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  1. #1
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    Remove bugs and bees from my property

    Maybe this is a stupid question, but is there something I can spray to keep bugs and bees off my property?

  2. #2
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    Are they destructive or just annoying?
    Bees are necessary for the reproduction of many plants and trees.

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by Paul Saffold View Post
    Are they destructive or just annoying?
    Bees are necessary for the reproduction of many plants and trees.
    They're destructive plus I'm allergic to bees, so I don't really care about the flowers and the trees. Either way, I'm just tired of them and would like to see them gone.

  4. #4
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    Malathion or Sevin. But they might not be too nice to the birds.

    I've used Malathion on small areas near and under the deck. Keeps the mosquitoes away nicely. Doesn't smell as bad as Sevin.
    Sevin is an abrasive liquid. Good for hard shelled insects.
    Never, under any circumstances, consume a laxative and sleeping pill, on the same night

  5. #5
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    If they're carpenter bees, the easiest thing to do is trap them. This one works amazingly well: http://youtu.be/DD5ExhmaZA8

    Caught 10 so far this year.

  6. #6
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    Yes remove all plants and trees and grass and pave over your lot. the problem is solved.
    Steve knight
    cnc routing

  7. #7
    When bees are foraging they have no interest in you. The only way you'll get stung is if you step on one (bare feet) or swat at them. But I understand your concern if you have an allergy to bee stings. My dad kept bees so I have an affinity for them. I enjoy seeing them in my yard.

    Mike
    Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.

  8. #8
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    Steve, I've been stung in a parking lot so that doesn't work too well.

    Mike, I don't particlularly care for them around my food because they don't really get the difference between "swatting", "shooing", and "eating/drinking."

    We've been trying those WHY traps that are supposed to trap wasps, hornets, and yellow jackets but they specifically don't attract bees. And I'm not too impressed with they way they are working for anything else either. Supposedly you put them out early in the season and catch the queens, then the colonies don't form. So far I just seem to be catching other bugs.


  9. #9
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    They also get upset when you bother their hive....you know, like underground hives near my front door, hives in my dumpster (it's just for work material....no food, but they love all the nooks and crannies, and that's where the last one got me that sent me to the ER), hives underneath the deck, hives in the hot tub, hives in the shed (as well as carpenter bees). They seem to just LOVE my house and not only are they dangerous, they cause me great expense when I have to hire someone to remove them because I can't.
    Last edited by John Coloccia; 04-21-2012 at 1:27 PM.

  10. #10
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    Sounds like you getting crotchety in your old age. Bee's don't bother you if you don't bother them & for bugs is you find a way to rid your yard of them you'll be set for life...With out spraying poisons everywhere which is detrimental to the birds & other animals...

  11. #11
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    Well there you go John, just stop using your dumpster, deck, hot tub, shed, etc. That way you won't have to go to the Senior ER.

    I think I'm aquiring an alergy to them as every time I get stung (every few years) it seems to swell worse and worse and I don't feel all that great. My mom has to carry an Epi Pen after getting attacked by ones in an underground nest that was in her flowerbeds.
    Last edited by Matt Meiser; 04-21-2012 at 2:13 PM.


  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Matt Meiser View Post
    Steve, I've been stung in a parking lot so that doesn't work too well.

    Mike, I don't particlularly care for them around my food because they don't really get the difference between "swatting", "shooing", and "eating/drinking."

    We've been trying those WHY traps that are supposed to trap wasps, hornets, and yellow jackets but they specifically don't attract bees. And I'm not too impressed with they way they are working for anything else either. Supposedly you put them out early in the season and catch the queens, then the colonies don't form. So far I just seem to be catching other bugs.
    The pheromone bait for those traps is pretty useless but the overall design isn't bad. The keys to getting them to work is filling them with either cider vinegar or apple juice, sugar and decaying insects. I had a real problem with those big, nasty European Hornets destroying my Lilac bushes last year and was having a hard time nabbing them. Once I switched to cider and sugar I found that the more dead Yellowjackets there were in the traps, the more Hornets I got. Disgusting picture here but with the right bait, they work pretty well.

    I put several of them up last week and got a pretty big one. Hopefully it's a queen.


    bugs.jpg
    Last edited by Peter Kelly; 04-21-2012 at 4:03 PM.

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by Peter Kelly View Post
    The pheromone bait for those traps is pretty useless but the overall design isn't bad. The keys to getting them to work is filling them with either cider vinegar or apple juice, sugar and decaying insects. I had a real problem with those big, nasty European Hornets destroying my Lilac bushes last year and was having a hard time nabbing them. Once I switched to cider and sugar I found that the more dead Yellowjackets there were in the traps, the more Hornets I got. Disgusting picture here but with the right bait, they work pretty well.

    I put several of them up last week and got a pretty big one. Hopefully it's a queen.


    bugs.jpg

    Peter, you da man! We've been using apple cider vinegar for a little over a month. Ours look about like yours in terms of quantity but we are also getting a lot of flies. We are seeing very few wasps/horents/yellowjackets but lots of bees around some perennials. And I've seen exactly one fly in the house so far knock on wood. I'm thinking of buying another trap or two. And I forgot about the sugar so we'll have to add that too.


