Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with bees

Can I screen out the six legged bastards?

medea42 — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 16:56:33 -0800

Would placing an additional window screen material on the outside of a vent cause ventilation problems? This summer I wound up locked inside my apartment in terror because a group of wasps elected a pipe in my a/c unit (located on my balcony) as their new home. Since my fiancee and I are both allergic to bees, and because we chose our apartment for its balcony, this is a source of serious frustration - especially since even after exterminators killed the nest and our maintenance guy removed it, the wasps continued to return to our balcony in particular. I'll be damned if I let six legs win.

My idea to prevent this from happening again is to make sure that there is no way they can crawl inside the outdoors-exposed vent that contains our heating and cooling unit. So I want to fix a screen that is tightly woven enough that bees can't get into it. What I want to know before getting happy with knives, screens and glue is whether the additional screen would cause any technical problem with ventilation, etc.? It doesn't seem so to me, but mechanical issues aren't something I'm well versed in.

Note: This is a rental, but I'm willing to take a deposit hit to avoid further bees.

Yellow jackets are eating our house

mccarty.tim — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 07:07:52 -0800

Yellow jackets, or some other form of wasp, have formed a nest inside our roof through a tiny hole in the shingles. Spray and powder hasn't worked yet. Any ideas? Yellow jackets have built a nest in the soffit overhanging the porch of my home. The wasps are entering a small hole between the shingles of the roof along the edge of the eaves.

I have tried wasp spray and have also inserted a powdered product in the hole (Bonide Spider and Ground Bee Killer using a snorkel tube applicator). I think the nest may be built in a void at a distance from the entry hole so the products I've tried are not reaching the nest.

The owner of a local farm supply store suggested I knock a hole in the eaves and throw a pesticide fogger inside the area. I was hoping there might be a less destructive way to alleviate the problem.

Our concern is that the wasps may dig inside to the home in the winter, when it gets colder and they want the warmth indoors. I considered using foaming epoxy to seal the hole, but I'm worried that would just encourage them to dig inside sooner.

Thanks for your help.

My grandfather was a beecharmer...

melangell — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 16:11:31 -0800

Please tell me about beekeeping. I have always been interested in beekeeping and now I have the opportunity to contact a local beekeeper. This is not so much what I want to do with my life, but it might be an interesting second part-time job. So, what time of year would it be best to make contact? Basically, the only things I know about beekeeping are that I am not afraid of bees and think I would enjoy working with them and gathering honey. Any insight into what this work would be like or what to say in an introductory email would be appreciated. Thank you.

Help me avoid the Darwin Awards shortlist

Beardman — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 09:36:58 -0800

How can one safely convince a teeming mass of bees to vacate a crack in the exterior wall of a brick building, so that the crack can be filled in? We finally figured out why there are so many bees on our deck lately. It seems that a colony has very recently taken up residence in a couple of cracks/holes in the brick wall near our deck. Obviously the crack needs to be filled in after the bees are flushed out, but that's as blithe as saying that the road needs to be paved after all the landmines have been disarmed. How DO I flush out the bees without getting stung a million times? (I'm not allergic, but still.)

Bonus problem: the cracks are easily accessible without a ladder, but only from a landing on the edge of a second-story drop. So a hit n' run maneuver wouldn't be smart, as the running part could easily turn into a plummeting part.

What's normal for a bee sting?

bookish — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 18:24:29 -0800

How much swelling is normal after a bee sting? And is a lot of swelling indicative of anything troublesome? I was stung by a bee on the top of my foot yesterday, near my big toe. It's been gradually swelling and now the whole front half of my foot is swollen, painful and itchy, and it hurts to stand or walk. I had periodic chills after getting stung but they disappeared by yesterday evening.

Is this within the range of "normal" reactions to a bee sting? Some googling turns up advice to see a doctor if the swelling is bigger than several inches, but then elsewhere folks say it's not a big deal, if you don't have hives, a fever, or trouble breathing.

The pain is a bitch but I can deal. What concerns me is that my mother had a deathly bee allergy and once almost died while she was mowing the lawn, and I wander if this is a harbinger of more serious allergic responses in the future. Or am I just being paranoid?

I really would like to avoid the doctor, as I have no insurance and no money. Like, I would have to borrow money to go to the local clinic before my next pay check, or else show up at the ER. And I'm not going to do that if all the doc is going to say is, "Yep, that's a bee sting, take some Benedryl."

