House and garden experts: Bee repellent?

[TeamCasey]

Does anyone know if they make a bee repellent that you can spray on decks and gutter areas that will prevent nesting?

We get a lot of wasps up on the roof. Now and then they make their way around the decks.

The little guy got stung last year at camp. He's a little gun shy this year. I'm a little irrational about them as well.

(Thank god I chased off a HUGE snake yesterday before he saw it. He'd never go outside again.)

[Yachtzee]

I'm no bee expert, but I've dealt with the same problem you're having. We have a pond and a small thicket of woods in our backyard, so bees, wasps and hornets like to nest in the neighborhood. I think you might be able to find something down at the local home improvement store.

Another option is calling around to local exterminators. There are a few around here that have a "bee and wasp" package. For a fee (I think one offered to do it for $100), they'll come and spray the gutter areas, the deck, and if you have a problem with chipmunks like we do, they'll hit those old chipmunk holes too (bumblebees love to nest in those holes). That usually takes care of it for the summer. Some will offer to come out again for free if you have any problems the rest of the summer. Others may have a plan where they will come out 4x or so during the summer to spray and charge you $400 to $500 to do it. I think that unless you have a serious problem, it's totally unnecessary to have them come out that many times. Once should be enough in most areas.

From our own experience, we had 5 or 6 nests in the eaves of our house and yellowjackets had attempted to build nests on our deck so often that I'd have to go out with a can of Raid every few days. We did two things and haven't had much of a problem since. 1. we had the exterminator come out and spray the eaves and the deck. 2. We refinished the deck 2 years ago (probably due again this summer). That was in 2004. I'm not sure if the two are related or not. I just know I haven't had to deal with the bee wasp problem since. Check up with me later and I'll let you know how it goes this summer.

[Unassisted]

Garlic is supposed to be good for repelling many insects, although I don't know if has the same effect on bees. I bought a big container of powdered garlic at Sam's Club and about once a week or after a rain, I sprinkle it around my patio to keep mosquitoes away. It seems to help. Might be worth a try with the bees.

Mrs. U says it probably keeps the vampires away, too.

[SunDeck]

The only bees that nest on decks are carpenter bees, and they are pretty harmless. In fact, they are pretty unlikely to sting you, but they do make a heck of noise flying around your head. They do damage wood though and I have killed them by spraying hornet killer into their nests, which they make on the undersides of wood surfaces.

Paper wasps are pretty easy to control by just squirting their nests with a strong stream of water.

Really, if I were going to worry about any stings, I would be concerned about yellow jackets, which are much more aggressive than bees anyday, and which can sting multiple times. The queen overwinters and then establishes a new nest...IN THE GROUND! She will usually seek out old mole or groundhog burrows. When I was a landscaper, I probably stepped on ten yellow jacket hives, and believe me, this is something I do not recommend. I always walk my yard in early May to look for them. You can see them coming and going from the nest.

How to kill wasps and yellow jackets? Wait until the sun goes down, so that they will be inactive, go right to the nest and spray hornet killer directly on it. It's pretty easy.

Anyway, long answer with no help to your own particular situation...but in the end I would say that being alert to nests is probably a pretty good way to control the problem.

[GAC]

Originally Posted by SunDeck

Paper wasps are pretty easy to control by just squirting their nests with a strong stream of water.

and then.... RUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNN!

Really, if I were going to worry about any stings, I would be concerned about yellow jackets, which are much more aggressive than bees anyday, and which can sting multiple times. The queen overwinters and then establishes a new nest...IN THE GROUND! She will usually seek out old mole or groundhog burrows. When I was a landscaper, I probably stepped on ten yellow jacket hives, and believe me, this is something I do not recommend. I always walk my yard in early May to look for them. You can see them coming and going from the nest.

These are definitely bees with attitudes. I had a big problem with them at my house. They built a nest in the external dryer vent door. And they went after the kids everytime they went into the backyard to play.

