Bees or wasps in our hot tub -need advice

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sonflower

sonflower

0
Jun 2, 2010
157
Fort Worth, TX
We have these wasps or bees that won't leave. We have sprayed Raid wasp spray, emptied the dang can, on 'em. They just won't leave. :?

We put a bee catcher plastic jug w/orange soda pop in it immediately above their spot but they won't go in it.

Even when the pool chems are 100% spot on what they should be, they are there.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance


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I know that this may be very very aggravating to you and your family..........but I think they are just really thirsty! LOL! Can you possibly provide them with another water source? Bees are very beneficial insects..so please don't kill them! You guys haven't had any rain and they are looking for water to survive and bring back to their hives.
 
Those are honeybees.

please do not kill them. They are providing an indispensable service.

If you watch what direction they are coming from, then put a birdbath or other source of fresh water between that direction and the pool, thy will start going to it instead of your pool. They just want water, and dont care where it comes from (I am a beekeeper).
 
And fyi, killing them wont work. They will just send more bees to collect water that they need.

The fact that they are actively collecting water means one of two things.

1. Its super hot and they are using evaporative effects to cool the hive so the comb wont melt

or

2. There is a serious drought on and they just need the water they arent getting from nectar flows that should be happenning and arent due to the drought.

Or Both, they tend to coincide.
 
crek31 said:
Lershac, just out of curiosity, do the pool chems hurt them in any way?
Click to expand...

I have not come across any "hard" scientific studies, but no, I dont think so at all. The amounts they consume or use over their lifetime are pretty small (they dont live that long) and they mostly use it for cooling the hive.

I mean I have plenty of pools in my neighborhood and I know (I see em) they gather water at those, and they also use far nastier sources like ditch water and such that I would not consider fit for consumption by humans. Bees are pretty tough creatures.
 
Its where the first bee "found"the water and he directed everyone else to it. They are incredibly precise with directions. It will take about 3 days for them to stop coming once you establish the water supply closer to the hive.
 

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I have the same visitors at my pool. We've learned to live with them - though I would like to distract them with a better source of water. What's the ultimate bee drinking/watering method? I'd like something fairly maintenance free.
 
When I built the addition on my home I purposely put a hose bib on the corner of the house closest to them. I put a bowl under it and let it drip a very slow drip into the bowl. A couple of pieces of wood floating in the bowl and they are always there during the heat of the summer.
 
I skip most hot tub threads.....that's not my area. However, I read this one out of curiosity and found it very educational and surprising.

Thanks, lershac, for sharing what you know. My cousin in Kansas is a thirty year beekeeper and honey producer so I know some from him but never knew of their single-point attraction to water.

Good thread for all of us to keep in mind.
 
It's not so much a single point attraction, it's just good directions by the finder.

They haven't completely deciphered it but bees give directions back at the hive by turning in circles and waggling their bodies at a specific place in the circle. The angle of the orientation in the circle is thought to give direction in relation to the sun and the length of the waggling has to do with distance. The amazing thing is they account for the time of day and the position of the sun in all that. There are some neat videos on YouTube.com about it.

I can attest that they navigate by the sun position, coz at night if I leave the lights on the corner of the house by the hive on accidentally, a large number of them never make it back to the hive at night and wind up on the side of the house.
 
carlscan26 said:
Lershac, those wasp traps with the bag and yellow plastic cup - they say they only catch wasps and non honey bees...is that really possible?
Click to expand...

Correct. They only catch wasps, yellow jackets, and hornets. Honey bees are not interested in them.

As an aside, for those who are considering using traps for yellow jackets (not bees), consider that although they do catch a number of pests daily, the number that they catch and remove is insignificant and will have no effect on lowering the population in the area. A trap that catches 20 or 30 yellow jackets daily won't put a dent in the typical yellow jacket nest with 5000 to 10000 workers.
 
linen said:
Hey Lesharc, I have been considering looking into bee keeping. Are there any good online forums/sites you would recommend for me to look at?
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Beesource.com

Now is the time to start planning for a new hive in the summer! Bees are only available for order during a short period during the year, and you need to get your order in early as they seem to sell out every year.

You can't start a hive during fall, as they won't make it through winter, not enough time to build up, and the same goes for winter, spring is tough because not very many bee packages available. Early summer is the sweet spot!

For beginners, many choose an Italian queen as they are hardy and tend to produce gentle bees, but it's really a Crud shoot!

I really encourage you to give it a shot, your garden and your neighbors garden will thank you.
 
257WbyMag said:
carlscan26 said:
Lershac, those wasp traps with the bag and yellow plastic cup - they say they only catch wasps and non honey bees...is that really possible?
Click to expand...

Correct. They only catch wasps, yellow jackets, and hornets. Honey bees are not interested in them.

As an aside, for those who are considering using traps for yellow jackets (not bees), consider that although they do catch a number of pests daily, the number that they catch and remove is insignificant and will have no effect on lowering the population in the area. A trap that catches 20 or 30 yellow jackets daily won't put a dent in the typical yellow jacket nest with 5000 to 10000 workers.
Click to expand...

Yup.

That's why killing those bees that come for water is useless, a big hive in the middle of summer can approach 100kbees.
 

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