There can bee only one

Ziggy Zaga — Wed, 06 May 2009 08:30:12 -0800

BeeFilter: When a new queen hatches, my understanding is that they set about killing as many other potential queen larvae and pupae as they can, or they leave the colony and start a new one elsewhere. But if the new queen opts to remain in the existing colony, what ultimately happens to the currently reigning queen? Is she killed off too or is she allowed to go retire peacefully somewhere?

Where to buy a replica of ancient Minoan bee pendant

crookedgrin — Tue, 05 May 2009 07:37:11 -0800

Jewelry filter: Looking to buy a replica of the ancient Minoan bee pendant found near Knossos, Crete. Preferably gold, preferably under $200. My girlfriend and I visited Crete last year and she really liked the ancient golden pendant with the two bees. I was hoping to get her a replica for our anniversary, but the only ones I've seen have been either really cheap, crude silver replicas or pretty expensive gold ones (like over $600). Anyone know if there's a middle ground somewhere? I'm guessing custom jewelry would be more expensive, not less; is this a good assumption?

Oh my cology!

Camofrog — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 17:18:02 -0800

An epidemic fungus seems to be killing off frogs. An epidemic fungus seems to be killing off bats. An epidemic fungus may be killing off bees. Might these three epidemics be related? And is a fungus coming for us next? The chytrid fungus is killing frogs. White-nose syndrome, bats. And a possible cause of colony collapse disorder , which is taking out beehives, is a fungus. I can't help wondering if these things are related; it seems odd to me that three huge spokes in the wheel all get attacked at once. Is this unusual and might they be connected?

What is going on with my bees?

InkaLomax — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 15:09:30 -0800

Are my bees getting robbed? It was warm today in Boston and my hive was very busy. As I sat near and watched it appeared that there were various struggles going on at the hive entrance. It wasn't spring cleaning of bees lost to the winter but a fight to drag out live bees who seemed to be resisting this. Could bees be out robbing on the first warm day?

What's it like to live with bees?

up in the old hotel — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 19:21:25 -0800

What's it like to live with bees? I have a fairly large yard. Some people are now offering urban bee services. We also have a dog and a small child, so if wondering if anyone has any experience living with bees.

How to get rid of ants bees wasps ladybugs etc

Chamunks — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 14:04:23 -0800

My house has the odd bug problem throughout the year I'm looking for quick and concise solutions that can be made out of house hold products and the best bait to use for these solutions (traps poisons etc). I get the odd problem inside and outside of my house so ill try to mention them separately. These semi random infestations happen on and off for example one year it was ladybugs and another it was ants but they only repeat the odd time. I know this question may seem broad but im looking for some solutions that can be relatively universal yet i can make them for pennies... We keep the house an average sense of clean. Clutter sometimes happens but is usually dealt with in order to isolate problems.

So for the list of things we get in strangely large numbers at random times along with some thing's I have tried to eliminate them.

Carpenter ants along with other random types of ants. (Indoors and outdoors) We used a jar with sugar water and a piece of wool draped from the outside of the jar to the bait to help them drown. [this seemed to work well but it would be awesome to have something outside to stop them before they come in]

Ladybugs - (indoors mainly) I have no idea where these come from but when they come there are at least 20 a week i have to deal with - usually dealt with via vacuum

Housefly's / gnats (Indoors) usually a swift cleanup will help but some times inexplicably we get hundreds of them throughout a relatively short period of time [If this occurs i usually attack them with a vacuum hose for a while till I've significantly diminished their population]

Wasps Bees Yellow Jackets. (Outdoors [my neighbor is an avid gardener which attracts hundreds of flying stinger equipped demons that I'm mildly allergic to]) I've tried making a sort of bee trap out of a pop bottle but I need to find the best bait to put in it advice please.

That covers it keep in mind this is over a period of several years not all happen at once but next time one of these things happen i wish to deal with it swiftly with the proper tactics / weapons available to my arsenal :P

Save the bees, not the beetles!

media_itoku — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 12:16:05 -0800

How do I rid my roses of Japanese Beetles without killing the bees? My dwarf roses are crawling with japanese beetles. Seriously - on some flowers there are 3 or 4 beetles clustered on top of each other. When I shake the bush, it explodes into flight like a 3-day-old fly-covered corpse.

I don't use chemicals in the garden. My neighbor has suggested a very low-strength combination of water and dishwashing liquid with a wee bit of baking soda. But I'm worried about the bees, which are also feeding (where they can get some space!). I don't want to kill them off as well. Is there anything I can do to get rid of the beetles without killing the bees as well?

