# getting rid of bees



## sw_va

Whats the best way to keep bee and wasp away from the house. We found out yesterday that one of kids is highly alergiac and my wife is to. So what can i do to keep them away from the house and buildings thanks.


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## Meerkat

Best way is for you to seek them out and move the hives. Not plant flowers around your house they like.

Bees are very important for crops so hope you can find a way to deal with them without killing, bees are in big trouble already. Einstein said' mankind can't survive without the bees' of course not exact quote,but something on those lines.

Good luck .


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## BillS

You need to stock up on anti-venom while you still can.

Around here bees are pretty docile but yellow jackets are nasty.


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## NaeKid

Please contact any bee-keeper in the general area. Many of them are willing and able to safely relocate any hives in the area to their location. You cannot do anything about stray bees coming around. In those cases, be very calm and move away from the bees without making significant sound or motion.

As far as the wasps go, they are very territorial. Keeping them away is simple - put up a bigger nest and the newcommers will continue on their way. Same rules apply to dealing with existing wasp - keep calm, make no significant noise and move slowly away. At night you can locate the wasp nest and deal with it while they are sleeping or "cold" from the night-air.



> Wasps help balance nature and through natural pest control remove thousands of aphids, caterpillars, fly larvae and other garden pests. They pollinate and recycle nutrients through scavenging. Wasps are eaten by spiders and badgers. The problem with wasps is people in their territory! You may find a little damage to wooden parts of your property and parts of the garden where you cannot go because of a nest. Apart from stings and potential allergy other problems are use of insecticides and paying for professional pest control.


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## DJgang

What kind of bees are you dealing with here?

Right now we have carpenter bees everywhere. I've heard they don't sting, they are huge is the only word that I can think of how to describe. They love eating our cedar home. Kids get outside and kill them with plastic bats. 

Wasps. Like boss there said, locate them early and get them at night. I have no idea how to keep them away. You may just have to keep an eye on outside play equipment once a week and if anyone sees more than one flying around, you may have a nest very close. Remember wasps like to make nests hanging under things.....


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## OldCootHillbilly

Stock up on wasp spray. Spary there nest well. Then remove it. Be deligent, there gonna come back cause they found sumtin there they like. Like naekid said, don't make em mad. Don't scream an run. We deal with em all the time at work. Sprayin in the early mornin be best cause they ain't as active an most of em gonna be home(we start early mornin when it be cool out yet). That way ya kill more of um.

Bee's, generally I have very little trouble with em. There perty docile. Ifin ya got a bunch, also like naekid an others have said, find yall a bee keeper. He'd be happy ta move em fer ya. Keep the flowers an fruit tree's outa yer area. They wan't them fer makin there honey.

Also, buy er build ya a wasp trap. They help.

My mother was very allergic ta bee an wasp stings. She kept a tube a sting ease with her at all times. Dabbed it on as soon as she got stung an that helped a bunch to. But diffenetly talk with the doc an find out what ta do ifin one of em gets stung.

Above all, learn ta stay calm when they be around. Don't rile em up. Ya might get stung once by accident, but ifin ya rile up a hornet er wasp nest yer gonna get stung many times an they can sting more en once. A bee can only sting once. Ifin ya get stung by a bee, don't pull the stinger out, it'll inject more venom. Use a credit card an carefully scrape it back out as soon as ya can.

Seal up little cracks an such round yer home up under the eaves an round the sidin. They like them areas cause they be protected from the weather an they can get some heat from yer home. Besure ya got tight screens on yer vents so they can't get inta the attic. They be lookin fer easy homes, the harder ya make it fer em the most likely they gonna go else where.


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## 8thDayStranger

Also if you remove a wasp nest, get ALL of it. If you leave the little nub hanging down they will rebuild off it. If you take a scraper and get it all off they will move on somewhere else.


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## seanallen

I had a colony of brown wasps invade my property last summer. Found out they built several different hives/nests. One was between the gap of my back porch roof and my mobile home roof. About a 30' long channel. Blocked one end and mostly blocked the other. Sgot two cans of raid through there. Took care of that one.


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## cowboyhermit

ALWAYS have a Epipen on hand! Epinephrine is amazingly effective in the event of an allergic reaction and yet is very safe.

Don't leave out food or drinks, these can attract wasps. Avoiding having flowers right around your house will help too. You can buy fake wasp nests, usually used to repel horseflies but they can work on wasps as well, if large and placed around perimeter.

Water can also attract bees if there are few good sources around, they need to drink regularly.


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## WWhermit

DJgang said:


> What kind of bees are you dealing with here?
> 
> Right now we have carpenter bees everywhere. I've heard they don't sting, they are huge is the only word that I can think of how to describe. They love eating our cedar home. *Kids get outside and kill them with plastic bats. *
> Wasps. Like boss there said, locate them early and get them at night. I have no idea how to keep them away. You may just have to keep an eye on outside play equipment once a week and if anyone sees more than one flying around, you may have a nest very close. Remember wasps like to make nests hanging under things.....


