QUESTION:

I am constantly asked every season about bees. I usually have the answer but this one stumps me. A customer who lives out in the country is allergic to bee stings and wants to know what she can do to keep bee's from stock tanks ,hot tub, and swimming pool. The info I get leaves no doubt that the bees are drinking. I was thinking traps, but I'm not a beekeeper and not many are interested in removal anymore. I heard Pinesol and apple cider vinegar mixed and sprayed on surfaces will discourage them, or vasoline on the lips of water dishes will discourage them. Are there any answers?

ANSWER:

I don't think there are any good answers, unfortunately. I spoke recently with a very knowledgeable bee expert and asked about repellents for bees, and her answer is that none really exists, at least not one that you could treat a general area with to keep bees from flying into it. And, since you cannot stop flying things from flying this makes the problem all the more difficult. The bees and wasps are drawn to an area for several reasons - food, water, or nesting sites - and if there is anyway to reduce or eliminate any of these it will reduce the numbers of the insects that come in. Obviously the water issue is not going to be fixable - the pool exists, stock water tanks exist, etc., and while they may be able to reduce puddles and muddy areas they are not going to eliminate access to these other water resources.

Beekeepers generally are only interested in removing bee swarms, not dealing with rogue foraging bees. If they can take a whole mass in a swarm or remove a colony nesting in an undesirable site, then it's possible to get their interest. But dealing with foraging bees is another matter and not one they can do much about. There are swarm traps for honeybees, but these really are designed to capture swarms - those bees that are migrating together while looking for new nesting sites after splitting off from their parent colony. These traps just are not designed to capture occasional honeybees. Yellowjackets can be dealt with by trapping or baiting, but other kinds of wasps will show no interest in artificial things such as bait or traps.

I have read too on the internet about a number of folk-remedies and repellents for bees around swimming pools, and whether or not any of them actually works is hard to say. I haven't read of any unbiased testing done by some entity you and I could trust, such as universities, and since these folks generally say repellents do not exist then that is probably the correct answer. And, for YOU to apply any of these products would be illegal, since repellents are considered to be "pesticides", and your use would have to be with properly registered products.

Removing flowers that are highly attractive to bees may help a bit, reducing muddy areas will help, and not wearing bright colors outdoors may help. Yellow in particular may be most attractive to bees and wasps. Avoiding fragrances like perfume may also help while outdoors, and insect repellents might even be of some use. Otherwise, leaving the bees alone and not aggravating them is the key to avoiding stings while they are only foraging. Of course, if nests are found on the property they can be eliminated, and honeybees are not afforded any legal protections from being killed when necessary.