# How do I get a bumblebee out of my house? (Really DO need answer fast!) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 12, 2010, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-bumblebee-out-of-my-house-really-do-need-answer-fast/539186 "2010-05-12T16:22:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-bumblebee-out-of-my-house-really-do-need-answer-fast/539186/1 "2010-05-12T16:22:29Z")
A bumblebee has bumbled into my house, and he doesn’t seem interested in the door I have wide open for him. How can I encourage him to bumble back out again, instead of thumping his bumbly little head on my windows? ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-bumblebee-out-of-my-house-really-do-need-answer-fast/539186/2 "2010-05-12T16:27:11Z")
Get a glass and trap the bumble in the glass. Slowly slide the glass over a thin piece of card. Remove card and glass together, keeping the bumblebee inside the glass. Take outside, and remove card cover. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-bumblebee-out-of-my-house-really-do-need-answer-fast/539186/3 "2010-05-12T16:27:56Z")
Time-honored jar-and-paper method? (Stand near bee bumping into window, cover quickly and carefully with a jar/glass/food storage container/other transparentish item. Carefully slide a piece of paper/thin bit of cardboard under the edge of the container, making sure to not run over the bee/damage its legs, until the container now has a makeshift cover. Hold “cover” in place and go outside; release bee. If it stays in container, put the container down and leave until it figures out how to escape. Edit: Damn my verbosity! ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-bumblebee-out-of-my-house-really-do-need-answer-fast/539186/4 "2010-05-12T16:29:12Z")
Ah, that sounds good. I’m sure I’ve heard of that before - it just wasn’t coming to mind. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-bumblebee-out-of-my-house-really-do-need-answer-fast/539186/5 "2010-05-12T16:30:37Z")
Call 911. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-bumblebee-out-of-my-house-really-do-need-answer-fast/539186/6 "2010-05-12T17:03:59Z")
Don’t the cats take care of these things? Lazy beasts! ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-bumblebee-out-of-my-house-really-do-need-answer-fast/539186/7 "2010-05-12T17:13:48Z")
Rolled up newspaper. It’s just a bee for crying out loud. ---
**Author:** ![moldybread](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@moldybread](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moldybread)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-bumblebee-out-of-my-house-really-do-need-answer-fast/539186/8 "2010-05-12T17:29:15Z")
> [@Wilbo523](#): > > Rolled up newspaper. It’s just a bee for crying out loud. Just a bee? Forget about honey, pollen and royal jelly. Just think of a world without beans, tomatoes, onions and carrots, not to mention the hundreds of other vegetables, oilseeds and fruits that are dependent upon bees for pollination. And the livestock that are dependent upon bee-pollinated forage plants, such as clover. No human activity or ingenuity could ever replace the work of bees and yet it is largely taken for granted. It is often not realized just how easy it is to help or hinder their effectiveness as crop pollinators nor how much is lost by their loss. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-bumblebee-out-of-my-house-really-do-need-answer-fast/539186/9 "2010-05-12T17:32:29Z")
> [@Wilbo523](#): > > Rolled up newspaper. It’s just a bee for crying out loud. I read somewhere recently that a bee is basically $50 on the wing in terms of increased economic output resulting from its activities (pollination of crops, making of honey, etc). Wish I remembered where I read that. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-bumblebee-out-of-my-house-really-do-need-answer-fast/539186/10 "2010-05-12T17:44:46Z")
Squirt it with window cleaner. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-bumblebee-out-of-my-house-really-do-need-answer-fast/539186/11 "2010-05-12T17:55:09Z")
[Everything](http://www.bumblebee.org/faq.htm) you ever wanted to know about Bumblebees, but were not at the Dope. ---
**Author:** ![umop\_ap\_sdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/dbc845/32.png) [@umop\_ap\_sdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/umop_ap_sdn)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-bumblebee-out-of-my-house-really-do-need-answer-fast/539186/12 "2010-05-12T17:59:28Z")
> [@Icerigger](#): > > Squirt it with window cleaner. Even less humane then squishing it. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-bumblebee-out-of-my-house-really-do-need-answer-fast/539186/13 "2010-05-12T18:12:32Z")
> [@Wilbo523](#): > > Rolled up newspaper. It’s just a bee for crying out loud. Eric!!! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-bumblebee-out-of-my-house-really-do-need-answer-fast/539186/14 "2010-05-12T18:49:40Z")
Catch him and release him. Why do people freak out and want to kill everything? ---
**Author:** ![moldybread](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@moldybread](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moldybread)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-bumblebee-out-of-my-house-really-do-need-answer-fast/539186/15 "2010-05-12T18:57:24Z")
> [@campp](#): > > Catch him and release him. Why do people freak out and want to kill everything? I agree It’s ignorant. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-bumblebee-out-of-my-house-really-do-need-answer-fast/539186/16 "2010-05-12T19:00:54Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > [Everything](http://www.bumblebee.org/faq.htm) you ever wanted to know about Bumblebees, but were not at the Dope. Note that **lieu** ’s source says they almost never sting. Steel yourself and catch it in your cupped hands. Reading this post releases **Tom Tildrum** from all legal liability associated with his advice, including but not limited to pain and suffering. ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-bumblebee-out-of-my-house-really-do-need-answer-fast/539186/17 "2010-05-12T19:07:27Z")
Poor bee! Can you open the window he is bumping against to let him out? I will say that killing the bee is unnecessary but sometimes you just gotta kill the bugs that come into your house. Recently we have developed an infestation of [these guys](http://www.richard-seaman.com/Wallpaper/Nature/Centipedes/HouseCentipede.jpg). They bite and cause huge welts that burst and weep pus and all sorts of nastiness. They are welcome to die horrible deaths as far as I’m concerned. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-bumblebee-out-of-my-house-really-do-need-answer-fast/539186/18 "2010-05-12T19:17:38Z")
In the site I linked to it says this about finding one that can’t fly. _“You can feed her using a 30/70 mixture of honey and water in a pipette or eye dropper, or just a drop of this on a suitable surface within her reach, but be careful not to wet her hair or get her sticky.”_ So they don’t just make honey but are attracted to it too? I think I’d put a drop of honey at the bottom of **Quartz** and **Ferret** ’s glass, set it next to the piece of paper on a table and wait. Bee climbs into the glass, you slide paper over the top and carry the little buzzer outside. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-bumblebee-out-of-my-house-really-do-need-answer-fast/539186/19 "2010-05-12T19:23:14Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Note that **lieu** ’s source says they almost never sting. Steel yourself and catch it in your cupped hands. > > Reading this post releases **Tom Tildrum** from all legal liability associated with his advice, including but not limited to pain and suffering. What the fuck are you talking about? a bumble bee will sting the living crap out of you if you handle it. I speak from extensive and repeated childhood experience on this issue. ---
**Author:** ![Nefarious\_Chipmunk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nefarious_chipmunk/32/1045_2.png) [@Nefarious\_Chipmunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nefarious_Chipmunk)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-bumblebee-out-of-my-house-really-do-need-answer-fast/539186/20 "2010-05-12T19:28:17Z")
Have you tried closing all the windows and blinds except the one you want him to go out? This generally works pretty well for me. I am highly allergic to bee stings, so I don’t generally want to get close enough to capture them.\* \*When I was in college, I took an entomology course. We would go on insect-catching field trips. On one of the trips, I faced my fear and netted a bee, only to discover that it was really a very convincing mimic. 😛 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-get-a-bumblebee-out-of-my-house-really-do-need-answer-fast/539186.md?page=2)