I prefer the raquetball racket myself for the carpenter bees.


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## drfacefixer

BillS said:


> You need to stock up on anti-venom while you still can.
> 
> Around here bees are pretty docile but yellow jackets are nasty.


I think he meant epinephrine. Epi given intrmuscularly is the first line treatment always with anaphylaxis. There is no contraindications in the face of anaphylaxis. Currently there isn't a market for bee venom. There barely is one for snake venom. Only problem with epi it quickly loses potency after expiration, so you can only stock up on a year to maybe two years worth.


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## drfacefixer

I had a few paper wasps nests last summer and tried all sorts of sprays. Even ordered wasp freeze after having orkin come out to remove the hive. All they did was spray. Best thing ever was from a green website. Get a decent super soaker. One that hoses and sprays 30 to 40 feet. Then add about a quarter of the tank with he laundry detergent and the rest with water. The soap seals their spherules which they use to breath through their abdomen. I have never seen so many wasps go down so fast. As a plus, they can't release their pheromones to call buddies. I was able to soak the next one second and switch to a heavy mist I case a rogue wasp was still flying , the mist stopped a few not home at the time of the attack pretty quick. Best part was the side of my house wasn't doused with neurotoxicity chemical just laundry soap and dead wasps. Mowed the buggers up and the kids were playing again without worries.


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## cowboyhermit

Yeah, the epipens are expensive and don't last for too long but they can be stored at room temperature so they are good insurance imo, not just for bee stings but other allergic reactions as well.
They are over the counter here but other places require prescription.


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## sw_va

We had to get the epipen for my little one it was 300. Now we are having a hard time trying to get one for my wife. But as of now its some wasp and carpenter bees and a few bumble bees. We had a hive of honey bees but when the guy was removing them he killed all of them and tore a large hole in the house. I am all for saving them but it comes to a certain when family is more important. As i was cutting brush i found a new hive of honey bees but they dont seem to come near the house. Our biggest issue is all the rest thanks.


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## fishparts2003

Do they look like this?

We have a lot of these where I am, invasive species, European wasp. They look similar to Yellow-jackets, but have orange legs and build small paper nests under low areas. Bottom of a stair rail, swingset, under a gutter etc. Unfortunately all the reading I did a couple years ago say none of the standard traps are effective, buy a case of spray and blast em all.


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## cowboyhermit

Wow, under a hundred bucks up here. Of course you can pick up a bottle of epinephrine for animals that comes from the same process for a few dollars. Not that I recommend using it when proper human stuff is available within a few hours.


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## drfacefixer

fishparts2003 said:


> Do they look like this?
> http://s177.photobucket.com/user/fi...stock_000016059677xsmall_zpsae789749.jpg.html
> We have a lot of these where I am, invasive species, European wasp. They look similar to Yellow-jackets, but have orange legs and build small paper nests under low areas. Bottom of a stair rail, swingset, under a gutter etc. Unfortunately all the reading I did a couple years ago say none of the standard traps are effective, buy a case of spray and blast em all.


Ahhhh. It's like a bad nightmare. I hate those things. That's pretty much what my paper wasps looked like - orkin called them that, but whatever. these are my least favorite european export. They built a second nest in a corner shingle that was slightly lifted. Seemed like I would kill a nest of 20 or so and in a few weeks a new nest would pop up on the other side of the house.

It sucks that epipens are expensive but they have to work each and every time. And make sure you have the right dose. Epi is very quick and short acting. The 0.3mg dose will easily push your heart rate over 200 for about a minute and you'll feel awesome, scared, and then nauseous and shaky. A dose larger than 0.5mg greatly increases risk of cardiac complications. If you have to give a second dose then you have too, but its usually not something you want to be measuring out and second guessing when your kid can't breath. Also make sure you have the right one. There is an epipen jr that only injects half the adult dose and should be used for kids weighing 33 to 66lbs. A mistake can be made if you have to carry both epipen and epi jr as I do.

I've had to use epipens twice and inject from a vial and syringe once in a foreign country. The auto injectors are worth it. If you are paying out of pocket check the cost of the twinject. They have 2 doses in the same injector. . If your going thru insurance that one is harder to get. I get my epi vials 1:1000 for anesthesia for about 8 bucks in the office. The auto injectors for my emergency kits go for about $180 -350 at cost. The cost is worth it in my opinion. The savings does me no good if I'm not there when my wife needs to give it to my girl, or if something happened to the syringe or the vials got smashed or snapped in the emergency. The injectors are pretty sturdy and don't need special care. Throw it in a backpack purse whatever and your good.

Here's hoping you never need it but if you do just stay calm and don't wait for the situation to get too bad before using it. Generalized swelling and itching are the first signs in kids. Adults have a number of signs and symptoms but hypotension / shock like symptoms mean its epi time for adults unless you have iv access, full monitors and can afford to wait and see.

Hope this helps.


