How to remove bees without killing them

The honey bee population is slowly diminishing. These insects are one of the most important out there because of their role in pollination, allowing food and crops to grow. Farmers often rent beehives to pollinate their crops and also they produce the nutrient rich honey that everybody loves. So, if you have a bee problem it is in your best interest to get rid of them ethically without the already dwindling population being affected.

What are Honey bees?

There are different types of bees in a honey bee hive: Worker, Drone and Queen. Each has its own important roles and performs specific duties in a bee colony. All honeybees are social insects and live together in nests or hives. The honeybee is remarkable for the dancing movements it performs in the hive to communicate information to its fellow bees about the location, distance, size, and quality of a particular food source in the surrounding area.

There are two honeybee sexes, male and female, and two female castes. The two female castes are known as workers, which are females that do not attain sexual maturity, and queens, females that are larger than the workers. The males, or drones, are larger than the workers and are present only in early summer. The workers and queens have stingers, whereas the drones are stingless.

What is a bee swarm?

Honey bees swarm for one of two reasons. Swarming is the honey bee’s method of colony reproduction. Either the hive has become too crowded so they split into two groups (or more), with one group remaining in the existing hive. Or they abscond. In this case, all bees including the queen abandon the existing hive completely due to lack of food or water, parasite or disease infestation, frequent disturbance by humans or animals, weather changes, poor ventilation, or problems with the queen.

Why you should remove bees

Some people have severe allergies to bees and could result in them even dying. Most people do not realise they have a bee allergy until they find themselves in the emergency room because of a bee sting. The individuals who are allergic to bees usually get stung by these insects, and when this happens, their skin swells in an extraordinary manner. The swelling does not go away within a few hours or a day as it would for the non-allergic individuals.

If you have a bee nest or hive near your home, the chance of a bee sting greatly increases for you and your family. Some bee stings are worse than others, and sometimes the location of the nest, like in the ground, can increase the chance of multiple bee stings for your children or pets, which may be out playing in the yard.

Even if bees carry out pollination, they also can also destroy the environment for example, if there are carpenter bees, who love building their nests in wood they will attack your wooden house, which may cause many troubles and losses.

What natural methods can be used?

Make sure to consult with a wildlife professional / beekeeper before you consider removing bees by yourself. This is dangerous and you need to use protective equipment.

Here are some ways to get rid of bees without killing them:

Call a beekeeper

Professional beekeepers can help you get rid of bees without eradicating them. A beekeeper will get the honeycombs from your house safely while ensuring that the female bee does not get agitated. Beekeepers are preferable to pest exterminators because there is real value to keeping these insects alive. 

Smoke

Smoke is one of the most effective ways in which you can get rid of bees naturally from your property and keep them away. Bees happen to be very sensitive to smell so when they smell smoke, they will think it’s a fire, causing them to leave and more than likely to not come back.

Water your lawn frequently

If you have bees that make their nests in the ground, watering your lawn is among the easiest home remedies for bees. You’ll know you have ground bees if you see little holes in the dry patches in your garden. By watering your lawn once or twice a day, you make the conditions unfavorable for ground bees.

Moth Balls

There are some smells that bees don’t like and mothballs are one of them. To use mothballs, hang them near the bee nest or nests, and eventually, the smell will deter the bees from coming back. You can also hang mothballs in different places around your yard to keep your entire yard bee-free.

Garlic

Due to the strong sense of smell bees have the very strong scent of garlic keeps them at bay. Garlic has a pungent, spicy smell that bees and other insects do not like. The best way to implement garlic is to make a spray by crushing a couple of cloves of garlic and to mix it with water to create a garlic spray. Spray it around your home and around their hive to try to get them to leave.

Cinnamon

The smell of cinnamon will send the bees searching for another place to relocate. Just sprinkle cinnamon around their hive every day for about a week. These smells will also help prevent bees from coming back.

Citronella

Citronella is another smell that bees dislike. Citronella can’t kill the honey bees, but the smell of the Citronelle will irritate them. Burning some citonella candles or essence under their hive for several days will force them to relocate. But this method is mostly only effective for an indoor beehive as candles will go off with rain or wind.

Below are a couple more ways to remove bees, but could result in killing them, so we would not recommend unless absolutely necessary:

Vinegar

Vinegar spray is another way to get rid of bees, however it will kill them, therefore it might not be the best method if you want to keep them alive. Just mix equal amounts of water and vinegar in a spray bottle, shake and the mixture on the nest when the bees are sleeping, at night, as well as around plants where you tend to see a lot of bees.

Soda

As bees love sweet liquid, this method involves cutting a soda bottle or can in half and filling it up with a very sweet soda, then placing it in an area where you have noticed a lot of bees. The bees will be attracted to the soda and come to drink it. This method is environmentally friendly but will kill the bees as they will eventually drown in the soda.

Call a professional pest control company

If these home remedy methods give you no joy it is worth looking into charities that will help relocate the hive or to contact pest control professionals who will know the best steps to alleviate your problem.

Let us help keep you safe, call us for your pest removal needs today – phone 1300 766 614