Carpenter Bee Swatter

[bruno2000]

Down here in the south, we have these pests called Carpenter Bees that are very destructive.  They bore holes in wood (read in your house) to lay their eggs, and then woodpeckers come in and tear up the rest of the wood getting something to eat (the eggs).  These bees laugh at the typical "electronic" swatters, so I thought I'd build a "super electric swatter" out of an old tennis racket restrung with wire.  The question I pose is how much voltage I should use, and AC or DC. I thought about using a big photoflash cap, but maybe AC is better?  I have some small Neon sign transformers that make a dandy spark.  My wife says "Don't make them explode (like I'd like to do) or you'll get bee guts all over."
Suggestions?
Thanks!
Best,
Bruno20009

 

[JohnRoberts]

Carpenter bees need killing... a hammer works if you can get them to stay in one place.

JR

 

[PRR]

> Down here in the south

In New Jersey, the bees exist, but the Carpenter Ants are the bigger pest. They ate two porches down to shells. They got into a large tree's base and we didn't know which neighbor's house would get crushed.

Wiki's partial list of CB species is huge so I do not know the distribution.

CBs are valuable pollinators. Don't kill them until they eat your house.

Ortho Home Defense is a low-toxicity (artificial dried mums) insecticide for surfaces. I spray around the foundation so we have fewer Barn Spiders crawling into the house (harmless but disturbing).

 

[JohnRoberts]

we have carpenter ants down here too. This year I cut down a rotten tree for a neighbor (carefully) and it had more than one kind of ant living in it. Rotten trees can drop in unexpected directions because of internal structural decay.

I'll take carpenter ants over fire ants any day....  Fire ants are evil.

JR

[edit- speaking of fire ants, this weekend while cutting my grass I hit a fire ant mound and the wind blew them up into the air... I had a cluster of 3 bites on the back of my neck... the bites have now subsided but I really hate fire ants.    [/edit]