Me? I go after them. I took a garden house, a fly swater, and let'em have it. They got a couple of stings on me, but I left piles of bee carcasses lying everywhere too.

[MWM]

Maybe you could check ebay to see if they have any Rambaldi devices available.....the ones that make bees peaceful.






I realize most people aren't going to get the reference.

[Yachtzee]

The yellow jackets up here seem to prefer nesting in structures. They commonly nest in the eaves and wall spaces of homes. If you have siding, they'll get in behind the siding to build their nests. When I was a kid, we had a yellow jacket nest in the wall of our family room bigger than a basketball, only a thin sheet of paneling between us and them.

[pedro]

One method I can suggest you don't use with yellow jackets is pouring gas into the groudn and lighting it.

[LoganBuck]

Look for some Tempo SC and mix it up in a garden sprayer. It is labeled for serious outdoor and commercial applications. It is a residual pesticide that absolutely destroys bees, flies, wasps, and spiders. Do not use it in the house!

http://pbsanimalhealth.com/cgi-local...d39+1145332361

[SunDeck]

Originally Posted by LoganBuck

Look for some Tempo SC and mix it up in a garden sprayer. It is labeled for serious outdoor and commercial applications. It is a residual pesticide that absolutely destroys bees, flies, wasps, and spiders. Do not use it in the house!

http://pbsanimalhealth.com/cgi-local...d39+1145332361

You don't use a fire hose to put out a candle. If you must kill the things, use a can of spray. Many of them can put out a ten or twelve foot stream, right on the target. Use a hose sprayer and you're soaking a huge area with poison. It doesn't make sense to trade the possibility of your kids getting stung for the certainty that they will end up with this stuff on their hands and feet.

Here's some info on bee and wasp control. And although I have never encountered a yellowjacket nest in a wall (Landscapers didn't really do much on peoples' houses, after all), it does appear to be a possibility.

http://www.extension.umn.edu/distrib...re/DG3732.html

[TeamCasey]

I was hoping there'd be some pheromone or hormone type product out there that would make certains areas of the house undesirable.

I'm not above killing a hive, but I'd rather they just build it elsewhere.

[westofyou]

How to kill wasps and yellow jackets? Wait until the sun goes down, so that they will be inactive, go right to the nest and spray hornet killer directly on it. It's pretty easy.

I have a shingle house and I notice some mud wasps are planting themselves under said shingles in a certain area, I prefer to NOT use poison... so would you suggest water?

[SunDeck]

Originally Posted by TeamCasey

I was hoping there'd be some pheromone or hormone type product out there that would make certains areas of the house undesirable.

I'm not above killing a hive, but I'd rather they just build it elsewhere.

Permethrin is about the only thing I know that acts as a repellent. It comes in many forms, sprays, powders, mixes and I don't know if sponging DEET on your deck would do it or not...

There isn't much you can do if a queen yellow jacket has moved into a wall or something and establishes a hive. Best to call an exterminator. For the paper wasps, which are the most likely problem (decks, grills, benches, picnic tables) I do think the best thing is a hose. With a variable nozzle you can knock a nest down with the straight stream and keep an attacking wasp away with a wide pattern. Gotta stay vigilent, though.

[SunDeck]

Originally Posted by westofyou

I have a shingle house and I notice some mud wasps are planting themselves under said shingles in a certain area, I prefer to NOT use poison... so would you suggest water?

You are most likely referring to Mud Daubers, I guess. I usually scrape them off at night. They are not aggressive, even though they sound like a Piper Cub coming at you.

http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/iiin/bmuddaub.html

[westofyou]

Originally Posted by SunDeck

You are most likely referring to Mud Daubers, I guess. I usually scrape them off at night. They are not aggressive, even though they sound like a Piper Cub coming at you.

http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/iiin/bmuddaub.html

Solitary eh?

Thanks... I'll leave them be until there are more than 5