Dealing with Carpenter Bees

[GreenMarbles]

We have a nice chinaberry tree in our backyard but after a recent pruning I noticed that a carpenter bee had bored into a fresh cut of the tree to create a nest. I understand that carpenter bees are beneficial insects for pollination, so I don't want to kill the bees but on the other hand I don't want the tree to undergo a lot of damage due to successive generations of carpenter bees coming back to bore more holes into the tree.
So my idea is to wait until the carpenter bee's eggs hatch and the young fly away, and then to paint over the branch cut and also press wax into the hole made by the carpenter bee. My question is when should I do this? I'm thinking that the young will have all probably left the next by the beginning of September so I can start then. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area. Any advice that you might have would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[DirtMechanic]

I would not use a wax or anything meltable, weatherable or oxidizeable. I would avoid creating a moist gap of any sort between this plug idea and the wood of the tree to prevent fungal conditions. If you had to, consider the use of a polyurethane structural adhesive. You sanitize with povidone iodine and water, maybe 4 TBsp or 60ml per Gallon or 4 liters water, and the poly will expand as it cures in the hole. Be sure to use a small enough nozzle to fill from the bottom out. You can seal the surface from oxygen and sunlight separately, pruning paints or simiiar idea. Personally I would just leave it Bee. The tree bark will close over it in time. Some insecticde fungicide as part of a regular tree spraying routine is a better idea than chasing bees all over the yard.

 

[GreenMarbles]

I would not use a wax or anything meltable, weatherable or oxidizeable. I would avoid creating a moist gap of any sort between this plug idea and the wood of the tree to prevent fungal conditions. If you had to, consider the use of a polyurethane structural adhesive. You sanitize with povidone iodine and water, maybe 4 TBsp or 60ml per Gallon or 4 liters water, and the poly will expand as it cures in the hole. Be sure to use a small enough nozzle to fill from the bottom out. You can seal the surface from oxygen and sunlight separately, pruning paints or simiiar idea. Personally I would just leave it Bee. The tree bark will close over it in time. Some insecticde fungicide as part of a regular tree spraying routine is a better idea than chasing bees all over the yard.

Thanks for all the advice! I'll look into this polyurethane material and also think some more about whether just letting things be would be an option.