Question
I was wondering if you can answer a question for me.  We moved into our current cedar-sided house several years ago in November.  The following spring, we saw many carpenter bees around the house, realized we had an infestation, called an exterminator, and exterminated the bees.  The bees had infested the fascia of the house (the strip of wood under the gutters).  They have not been an issue since then, well, maybe a bee here or there, but when we see them we just use insecticide.  My husband wants to get new gutters, and his plan is to take the fascia, which I'm sure has lots of holes in it due to the previous carpenter bee infestation, and wrap it in metal (or aluminum, not sure which)to prevent the carpenter bees from making it their home again.  I, however, think the fascia should be replaced because I have heard the carpenter bees scent can still be on the fascia and attract them.  Who is right?  Would it be OK to simply cover the old, hole-ridden fascia or should it be replaced?  Thank you so much in advance.

Answer
No I would not replace the fascia boards even though they may have some holes.
Carpenter bees make nests by tunneling into wood, vibrating their bodies as they rasp their mandibles against the wood, each nest having a single entrance which may have many adjacent tunnels. The entrance often is a perfectly circular hole on the underside of a beam or tree limb. Carpenter bees do not eat wood. They discard the bits of wood, or re-use particles to build partitions between cells. The tunnel functions as a nursery for brood and the pollen/nectar upon which the brood subsists.

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The bees during mating will secrete a attractant called a pheromone. But these chemicals have a short life and do not linger long past dispersal.

I would go with the covering with the metal or vinyl and you should not have any problems with the bees. The bees like natural unpainted wood.