Carpenter Bee Load ?

[Engineer1911]

Not a good idea

Does Speer still make the loadable shotshells for .38 and .45?? You could fire a lot more volume cheaper with this rig. I haven't had much luck with pistol shot but I didn't have a 6" .45 that I think would be ideal.

The Speer shot capsules can do a lot of damage to building exteriors without killing/hitting the bee with the shot column. I followed load data in a Speer manual for 38 spl capsules. At 8 feet a large crow would survive the shot pattern and the biggest hole was from the shot capsule. I would not shoot bees with shot capsules where I might hit glass, vinyl panels, aluminum facia, or the boss's plants.

 

[6GUNSONLY]

This is my recipe as well. 4" 29-2 is my sixgun of choice. I use grits and 700x.

Grits! ! ! !

Use your favorite center fire revolver caliber, 1.0 to 1.7 grains of fast pistol powder, paper base wad, case full of grits, tagboard paper (1/16" to 1/8" thick top wad), firm roll crimp to keep top wad in place. If neighbors are close by a little load development might be in order to find minimum noise/effective load velocity. Any organic granular product(not sand): grits, cream of wheat, malto meal, ground walnut hulls, rice, whole peppercorns; will give satisfactory results.

Seat the paper base wad on top of the powder to eliminate any air space for maximum grit load. A snub nose works best, an 8-3/8" works the worst because you want to get the grits "blasting" out of the barrel, not rotating like a bullet. You are looking for shredded wings followed by a boot stomp !

44 or 45 caliber could be used with whole grain rice. As a 'bee blaster', the S&W .500 would be perfect if you need a reason to buy a new cannon.

 

[gdnagle]

How about a can of starting fluid and a match.

Or not cheap but good advice here.

How To Get Rid of Carpenter Bees

Got the carpenter be troubles here also they drill a neat 3/8 in hole in our old or unpainted wood also. When we see them starting we just paint or varnish the area and they move someplace else. Sooner or latter we'll have the whole exposed wood on the house painted.

 

[3rdRRU_PhuBai]

I used a .177 cal pneumatic air pistol on cicada killer wasps when they lighted on a blade of grass. Fun, but ineffective. I was outnumbered.
A neighborhood landscape guy recommended a mixture of gasoline and used motor oil poured in the nest hole at night followed by a match. Napalm. Never tried that.

 

[SgtLumpy]

... the S&W .500 would be perfect if you need a reason to buy a new cannon.

"Honey, I need to buy a 50 caliber pistol. The largest handgun made. It's to kill bees"

That's what I'm talkin' about!...


Sgt Lumpy

 

[rwsmith]

My Dad and his Padde

Once in a 17 year locust swarm (my lord what a racket0 my Dad made something like a big ping pong paddle in his garage and I can see him chasing locusts around and swatting at them.

 

[geddylee10002000]

I use liquid Sevin mixed properly and sprayed with a 3 gallon sprayer on all the underside and edges of my deck where they will dig in. Has worked great for 5 years. They hover but will not dig in. I am vigilant on everything else on my home. So far so good. I treat my foundation with I will also take the advice from the forum for bee loads. Will do 44 mag with either grits or lizard bedding (most likely). What a great way to use up used tumbling media! I spray Permethrin Spray, Hi-Yield 38 Plus Permethrin Concentrate yearly on my foundation for termites. That also might be a solution. I use the local farm store for my chemicals. It's always a cheaper solution. Can't argue with farmers.

 

[Comrad]

WD-40, it's up to you to design the delivery system. They are evil creatures and seem to have a memory and mine returned for years to the same spot for a long time, they are gone now and hope they stay gone. They do drill a nice hole, amazing.

 

[SgtLumpy]

WD-40...

Or perhaps "FreezeOff", the stuff designed for loosening rusted nuts and bolts. It's oil + naptha and it freezes whatever you spray it on. Let the oil slow 'em down first, then send them into cryo-land.

A bug exterminator entymologist once told me "You can't kill cockroaches except with a hammer". When he sprayed for cockroaches (Japanese beetles, palmetto bugs, other AKAs) he used light mineral oil to slow them down and keep them from flying off. Then he squished them with a stick.

