QUESTION:
I work for a hospital that has beautiful, lush lawns, flowers and flowering bushes. When these are watered the excess water dumps into a storm drain in the parking lot, also adjacent to another flower box. The bees are very active around this area. We are surrounded by nut orchards and vineyards, plus our own flowering vegetation, thus the large population of bees. There is water further away from the building, but because this drain is the main drain for the lawns it always has water in it. Is there anything I can do to reduce the bee population?
ANSWER:
This is the shame of honeybee problems. They are so valuable and beneficial that we should do everything we can to preserve them, particularly right now when Colony Collapse Disorder seems to be continuing around the country. I believe the reality is that when the bees are foraging for food or moisture the threat of being stung is extremely low, and a person would have to deliberately go after the bees to trigger an aggressive reaction on their part. However, I also recognize the reality of peoples’ perceptions around bees, and because they are capable of stinging many people are terrified of them regardless of what they are doing.
With all that is going on with honeybees at this time it probably would be quite negligent to try to kill them off with insecticides, and even if you could it would be a very short term solution. Much better for long term resolution would be to do what is possible to discourage them from coming onto this property, and that means taking away the attractions of nectar, pollen, and wet areas. You make it pretty clear that reducing standing water and wet soils is not going to be easy, but perhaps there is a watering cycle there than can be altered. If the lawns and plantings are currently being watered during daylight hours it could be shifted so that sprinklers come on in very late afternoon or evening, or better yet during the very early AM hours, such as 2:00 AM. This would be healthier for the turf, not to let the lawns stay damp all night long. But, this might help to get the drainage over with earlier and allow the soils and parking areas to dry. It also is possible that some excessive irrigation is taking place, allowing this runoff to occur when it might not be necessary. People in California do tend to rely too much on automatic sprinkling systems that do not get evaluated for proper times and length, resulting in tremendous waste of water.
The other change that can be done would be to evaluate all those lush flowers and flowering bushes on the site. Many of them could well be extremely attractive to honeybees, and if the nectar and pollen resources are available the bees will come, and this cannot be stopped. You could consult with a qualified botanist or even some beekeepers to look at what currently is planted there and perhaps recommend removing those plants that are most attractive and replacing them with equally enjoyable flowers or shrubs that are not such a draw to bees.
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Pest QuestionsApril 20, 2012
