# Bees Eating My Muscadines



## MuskyDine (Aug 31, 2014)

I have thirty muscadine vines of various varieties. This year, for the first time, bees are eating all the purple/black varieties except for the Noble. These bees have the appearance of small bumblebees, not honeybees. Carpenter bees, maybe?
Already a large percentage of the berries have been lost. Anybody got ideas on how to get rid of the bees?


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## Thig (Aug 31, 2014)

Oh wow, did you see my post from today? Went to pick my muscadine yesterday and there were none. Didn't even consider it might be bees.


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## MuskyDine (Aug 31, 2014)

Thig said:


> Oh wow, did you see my post from today? Went to pick my muscadine yesterday and there were none. Didn't even consider it might be bees.



I think the bees may be exploiting lacerations in the skin made by birds. The empty skins are left after the bees finish. Maybe my best option is to install bird netting. I have read that bees do not have the mouth parts necessary to pierce the skin. Not sure that's true of carpenter bees, though.
If you did not see any empty skins on the vine or ground, your vines probably didn't produce this year.


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## Sage (Aug 31, 2014)

Around here common yellow jackets will wipe out a small grape crop before they even get fully ripe. Yes, they can chew right through the skin. Also on apricots, peaches, plums and any soft fruit.

Hit them early and often. GOOG "onslaught insecticide"


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