Perhaps the same approach is productive with those shiny black flying contractor bugs. Oil 'em, then give 'em the Chuck Norris treatment.


Sgt Lumpy

 

[flagman1776]

I just love the look on his face... the bee that is... when it's stuck between the strings of an old tennis racquet. Dang bees learned to stay above my reach pretty quickly. I was more mobile then. If I got the right angle I could bounce then off the barn siding, run & step on them when they crashed.
Once I had the light weight Speer plastic practice bullets miss the rubber backer in my target box & exit the box & penetrate an old stuffed chair.
I was not concerned with case volume in black powder arms... cartridges are much more convenient however. I guess we're looking for the largest case volume. Some sort of 44-45 (Colt) should have a decent volume.
When I kept animals, I kept a cheap break action shotgun or 2 as 'barn guns'. My grandfather did the same on his dairy farm growing up. Assorted shells in an elastic butt carrier. I had to dispatch a number of sick animals over the years... probably rabid or distemper.
We were returning home one night when our car was attacked by a sick red fox... didn't run away from the car but charged the tires. I grabbed the short 16 gauge (hack saw choke at 20" & remount front sight) & went back out & eliminated the threat. The animal was in the street at that moment & I angled the pellets to get a dirt bank as a back stop. My neighbor came out to see what was up... & got a shovel to throw the carcass on his camp fire they had going in the back yard. He was afraid his dogs might get into it.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

As an aside, that was a good idea to burn that fox. The County health department says, not to bury them. The virus can still be alive/active in 20 years. When I shot suspect animals,I covered the animal with a tarp, I'd call the health department, report the location and they came and took the corps and tarp. Ivan

 

[H Richard]

I make shot loads for both 38 and 44 Special using the Speer shot capsules and #12 shot (sometimes referred to as dust). I load them stout for snakes when I Prairie Dog hunt in SD, but they throw a very dense pattern for up to 10-15 feet.

 

[bedbugbilly]

The only way I've found to get rid of them is to have a commercial sprayer come in and spray my shop, house and deck. I've had that done for about four years and it has seemed to take care of them. I had some come back this year - like has been said, they seem to have a good memory of where to return. I'm in lower MI - we never had a problem with them until about 5 years ago - then it seemed like everybody was having problems with them - especially on decks and uncovered facias along roof lines. They are sure a PITA and persistent little critters.

 

[blujax01]

Grits! ! ! !

Use your favorite center fire revolver caliber, 1.0 to 1.7 grains of fast pistol powder, paper base wad, case full of grits, tagboard paper (1/16" to 1/8" thick top wad), firm roll crimp to keep top wad in place. ...

"Engineer1911's Killer Bee True Grits"

Now ain't that a Hell of a recipe!

 

[Tin]

TRY THE .22 SHOT AMMO WITH THE CRIMPED ENDS/// I NEVER HAD MUCH SUCCESS WITH THE CCI, CAPSULE.....PATTERN WAS TOO WIDE.. TIN...

 

[big&slow]

My sons and I have great fun with this in the barn.

I know a great Taxidermist if you'd like to mount those.

 

[trap4570]

Anyone remember machine gun BB guns powered by freon?

 

[Wee Hooker]

Fun and effective

Some years ago, I bought myself a used ( Walther CO2) 10M recoilless match air rifle for informal indoor target shooting. Since the gun was designed for 10M competition, it only had a muzzle velocity of about 650 fps with 8.1 gr lead pellets. The trigger was Olympic quality and accuracy was good enough to plink aspirin tablets from across the basement when I did my part. A couple of summers latter, we developed a wasp problem around the property. I pulled the match rear sight off the gun and mounted a 6x close focus airgun scope on the rifle and zero's it in at 30'. What followed was weeks of completely stealthy big game hunting. With this set-up, I could set up on the picnic table and scout landing zones for incoming targets. It was sniping at it's best!
If you've never owned a match air gun, it sounds like you have the perfect excuse.