stink bugs and carpenter bees

The D-Force and Cypermethrin has worked very well. Of course, I expected it to do so because of your great articles on your site. My son was thrilled (read surprised).

His question is, “Can either be sprayed if our logs are wet?” Will that affect the effectiveness? He wants to spray again to get the “hangers-on” that we still see, inside and out. You had implied that we should wait until late Summer or early Fall; I thought, am I mistaken? Would it be throwing money away to do so now?

ALSO, does this particular material have any affect on Carpenter Bees? I am like a prisoner in my own home in the warm weather; I told you I live in a log cabin; I would never have built this if I had known about these bees.

Treatments will last 2-4 weeks whether they get wet or not. I’m not sure what you mean “if our logs are wet” so to cover myself, I’ll answer your Son’s question a couple of ways.
If you are referring to “new” logs, which are green and not yet cured, the answer is there will be no impact from them being wet if you want to spray them. In fact, it will probably help rather then hinder the treatment. If you mean they are wet from a rainstorm, the answer is let the rain water run off to the point that the wood is still moist but not dripping wet before you spray. You can then overspray with a fan pattern since moist wood tends to allow for more runoff with more product being wasted. To avoid loosing too much of your spray, treat slowly and lightly trying not to over and have too much wasted. And if you mean the wood is still wet from your recent spray then there is no need to spray again that quickly; anything coming in contact with the still damp treatment will die for sure if it’s that wet.
As for when to treat; the answer is simple: anytime you see activity or suspect there is some active insect on or wanting to come on the structure. This is usually late summer early fall but also in the spring when overwintering pests are exiting like they are now, so you won’t be wasting money treating this time of year. In fact, you’ll end up doing a much better job in the long run by getting them both in the spring and then again in the fall since many will live all summer and “remember” where they were next fall. Getting them now when they leave for the warm months will enable you to stay “less infested” next winter.
Lastly, Cypermethrin will work well on Carpenter Bees. If you take some time to review our carpenter bee control article posted here:

CARPENTER BEE CONTROL

You’ll see we list two main products we talk about include the same Cypermethrin. It’s excellent for Carpenter Bees and should be sprayed on the wood the same way. But you will have use the Drione Dust for dusting the nests. I suggest you follow this regime; spray the wood to stop them from entering but be sure to dust any holes you see for long term control. And do the dusting first if you have visible holes right now. This combination will resolve the problem for sure.

Lastly, since you mentioned you have a log cabin, I suggest you get some of the NBS PAINT ADDITIVE to use the next time you paint or stain. It’s a great way to help repel both of these insects and when used with either paint or stain, you’ll get a much better protection compared to just spraying!

Good luck!!