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## sw_va

When he got stung i had one of the small tubes for backpacking. I done it and clean with alchol gave him some benadryl. By that time he could breath right and we went to the hospital. They said the benedryl helped him till they gave him some ivs. They gave him the epipen jr. Thats why such concern my wife is worse than him i dont think she will make it to the hospital. We live about half hour to the nearst one.


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## MountainKing

Are carpenter bees bad? Well, besides the obvious - I have a wood storage shed and I have probably a couple dozen of those buggers that have bored up into the bottoms of the lapstrake boards. I can hear them buzzing around in there. The only reason I haven't plugged up the holes and killed them is that I figured they were good pollinators for our garden and flowers. I've thought about perhaps hanging some "dummy" boards from the sides of the shed to try to encourage them to bore into those instead - does anyone think that would work? I hate to kill anything - but if my shed is going to fall in eventually for all the boring, I guess I need to deal with it.

Very glad my son hasn't exhibited any signs of allergies to bee stings. He was stung by a wasp once (2 years old) because he wanted to pick it up. If he is stung by a wasp without any ill effects does that indicate he wouldn't be susceptible to bee sting allergies too? Or is each species an unknown reaction?

MK


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## cowboyhermit

Bee sting allergies are actually pretty rare, 90some percent of people do not have them. Unfortunately it is really hard to predict if someone will have a reaction, actually it is often the second time a child gets stung they will have a bad one. Wasps and bees are quite different, some are allergic to both others only to one, hard to generalize. Sometimes beekeepers can become allergic after being stung many times but usually it is the opposite and they react less and less.
For those who are really concerned, people have been cured of their allergy but it is a long process of tiny shots and is not 100% effective as far as I know.


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## Davarm

Something you can try to deter wasps from building nests on your porch or under the eves of your house is to paint the surfaces "Sky Blue". The wasps are not the brightest bulbs in the lamp and will think the surface is open Sky.

I doubted it would work until I tried it, they stayed away for several years until the paint peeled, started to mildew and turned colors, the next time I do it I am going to use a higher quality paint that will last.


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## drfacefixer

Davarm said:


> Something you can try to deter wasps from building nests on your porch or under the eves of your house is to paint the surfaces "Sky Blue". The wasps are not the brightest bulbs in the lamp and will think the surface is open Sky.
> 
> I doubted it would work until I tried it, they stayed away for several years until the paint peeled, started to mildew and turned colors, the next time I do it I am going to use a higher quality paint that will last.


They also hate worm wood shrubs , but that's a little harder to find in certain nurseries. Ask your local absinthe dealer to hook you up.


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## Davarm

drfacefixer said:


> They also hate worm wood shrubs , but that's a little harder to find in certain nurseries. Ask your local absinthe dealer to hook you up.


A friend locally is trying to grow worm wood and if he ever gets it going I'm going to get some seeds or starts from him. Its supposed to be good for a lot more than wasp repellant(and making the Green Goblin)!


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## cowboyhermit

Trying to grow worm wood, wish I had that problem. It can be quite a problem weed up here, you don't want to get it in livestock feed, or the seeds in any kind of grain, soooo bitter.
Of course I taste the buds (just a tiny bit) when going on walks, everyone thinks I'm nuts, they're probably right. I also taste balsam poplar buds, they are pretty close in terms of sheer bitterness


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## Locutus

Here's how I've gotten rid of both hornets nests (above ground) and yellowjackets nests (in ground) without getting stung (important because I'm allergic to bee stings).

Dress head to toe in sting-proof clothing:
Long sleeve shirts and pants, then nylon jacket and pants over top. Leather gloves and boots, tape openings with duct tape. Brimmed hat with mosquito net over top.

Eradication done at night.

Hose with sprayer, turned on and ready to go in case fire gets out of control.

Hornets nest:
long pole that can reach nest. One end wrapped in rags. Soak rag end in tiki torch fuel or kerosene (not gasoline!!!). Light the end and raise up to the bottom of nest where the opening is. Hornets will attempt to fly out but their wings get instantly singed and they drop like rain to the ground, where they later die. eventually the nest itself will be consumed. Be careful that you don't set the tree on fire!

Yellowjackets:
Give the nest opening a good thorough dousing with lighter fluid. Light on fire and stand back, ready with hose. Allow to burn completely unless fire spreads.

I've tried the sprays. They seem to work for the small wasps nests (the kind that are built under roof eves. I'd be scared to try it on a large hornets nest though. The sprays I've tried do not seem to do the job with in-ground yellowjackets nests though. Burning seems to work best.


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## Grimm

Davarm said:


> A friend locally is trying to grow worm wood and if he ever gets it going I'm going to get some seeds or starts from him. Its supposed to be good for a lot more than wasp repellant(and making the Green Goblin)!


You can get a small wormwood plant from Ritchers and seeds from Alchemy Works.


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## cowboyhermit

I would gladly sell well established herbal plants like wormwood, tansy, burdock, and many others, U-pick for free You just need to find a farmer fighting invasive weeds


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