Carpenter Bugs: Blame it on the Bees, not the Ants

So, after going to last nights Greater Cleveland Beekeepers Association meeting, I learned that my hole-y hive isn't likely from carpenter ants. The hole is apparently too large and perfectly round. It's the work of a carpenter bee. You can see how perfectly the hole in my hive matches this image I got from http://www.pestcontrolrx.com/david_somlcom/2011/04/carpenter-bees-how-to-stop-their-hole-drilling.html

You can see that they look a lot like bumble bees. Actually saw one of these around my hive recently, but thought that it was a bumble bee. Apparently, you get rid of them by blocking the hole, which I did with that spray foam insulation stuff. I guess I just hope now that the bee gets frustrated and decides that drilling holes in my hive isn't worth its time. Apparently up to 20 carpenter bees can live in the nest hole. It sounds like they drill in and then go along the grain of the wood eating to create a larger cavern with more room. Kind of like making a bat cave, but for bees. Apparently they are the most active in the spring (now) as they look to mate and lay eggs.

Also, this weekend I'm going to start my bee insurance policy, also known as a nuc. I'm going to take a frame of bees and a frame of honey/pollen and put it in my nuc box. The bees will make their own queen. They'll then start drawing out the frames in the nuc box (only 5 frames). I'll use this nuc to either add more brood to my hive, or replace a queen if my hive's queen dies or something. I'll probably try to winter over the nuc, but sometimes they are just so small that they don't make it, we'll see.