18 Sep How To Make A Carpenter Bee Trap
If you are having trouble with carpenter bees, this traps works great. This trap is simple to make and it can be made from a scrap 4×4 post and a canning jar.
1. You start by cutting one end of the 4×4 square, then measure up 7″ and make a 45 degree cut. This will give you a block that is 7″ long on one side and 4″ long on the other side. The square end will be the bottom of the trap.
2. On the bottom, mark the center and drill a 7/8″ hole approximately 4″ deep.
3. On each side, mark 2″ up from the bottom and 1 3/4″ from the side and drill a 1/2″ hole in an upward 45 degree angle until that hole intersects with the center hole.
4. Once all of the holes are drilled in the block, find the center of the canning jar lid and drill a 1/2″ hole.
5. Place the top of the canning jar lid with the lid ring on the on the bottom of the block making sure to center it the best you can. Attach the lid to the block using two screws, make sure to remember that the hole in the block is larger than the hole in the lid so when inserting the screws make sure they are far enough from the center to miss the hole in the block.
6. You can now attach the jar to the lid.
7. Add an eye hook to the top of the block for the string so you can hang it. Hang the trap in the areas that you have trouble with carpenter bees and the bees will go in the holes in the block. When the bee sees light in the larger center hole, it will follow the light causing them to land inside the jar.
The trap that you see on the video was first hung up in 2015, that year I counted a total of twenty eight bees that I caught in the trap.