carpenter bees in compost

Emily49 5/4/2020, 8:10 pm

Today I started digging out the second half of my compost bin and disturbed some bees. Now I'm not sure what to do. I was really counting on that compost. They were probably 3 feet down too, I was surprised.

OhioGardener 5/4/2020, 8:16 pm

If they are carpenter bees, they are harmless, and they will move on if they are disturbed and lose their nest. They won't have hurt the compost any.

Emily49 5/5/2020, 9:39 pm

Today I went out to get some compost and it seems they have already moved on. I did have one come around being nosy. I'm not sure whether they were in the compost itself, or the pallets the bin is made of. I haven't found any holes.

**sanderson** 5/8/2020, 1:39 am

Would carpenter bees use the bee houses like Mason bees?

OhioGardener 5/8/2020, 8:42 am

sanderson wrote:Would carpenter bees use the bee houses like Mason bees?

Yes, if you have one with bigger holes for them - Carpenter Bees are much bigger than Mason Bees are. I put one on a post in the hay barn where the carpenter bees kept drilling into the rafters, and they use house instead of drilling new holes.

This is similar to the one I have.

**sanderson** 5/11/2020, 3:35 pm

Thanks. Do you know what diameter hole/tube they would need?

OhioGardener 5/11/2020, 3:46 pm

sanderson wrote:Thanks. Do you know what diameter hole/tube they would need?

They need a 1/2" diameter hole, 5" to 6" deep.

**sanderson** 5/11/2020, 5:55 pm

Thank you. I found these photos on hole and depth sizes. Fairly accurate?

OhioGardener 5/11/2020, 6:27 pm

Yes, they look fairly accurate. The only one I did not see is the 5/16" hole 6" deep for Mason Bees. Here is a good description of the hole sizes from Modern Farmer on How to Build a Native Bee Hotel. BTW, if you want to attract beneficial wasps, such as the Aphid Wasp, you need very small holes, on the order of 5/64".

Native bees vary greatly in size; the bigger the bee, the larger the diameter and greater depth they require for their nest hole. Drill holes ranging from 1/8” to ½” in diameter into the end of each block or log, spacing them about ½” to ¾” apart. Holes larger than ¼” should be 5” to 6” deep, while holes ¼” or smaller should be 3” to 5” deep.

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