Best Bee Repellents

Additional Tips & Advice

Understanding the habits and lifestyle of bees can be very helpful when it comes to their removal. Bees can be obnoxious, and their stings are painful and even a health risk to those who are allergic. However, they can also do beneficial things as well, like pollinate flowers and produce a variety of consumer products. While you may want them out of your yard, it may not be necessary to kill them.

Using repellents is one way to accomplish this. Learning about bees is just a way to help the process along.

About Bees

Bees are very common insects. There are thousands of species worldwide and are often found right in your own backyard. Perhaps the first thing when you think about a bee is its stinger, its yellow and black stripes, and its association with honey. However, when people see a bee coming towards them, most can only think about the stinger.

Bees come from colonies of about 50,000 members. Of these members, there is just one queen. She is in charge of producing offspring during her 5-year reign. During her life, the queen can control the colony using a queen bee-specific pheromone. She can keep the colony together and in smooth-working condition.

The rest of the colony is made up of workers and drones. The workers are infertile females equipped with stingers. The drones are males and have one goal: to fertilize the queen. The male drones do not have stingers.

The Negatives

Probably the most major downfall to bees is the nasty stinger. While this serves as a defense mechanism for bees, it can be harmful to us—and in some cases even deadly. Most people will have a mild reaction to a bee sting in the form of a bump or a little bit of swelling. Others are allergic to a bee’s sting, and too much exposure to one can prove to be life-threatening.

The Positives

Bees are the third most important working animal behind cows and pigs and have reached this rank through their pollination work. Bees pollinate about 8- percent of crops and wild plants. Many of these are plants that produce food that we eat on a regular basis. And, of course, they create honey.

Without bees, many of our plants and flowers would not survive. Additionally, the USDA estimates that bees’ work contributes to the economy about $3 billion each year.

Avoiding Beestings

If you find yourself exposed to a bee problem in your yard, you should adhere to certain tips and rules to avoid stings for both you and your family members.

Dark-furred mammals threaten bees, so it is best to wear light-colored clothing around them if possible.

It is vital that you never directly approach or disturb a nest or beehive. Bees sting when they feel threatened, and sudden disturbances or movement can cause them to swarm. It is best to leave the area until you can determine your best course of action.

If you find you have disturbed a nest or have come upon a bee, remain calm. It’s natural to want to swat the bees away, but aggressive behavior such as that can cause the bees to get more defensive, and they will be more likely to sting.

Regardless of what some people may say, you should never jump in a body of water to escape bees. Depending on how aggressive the situation is, bees will often wait for you to resurface the attack.

The best thing you can do if a bee or a hive is following you is to vacate the area quickly and calmly. Have patience though; it may take time for the bees to leave you alone.

Summary

Some homeowners prefer to repel bees rather than killing them altogether because bees can do good as well as bad. However, we don’t blame you for wanting them gone and away from your home and family. The above options serve as good ways to deter bees and keep your yard safe and sting-free.