  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by Matt Meiser View Post
    Peter, you da man! We've been using apple cider vinegar for a little over a month. Ours look about like yours in terms of quantity but we are also getting a lot of flies. We are seeing very few wasps/horents/yellowjackets but lots of bees around some perennials. And I've seen exactly one fly in the house so far knock on wood. I'm thinking of buying another trap or two. And I forgot about the sugar so we'll have to add that too.
    That's awesome! Like I said, apple juice works pretty well too. I've also made some carpenter bee traps, caught around 30 of 'em so far. Simple but works amazingly well.

    bee_trap.jpg
    Last edited by Peter Kelly; 05-28-2012 at 3:20 PM.

  15. #15
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    I did not read every post in this thread. I see, however, that there is considerable confusion regarding a couple very different species of insects. I have been a bee keeper for some 20-30 years and during that time I don't think I have been stung by a bee other than while I was pulling a hive apart. I get stung regularly by yellow jackets and wasps, when I unwittingly disturb their nests. I run a dog park on 12 acres and have to deal with these guys throughout the warmer seasons. The worst time is the fall when yellow jackets build under ground nests and the cooler weather starts killing off the supply of other insects they normally feed on just at the time they have their largest nests. Run over one of those nests on a mower or just walk to close to it and there is a high probability of getting stung. When I have dangerous nests, I pore a oil & diesel fuel mix down the hole, then I throw a match on it. I wait to do this until just before or at dark when all the little rascals are in their nest instead of flying around looking for trouble. If you burn or poison a nest during the day when most the little guys are out of the nest you will be attacked by returning insects and guards and miss the larger part of the colony. The oil slows them down long enough for me to set the nest on fire. Of course this may not be a safe procedure for many people in many localities and I do not recommend it for most people. I have to get rid of them before they get to dogs or people who walk our trails every day.

    Yellow Jackets
    Most of the insects that sting people are either wasps or yellow jackets. Yellow Jackets are nasty little suckers who live in nests in the ground and will defend the area of their nest with considerable enthusiasm. Just walk in the general area and you may find a sizable number trying to punish you for infringement. They are also attracted to disturbed ground and food & drinks. Late in the fall when their natural food of other insects grows thin and they are trying to put away food for the winter they will show up in great numbers at picnics or anywhere the ground has been disturbed.... revealing other insects for them to feast on. These creatures look like bees to many but they are much more aggressive and I would guess they are responsible for 9 out of 10 stings people attribute to bees.

    Wasps-Hornets
    Are also largely predatory species. Some species which build smaller nests in hidden areas will defend the area similarly to yellow jackets. These guys can build a paper or mud nest in a a hurry, often in a place frequented by humans. Some wasps, hornets, yellow jackets will build larger hanging nests in low hanging branches of trees. They will defend the nest and the whole area vigorously. Unfortunately many people do not see the nest that they got too close to.

    Bees
    Bees are constantly raised and selected for calmness by commercial and hobby bee keepers, who at this point due to the many diseases, mites...plaguing bees, are the major contributors to the "wild' population. You have to step on most bees or really irritate the hive to get them to sting you. They live off nectar from flowers where wasps and yellow jackets are more often predatory insects. You don't see most of the bees around most of the time because they harvest nectar from trees higher up in foliage. Clover and other lower flowering plants, like black berries, do attract them when they are in mass bloom and the most abundant flowers in an area. Many have heard of "Killer Bees" or "Africanized Bees which is a hybrid bee created from an african bee that is very aggressive. Many years ago some were predicting that they would be all over the US and very dangerous. This has not happened as many though it might, the few reports of problems with these bees, thus far, have been restricted to the deep south. It is a naturally warm weather bee. There are many agriculturist who fear for many flowering crops which have come to depend on bees for pollination. There are some doom sayers who even believe the whole eco system could be negatively influenced. Bees tend to work the most prevalent blooming tree or plant at any given season of the year, this habit has made them very adaptable to pollinating large commercial and natural populations of plants. Actually there were no bees in North America until Europeans "discovered" America and brought their bees with them. The native indians use to call them "white man's flies". Still, bees are a significant contributing part of todays echo system that often gets blamed for other insects transgressions.

    I just made another post to a friend who was asking about a swarm of bees near their farm. Swarms may be scary looking but they are generally quite harmless. Swarming has to do with reproducing colonies not some aggressive act. Swarms are large groups of bees leaving an existing colony that has grown too large. The swarm usually leaves with an old queen. The original colony having produced themselves a new queen. The swarm is always close to the preexisting hive. The swarm leaves the colony with their queen and hangs from some object near the hive until scout bees find a location for a new hive, which can be an hour or less or a few days. Swarming bees gouge themselves with so much honey before they leave the hive they can barely fly much less sting someone.

    If you do not have flowering plants or a good place for bees to make a hive near/in your house you want see them.
    Last edited by Mike Holbrook; 05-29-2012 at 1:43 PM.

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