How To Get Rid Of Bees In South Africa
Overview
Like all insects, a bee’s body is divided into three parts: a head with two antennae, a thorax with six legs, and an abdomen. All bees have branched hairs somewhere on their bodies and two pairs of wings. Only female bees have stingers (which are modified ovipositors, organs originally used to lay eggs).
How To Get Rid Of Bees In South Africa
Methods To Remove Bees
There are numerous ways to get rid of bees naturally, and are safe for both the bees and the environment:
- Call a Beekeeper
- Drive bees away with the smoke.
- Moth Balls
- Bitter Almond oil
- Vinegar Spray Solution
- Cinnamon
- Garlic Spray
- Citronella Candles
- Method to trap single or a few bees: Bee Trap
Beekeeper: Try to find a beekeeper, as this is an amazing first choice. Beekeepers are more adept at dealing with bees safely. They can take the beehive, take care of the bees and keep them alive.
Use smoke: Bees look at smoke as a natural signal that their habitat is under fire, and it is time to search for a new place and migrate. Smoke is also an effective and simple method to drive away bees from their hives. Either use rotten wood, cardboard, or paper and burn them in an open space below the beehive, or use an incinerator where the smoke can directly reach the hive. You should perform smoking only during night time in order to make sure all bees are in the hive and will have the desired effects.
Before generating smoke, close all the windows and doors to prevent bees from penetrating your home. It takes around 8-10 hours for the complete migration of the bees from their hives after smoking.
Moth Balls: Bees don’t like the smell of mothballs. Hang a pocket of mothballs near the bee nest, and also at different places around your yard to keep your entire yard bee free.
Bitter-Almond Oil: Bitter almond oil is used to repel bees. Pour a little onto a rag, and keep it in a warm, breezy, outdoor area where it will evaporate quickly. However, keep it away from kids and pets.
Vinegar Spray Solution: Vinegar spray is an effective natural way to get the bee out of the house and is easy to make. Mix water and vinegar equally in a spray bottle, shake and spray the mixture around the nest at night when the bees are sleeping as well as around the yard where you tend to see a lot of bees. It will drive away all the bees easily.
Cinnamon: Bees hate the strong smell of cinnamon. In order to force the bees to relocate without killing them, sprinkle cinnamon around their hive every day for about a week. The bees will start looking for a place to relocate as soon as they smell the cinnamon.
Garlic Spray: Bees rely heavily on their sense of smell so they can easily be put off by this overpowering pungent smell. Use a solution of crushed garlic cloves and water and spray it into the place they’re currently residing for a week. This will force them to abandon their current spot and find a new one.
Citronella Candles: Citronella repels mosquitoes, but it can also work against bees. Use these candles to force or shoo away the bees easily. Citronella can’t kill the honey bees, but the smell of the Citronelle will, of course, irritate them. Burning several candles under their hive for several days will force them to relocate. But this method is only effective for an indoor beehive as the candle will go off with rain or wind.
Methods To Trap Single Or A Few Bees: Bee Trap
If you are visited more often than not by a single bee or small group of bees, then you can try to use a bee trap to trap and evict it in far off place. Buy a bee trap or build one to trap the bees. But be sure to be extra careful as in confinement of honey bees can be aggressive and try to hurt you.
Precautions and Protection
In all the above methods, be sure to protect yourself and your family first, as the bees can get aggressive in no time and may attack dangerously. It would be advisable to use protective gear before employing any of the above methods. Also, whenever dealing with bees, make sure you get near the bees at night only when all of them are asleep, to avoid direct confrontation with dangerous aggressive and angry swarm of bees.
Bees: Necessary Evils
Although bees are important for pollination, agriculture and honey for human beings, we should be aware of the dangers they pose to our living habitats owing to their poisonous stings. Keep in mind that the bees population is also dwindling. Just do not panic whenever you come across a bee. Instead, use any of the above-mentioned methods of dealing with bees. Let’s protect ourselves from stinging helpful bees without killing them.
Frequently Asked Questions(FAQs)
What scent will keep bees away?
Bees also have a distaste for lavender oil, citronella oil, olive oil, vegetable oil, lemon, and lime. These are all topical defenses you can add to your skin to keep bees away. Unlike other flying insects, bees are not attracted to the scent of humans; they are just curious by nature.
How do you naturally get rid of bees?
To make a homemade vinegar solution, mix together equal parts water and vinegar in a spray bottle. Mix the solution well, then spray it over any areas you frequently see bees. You can also spray the mixture directly onto the bee nest, which will kill the bees inside
Interestingly, vinegar is a natural and effective way to get rid of bees in a quick and swift fashion. Bees cannot handle vinegar, causing them to die almost instantaneously after exposure. Simply mixing a solution of strong vinegar and water is all you have to do to get rid of small amounts of bees in your home
How do you keep bees from coming back?
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
How do you get rid of bees sitting outside?
Set out a bowl or cup with some flat soda, fruit juice, maple syrup, or sugar water a few yards away from your picnic. Bees are attracted to the sugary scent and will pursue this instead of your lunch
How do I get rid of bees around my house?
Mix equal parts water and vinegar in a spray bottle. Spray it over the hive, keeping track of the time. If you have any flowers on your porch or windowsill, make sure to spray them too. Plus, spray in the general vicinity where the bees usually swarm
What attracts bees to my house?
Unused appliances or lawn equipment found in yards can attract honey bees since they provide sufficient shelter for a hive to thrive. Also, if your home has previously had problems with honey bees, make sure the honeycomb is removed. The pheromone scents left on honeycomb can attract newcomers
How do you keep bees and wasps away?
Peppermint oil on its own has been shown to act as a natural repellent for wasps and bees, or you can use a combination of clove, geranium, and lemongrass essential oils as a natural pest control method
How do you get rid of bees nest?
Vinegar spray is a great natural way to get the bees out of your yard. “In addition to being a simple, and easy-to-make product, vinegar is also environmentally friendly because it does not rely on insecticides or toxic chemicals,” explains Foster. Spray the vinegar on the area surrounding the hive.
How do you get rid of bees in the wall?
To remove the bees properly, the beekeeper must open the wall to remove the entire colony. If the outside wall is brick, it will require opening the wall from the inside. The bees may be vacuumed up and put in a hive body, or sections of comb may be placed in frames and then placed in a hive.
Do mothballs repel bees?
Like other pests, bees don’t like the smell of mothballs and using it as a solution will give you a bee-free home. You only have to hang the balls near the hive and once the smell reaches the bees, they will immediately fly away and may never come back.
What can you spray on bees to kill them?
‟Mix one part dish soap to four parts water in [a] spray bottle. Spray all bees … with this solution. The soap-water solution will kill the bees but doesn’t leave a harmful residue like an insecticide. Spray every bee until no bees return for at least one day.”