see perfectly round half-inch holes in fascia, deck rails, pergolas, shed trim, or wood siding, sawdust piles on the deck or ground under those holes, or large shiny black bees hovering aggressively near wood surfaces from mid-April through June. Suffolk County homes with cedar shakes and pergolas, and Nassau County homes with painted or unfinished fascia are prime targets. Woodpecker damage next to the holes is a strong sign the population is well established. Because females return to and expand existing tunnels, untreated damage grows year over year and can eventually require replacement of fascia boards, deck rails, or shed trim.
How Bobby Bugs Treats Carpenter Bees
Bobby Bugs treats carpenter bees on Long Island by injecting a professional product directly into each active hole, treating the surrounding wood, and returning to plug and seal the holes so future bees cannot reuse them. Expect a written 1-year guarantee.
- 1Free phone triage: how many holes, how high, which wood surfaces.
- 2On-site count and sizing to place the job into the a fair rate, a fair rate, or quoted before work begins tier.
- 3Direct injection of professional product into each active hole.
- 4Surface treatment of the surrounding wood.
- 5Return visit 7 to 10 days later to plug holes with dowels and caulk.
- 6Written 1-year guarantee against activity in the same wood.
How Long Does It Take to Get Rid of Carpenter Bees?
Carpenter bee activity on treated Long Island wood drops sharply within 3 to 7 days of the initial visit, with plugging completed about 10 days later. Woodpecker interest usually stops shortly after that, since there are no live larvae left in the wood. The 1-year written guarantee covers the following spring emergence, which is when reinfestation would show up if the treatment missed a tunnel.
How to Keep Carpenter Bees From Coming Back
To reduce carpenter bee pressure on your Long Island home, paint or stain exposed softwood surfaces (they strongly prefer unfinished wood), replace deteriorated fascia and deck rails, and inspect pergolas and outdoor structures in early April before females start drilling. Bobby Bugs can pre-treat known problem wood in early spring at the same tiered pricing.
More resources
- Visit our full services list.
- See every area we serve across Nassau, Suffolk, Queens, and The Bronx.
- See our carpenter ant treatment page.
- See our wasp and hornet nest removal page.
Frequently asked questions
Do carpenter bees really damage wood?
Yes. Carpenter bees drill perfect half-inch holes into fascia, deck rails, pergolas, and shed trim on Long Island homes, then tunnel several inches inside. Years of unchecked activity can weaken deck rails and fascia enough to require replacement. Woodpeckers hunting bee larvae multiply the damage dramatically.
Carpenter bees vs bumble bees: how do I tell?
Carpenter bees have a smooth shiny black abdomen and hover aggressively around wood, especially decks, pergolas, and eaves. Bumble bees have a fuzzy yellow-and-black abdomen and forage on flowers, nesting in the ground. On Long Island, hover behavior around wood is almost always carpenter bees.
Should I plug carpenter bee holes myself?
Only after treatment. Plugging carpenter bee holes before Bobby Bugs treats them traps live bees and larvae inside the wood, where woodpeckers will still tear at the wood to reach them. Treatment first, then plugging with dowels or caulk about 10 days later, is the correct order.
When do carpenter bees come back each year?
Carpenter bees emerge on Long Island in mid to late April, peak in May and June, and go quiet by August. Females almost always return to the same wood the following spring, which is why untreated holes get reused and new tunnels branch off. The 1-year written guarantee covers this return cycle.