Do-it-yourselfer Q&A.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

Q. Carpenter bees are drilling holes in the pine facade of my wood tool shed. How can I stop this?

A. The holes, which are generally perfectly round, are nesting sites for the bees, which prefer soft woods such as pine and cedar but will settle for virtually any type of wood, including tree limbs. The bees usually choose unpainted woods, so a couple of coats of oil-based paint (stain won't work) is often recommended as a preventative.

Pressure-treated wood, which contains strong preservatives, is also usually immune to bee attacks.

Because they use wood only for their nests, carpenter bees do far less damage than insects such as termites that ...