Ground bees may appear as docile harmless creatures until you cross paths them. These small insects are important in the maintenance of the ecological system, but should they show up in your backyard, they could easily cause mayhem in your household. Therefore, for purposes of safety, it is important to consider some of the effective methods of expelling ground bees.
There are natural and artificial methods that one can use to eliminate ground bees including; Use of an insecticide for ground bees, ammonia, water and gas
Ground bees create their nests in the ground and they hibernate during winter. They start being active during the spring season.
Once you notice some accumulating soil lumps on the bare ground patches and areas such as lawns and the garden, these could be the nests for the ground bees. Sometimes, these bees dig the ground and may not form protruding soil mounds.
In such a case, it is important to observe the bees from the safe distance of your home to correctly identify where the nest is located. At this point, the bees flow close to the ground.
It is important to wear protective clothing during this task for safety. You can organize to get a bee suit which is most appropriate for the job. Alternatively, one could use long pants, long-sleeved shirts, gloves, a bee mask, and boots. This could also work as protective clothing for the task.
It is also important to ensure that you are dealing with bees and not wasps. Try to capture one and observe it. Bees have hairy bodies and tend to have thick waists. Some
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Method 1: Use of Insecticide for ground bees
- The first thing is to obtain the correct insecticide for ground bees. There is a range of insecticides that you could use including sprays and dust insecticide. It is recommended to use organic insecticides since they are safer and they do not have negative side effects on the soil.
- Wait for darkness. It is important to do this task at night since the vision of the bees is reduced at night. This reduces your chances of getting stung and also for the safety of others in the community. During the day, the aggrieved bees could fly around and cause a huge disaster stinging other people in the neighborhood.
- Wear your protective clothing to avoid being stung by bees.
- Spray the nest of the bee following the user instructions of the insecticide you are using. The majority of the insecticides are ready to use and do not require dilution and are sprayed directly to the nest of the bee.
- Once you are certain that the nest is well covered by the pesticide, leave at that and come back the following morning to check for the effect. All bees should be gone or dead at this time.
- Some of the insecticides only serve for killing the bees in the next but do not prevent the bees reappearing the following season. If this is the case, apply a thick layer of mulch to help change the properties of the soil and make it unattractive for the bees.
Method 2: Use of Ammonia
Ammonia can be used to permanently get rid of bees with the help a bleach. This method works on the basis that the bees breath through spiracles located on their skins. The breathing system is blocked by the vigorous gas produced by the ammonia and chlorine hence killing the insects.
The following step by step guide can be followed to accomplish this procedure.
- Frist wear the correct clothing to avoid being stung by the bees.
- In this case, the protective clothing must include a gas mask to prevent chocking. This gas is hazardous both to the bees and people if inhaled.
- Pour a specified measure of ammonia in the nest and tightly close back the lid of the ammonia container before opening the bleach container. These gases highly vaporize and might react over the air if not closed properly.
- After safely closing the ammonia container, pour in an equal measure of bleach.
Method 3: Use of water
Use of water for ground bees elimination is an appropriate method especially because it is natural and has no effects on the environment. Eco-friendly methods are better to use since bees are an important part of the ecosystem.
Water kills bees through suffocation. Once the water is poured in the nest, it prevents air from getting into the nest making the bees to suffocate. Soap can be added to the water to make this method more effective.
The following is a step by step guide for this task
- Ensure safety precautions are met. This includes doing this activity at night and wearing all protective clothing. It is good to ensure your household members are safely indoors before taking on the task.
- Make a soapy water solution to use in suffocating the bees. The solution can be made using liquid soap mixing in the ratio of 1 pat of soap to 4 parts of water. The use of soaps makes the water more effective in penetrating the bees. Bees have a waxy body that may repel clean water. Adding soap to the water makes it wetter and able to penetrate waxy surfaces including the insect bodies.
- Pour the soapy water into a sprayer and use it to spray the nest.
- As you spray the cluster of bees, they would peel off and keep exposing inner layers. Keep spraying until all the bees layers are completely covered in soapy water.
- Death by soap water is not instant and might take some time. In the process, the bees are agitated and may sting if you are not properly covered.
Method 4: Use of Gas
Some people experiment on this method of eliminating ground bees. This method is however not very popular because it is risky and harsh to the environment. Using gasoline should, therefore, be tried in cases where the ground is not productive and there is no risk of causing harm to vegetation around.
It is important to practice this method at night when the bees are less active and to have a backup method of putting out the fire in case the fire goes out of hand. You could carry a lot of water along just in case.
The method involves pouring gasoline into the nest and setting it on fire. As the fire burns out, the bees are either burn or expelled from the nest. Burning the nest would make it uninhabitable to the bees in the near future. Once the fire is out, inspect the hole to check for remaining bees. If the bees are still in the hole, you can repeat the procedure.
FAQS
How Aggressive are ground bees?
In general, ground bees are very docile insects and do not attack people unless they are provoked. Unlike the honey bees, ground bees do not hover around in swarms threatening people and they prefer to fly low near the ground surface
Do ground bees make honey?
Ground bees do not make honey the same made by honey bees. However, they also store nectar in unique combs in their nests that are sometimes also harvested and consumed.
Ground bees do not have colonies of worker bees and soldier bees and the females do the work of laying eggs and supplying nectar and pollen to the nest for feeding the young ones.
This is what some people take to be the hone found in the nests of ground bees, but honey is not produced by ground bees.
Do ground bees sting?
Ground bees cannot entirely be described as very ferocious bees, but they are not harmless either. The female ground bees have tiny sharp weapons which they mainly use to protect their eggs and young ones.
Inasmuch as the ground bees tend to avoid human interactions, once they are disturbed they defend themselves through stinging. These stings can cause serious allergic reactions and is good that they are given the proper medical attention.
Further Reading