Bees!

donnagirl — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 19:36:33 -0800

What does the hive mind know about these bees? This clump of bees has appeared in the dogwood in my yard (northeastern Kansas, USA). I've been working in the yard a lot the past few days, and I'm fairly confident they weren't there a couple days ago when I was weeding the area around the tree. I can't see any hive structure. It looks like a solid clump of bees. It's about a foot long where it touches the branch, and hangs down about 5 inches. Can bees appear that fast? Are they migrating, or building a hive? I haven't had bees in my yard in any significant numbers before.

I'm not concerned about their presence, nor do I want advice on how to get rid of them. My yard is big, I'm content to let them do their thing, I just want to know what that thing is.

Help me in the war of deadly insects in hot, humid, Houston weather.

isoman2kx — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 15:02:52 -0800

Will I survive against the carpenter bees? I've been thinking about pursuing a hobby for a while. Today I bought a Rubik's cube (which I know I'll give up on in a few days, or wait until I actually can have time to google how to solve it) and a board game that I really can't play by myself, but has all kinds of cool "truth or myth" facts for me to read.

That being said, I've been looking around the internets (thanks Al Gore) and have encountered woodworking as a hobby/nice little "get away" from the daily battle that is depression/anxiety that I actually have some INTEREST in pursuing long-term. The problem is there are vicious man-eating carpenter (regular bumble) bees that live outside my dad's workshop in the wood and I'm utterly terrified of bees/wasps/etc.

Will I be able to survive if I'm working inside or will they form a coherent game plan and proceed to slaughter me?

If they are able to form a coherent game plan and disrupt my woodworking, do I simply spray them all and run until I kill them?

Regards,

- Travis

late season blooms for bees, please!

oigocosas — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 20:54:51 -0800

i'm in usda zone 9a (napa, ca) and am keeping a colony of honeybees in my back yard. can anyone list some plants that will provide nectar and pollen to these awesome insects as late into the fall and winter as possible? thanks!

Bees in Anthills!

andrewyakovlev — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 09:52:13 -0800

Bees Behaving Strangely - Last weekend saw hundreds of bees hovering over anthill-like holes on the sunny side of a small hill. On occasion the bees would go into the holes, but with much hesitation... Can bees live under ground (this was in CT) or do they fight with ants? These weren't yellowjackets, normal looking honey bees... Observed last Saturday.

Is raw honey from a beehive safe to eat?

afx114 — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 22:36:10 -0800

Can I eat raw honey from a fallen beehive? A beehive fell out of a palm tree in front of my apartment today. There are no more bees, except for a few caucuses laying around. The honeycomb is quite heavy and soaked with honey, but it's black and tar-like. Is it edible? If so, what's the best way of extracting the honey from the comb?

Wood-eating Bees

nnk — Thu, 04 May 2006 07:02:43 -0800

How do you get rid of wood-eating bees? I am not sure what they're called -- I've heard them called bore bees. They're big and they don't fly very well and now that the weather is warming up, they're chewing away at my garage and I think (I have a bad feeling), my house. Any tips on how to eliminate them without making the whole place toxic - or is that the only option?

I can't believe ib stung be ob by lip

kryptondog — Tue, 04 Apr 2006 19:00:58 -0800

Are flying, stinging insects more likely to gravitate towards certain people than others? I had a bad experience with a bee's nest as a child that led to me getting stung over a dozen times. Curiosity killed the cat and all that. Nothing serious, but it hurt and it scared the crap out of me. Since that time, I've had a near-irrational fear of bees, wasps, hornets, and just about anything that can land on your person and sting the shit out of you. I've been told more than once that it's quite humorous to watch a tall and husky fellow like myself desperately run away from a bumblebee while screaming loudly. Needless to say, I try to avoid critters like that at all costs.

The problem is, they make it difficult for me. For lack of a better word, they all seem to be attracted to me. It might not be limited exclusively to flying insects that sting, but naturally they're the ones that get the most attention out of me. When I'm outside, it doesn't matter what I'm walking past or what I'm doing- if it's bee season, bees buzz around me. I can be surrounded by concrete and still attract the attention of a wasp. I can be surrounded by other people, and trying my best not to do anything that might excite the insect (or embarrass myself), and watch with terror as it buzzes by everyone else to hang out with me.

I'm sure it sounds like I'm just being paranoid, but this has happened for years, and nearly everyone I've ever met and got to know really well has commented on it. I've gotten my share of accidental stings, but I've also tried just going about my business, and have gotten stung for it- twice. Once on the lower lip by a bumblebee and once by a red jacket that flew down the back of my shirt after buzzing around me for a few moments.

I'm not looking for hard-boiled scientific analysis here; just curious if anyone has similar problems with our stinger-sporting friends, or can explain why it happens. I usually wear dark colors and have facial hair- could that have anything to do with it? I like to think I don't give off BO of any peculiar sort, but could my individual human "scent" play a part?

