Dozens of Tiny Holes in Blue Cedar: Sapsucker, Not Carpenter Bees

Identifying 1/8-Inch Holes in a 15-Year-Old Blue Cedar

A Bucks County, PA, homeowner sees 50–100 perfectly round, 1/8-inch holes in a blue cedar. They suspect carpenter bees from a nearby shed. The expert says: if holes are in lines, it's a sapsucker (woodpecker). The bird drills, sap flows, insects come, bird eats insects.

Action

• Spray the area with any insecticide (even ant spray) to kill the insects attracting the bird.
• Holes heal naturally; staining of lumber is the only long-term effect.

Carpenter bee holes are larger, solitary, and in dry wood—not in neat rows on live cedar.