Round half-inch holes in wood trim, eaves, or deck boards
Active or prior carpenter bee boring. Fresh holes will have sawdust below them.
Large Wood-Boring Bees Damaging Trim and Decks
Carpenter Bee Control in Mount Pleasant, SC
Most active April through June; new adult emergence in late summer
In brief
Carpenter bees bore perfectly round half-inch holes into bare wood to create nesting galleries. They target unpainted or weathered wood trim, deck boards, eaves, and fascia. Males hover aggressively near the entry holes but cannot sting. Females can sting if handled. Repeated generations bore into the same wood over years, and woodpecker activity at the holes worsens structural damage.
Telling it apart
The tells
This is what tends to get noticed first around here.
Yellow-brown staining below holes on painted surfaces
Fecal staining from resident bees, indicating the holes are in use.
Woodpecker damage around the holes
Woodpeckers learn that carpenter bee galleries contain larvae and peck into the wood to extract them, causing damage far beyond the original bee boring.
Why this is a coastal SC problem
Carpenter bees are active throughout South Carolina year-round in warm months. Unpainted or weathered wood on older homes, deck posts, and exposed fascia boards are the primary targets.
The Lowcountry climate and prevalence of wood-frame homes with painted trim provide abundant habitat. Once a nesting site is established, bees return to the same location year after year.
Weathered trim and fascia boards near the water in Mount Pleasant give carpenter bees an easy target, and the same soft, painted wood shows up on homes well past town limits. The licensed pros we connect you with field calls from Charleston, five miles south along the Ashley River, and from James Island another five miles beyond that, where older houses near the Folly Road corridor face identical drilling into eaves and porch rafters every spring.
Coverage stretches further inland too, out toward Moncks Corner near Biggin Creek and the Tail Race Canal, where Berkeley County government buildings and manufacturing sites report the same soft, sun-warmed trim carpenter bees favor. Toward the coast, Isle of Palms homes near Breach Inlet and the IOP Marina see identical galleries in dock boxes and porch fascia. A Mount Pleasant property sitting between those two extremes, with exposed eaves and untreated wood siding, is squarely in the same pattern.
Calls for it arrive from all over Charleston County, Moncks Corner, Ladson and Isle of Palms among them.
At a glance
- Size
- About 0.75 inch — similar to a bumble bee
- Identification
- Shiny, bare black abdomen (bumble bees have fuzzy yellow abdomen)
- Entry holes
- Perfectly round, 0.5 inch in diameter
- Behavior
- Males hover and dive-bomb but cannot sting; females can sting but rarely do
- Season
- Most active April through June; new generation in late summer
- Active period
- Most active April through June; new adult emergence in late summer
- Guide price
- an estimated $99–$239
What it gets mistaken for
Bumble bee. Bumble bees have a fuzzy, yellow-and-black abdomen and nest underground. Carpenter bees have a shiny black abdomen and bore into wood. Bumble bees are beneficial pollinators and should not be treated.
How the work is done
Residual insecticide applied directly into active holes
Holes plugged with steel wool and then caulked or wood putty after treatment
Bare wood surfaces painted or sealed to deter future boring
Treatment in early spring before nesting activity begins is most effective
Not every carpenter bees problem needs a plan, and a company that says otherwise is selling rather than advising.
| What you have | The sensible answer |
|---|---|
| One nest, one room, caught quickly | A one-off |
| The same problem returning every season | Seasonal plan |
| Something living in the building | Treatment plus sealing work |
What you can do yourself
Applying consumer aerosol into the holes and plugging them is partially effective, but reaching all active galleries and timing the treatment correctly is easier with a professional application.
What the health risk actually is
Carpenter bee stings are rare — males cannot sting, and females are not aggressive. The primary concern is structural wood damage from boring and secondary woodpecker damage.
Putting a number on it
A guide figure for carpenter bees locally is an estimated $99 to $239, which is a band rather than a quote. The inspection costs nothing and the real number goes in writing before anyone starts. Estimated bands, and what pushes a job up or down them, are set out on the pricing guide, and the service that handles this is Wasp Nest Removal.
Nearby topics
Other problems we deal with
Fleas
Year-Round Flea Pressure in the Lowcountry Climate. Fleas are a year-round problem in Mount Pleasant and throughout coastal South Carolina.
Silverfish
Moisture-Loving Insects in Crawl Spaces and Bathrooms. Silverfish are fast-moving, silver-gray insects that thrive in humid environments — crawl spaces, bathrooms, and storage areas with poor ventilation.
Palmetto Bug (American Cockroach)
The Lowcountry Name for American Cockroach. Palmetto bug is the local Lowcountry term for the American cockroach — a large, reddish-brown roach that lives outdoors in mulch, palmettos, and storm drain systems and moves inside through gaps under doors, around plumbing, and from crawl spaces.
Questions & Answers
Frequently Asked Questions
Will painting my wood stop carpenter bees?
Yes, in most cases. Carpenter bees strongly prefer bare or weathered wood. Keeping all exposed wood surfaces well-painted or sealed is the most effective prevention.
Why are woodpeckers pecking at my house?
Woodpeckers in the Lowcountry learn to find carpenter bee larvae inside boring galleries. Treating and plugging the holes removes the food source that attracts woodpeckers.
Should I plug carpenter bee holes in winter?
Wait until after treatment confirms the adults are no longer present. Plugging an active hole traps bees inside, which can cause them to bore out through adjacent wood.
Get Started Today
Not sure whether that is what you have?
Call for a free inspection. Getting the identification right is what decides whether the treatment works, and there is no charge for having somebody look.
Call (843) 868-3211