Can they... smell my fear?

How do I keep the bees away?

sacre_bleu — Wed, 24 Aug 2005 13:49:07 -0800

We are having a big party next weekend. What can I do to ward off the swarms of yellow jackets? They are ferocious this year. There is no nest in the yard that I know of. But whenever anyone is outside with food they all start buzzing around. Has anyone had success with any kind of yard guard or other method to keep them at bay?

Beekeeping: for the fainthearted?

wilful — Mon, 08 Aug 2005 17:34:28 -0800

What do I need to know to become an amateur apiarist/beekeeper? I (will soon) have a block of land in the country, and the idea of having my own honeybees (Apis mellifera) appeals to me. But I am a babe in the woods regarding the practicality of this idea. I wouldn’t be able to tend them that frequently (weekly to monthly) and I know nothing about bee diseases and parasites. I would do a course if I progressed far enough, but I want to know from some experienced hands, is this a hobby one can undertake part-time, or do you have to show a bit of dedication? What are the main traps for new players?

Why do bugs skeeve me out?

AlisonM — Wed, 08 Jun 2005 11:52:11 -0800

Why do bugs skeeve me out? The thought came over me last night - I had gone out with a couple friends yesterday evening for a couple drinks, and we sat out on the patio since it was one of the first few hot days of the year. Sure enough, there were mosquitoes and gnats flying around, and they eventually drove us indoors because we (ok, I) was really grossed out. Later that evening, I was in my room, and a gigantic (I'm talking 2 inches wide) mosquito flew lazily across the room in front of me. I was TERRIFIED, and if you had asked me at that moment, I would have been convinced that the mosquito wanted to kill me and start the revolution in my bedroom. I ran screaming from my room and made one of my housemates go in and kill it.

Even disposing of a dead bug can turn into a project involving a broom, a paper plate, some duct tape and a mad dash to the outside trash can.

Now, I know in the grand scheme of things, bugs won't do me any harm. Oh sure, I could have an itchy lump from a mosquito for a couple of days. And your run-of-the-mill bee sting isn't any more than slightly annoying for a minute or two (I'm not allergic, thank god), but bees are the worst for me. (I once threw a baseball bat at a bee, which kind of pissed him off and made him chase me. That's part of the reason why bees are the worst for me. In my mind, they want REVENGE. The rest of them just want to get away.)

Anyway. is there a legitimate psychological reason why the "OMIGODTHEBUGISGOINGTOGETMEEWEWEW!" part of my brain takes over instead of this logical part of my brain that knows that in general, don't really mean me any harm, and even if they did, they can't do much? If there is a psychological reason, is it learned, or are we as humans programmed to keep the bugs away?

How would I go about selling bees?

nickerbocker — Fri, 29 Apr 2005 19:59:16 -0800

How should I go about selling a hive of bees? Who would be interested and how would I find them? We have had this hive of bees since late January that have lived inside a crack in the outside wall to our house. They never bothered anyone, and were quite pleasant to watch. About 3 days ago, the entire hive moved from our house to a near by small tree. There are 1000's of bees in a huge bee ball on this tree now. We think they are building another colony inside. Probably outgrew their old home? In any case there new location couldn't be worse. It is right next to where we park our vehicles and there is a lot of foot traffic in that area. Right now they are all still very dormant, so if we are going to move them now is the time, I would think. Otherwise we will just have to kill them :(

Input would be great! Thanks!

Bees swarming

Jimbob — Thu, 21 Apr 2005 19:48:46 -0800

Simultaneous bee swarms: why would bees be swarming at various locations at the same time along a 50km stretch of highway? Yesterday as I drove the 50kms home from the train station, I noticed swarms of bees at about 15 different locations along the road - angry bees hovering above the trees they evidently have a hive in. I've never seen a single bee swarm in the whole time I've driven along that road, but yesterday there was a swarm every few kilometers.

I should also note that yesterday a lot of farmers were burning off their paddocks. However, smoking paddocks were not necessary near the bees that were swarming, and there's been plenty of burning-off being done in the last month without the swarming bees.

What's going on? Are bees launching a large-scale attack on humanity?

(Note, I'm in Australia, it's Autumn.)

Keeping an outdoor space bee-free

internal — Fri, 03 Sep 2004 19:47:08 -0800

How do we keep the Bees away?
We are having an outdoor party this weekend and I am sure the Bees will be bad. What can we do to keep them away? I have heard that placing a bowl of honey nearby, but far enough from the crowd, works. Anyone try this? Any other options?