How do I get bumblebees out of my yard?

[Sampiro]

There are as many as four or five out there each day and they’re aggressive little dronesuckers. One’s like those Japanese soldiers you read about in Gilligan’s Island books who doesn’t know the war’s over- she’s always there and never goes back to her freaking hive until dark.

The odd thing is that the only plants I have are a couple of cactii that I haven’t managed to kill (I don’t have a green thumb or even any interest in plants), some rosebushes that are not currently flowering, and some grass.

I’m afraid one of the bees is going to sting one of my dogs (particularly the hyper Jack Russell mix who’s always trying to fight them) and I don’t know if they’re allergic. I’m also afraid one’s going to sting me (I’m not allergic but I don’t like pain). Is there any way without digging up the grass to get these striped bitches to leave? I have a small yard if that helps (the front yard’s bigger and has more plants but they prefer the mostly concrete backyard).

[Shagnasty]

How about posion? Some of those insect killer sprays can shoot 12 - 15 feet. You don’t even have to get a direct hit. Plus, it is fun. Get 3 or 4 cans and pretend that you are a fighter pilot that must save the world against a menace known primarilly by its distinctive black and yellow uniform.

[Sampiro]

@Shagnasty

How about posion? Some of those insect killer sprays can shoot 12 - 15 feet. You don’t even have to get a direct hit. Plus, it is fun. Get 3 or 4 cans and pretend that you are a fighter pilot that must save the world against a menace known primarilly by its distinctive black and yellow uniform.

Any idea if that would be dangerous for the dogs? (Couldn’t care much less about the cactii, but the dogs would trump anybody I know for van space in getting away from a tsunami.)

[wonder9]

Why on earth would you want to kill them? Bumblebees aren’t typically aggressive, they’re beneficial insects and adding more poison to the environment doesn’t seem like a good idea when we have so much laying around anyway.

Obligatory wiki cite.

[August_West]

I agree with wonder, live and let live!

[Sampiro]

My reason is selfish: I don’t want to be stung and I don’t want my dogs to be stung.

Bumblebees aren’t like honeybees, incidentally- they’re like wasps. They can sting repeatedly, andMy dogs (especially the little coquettish brown and white one) will definitely provoke them. I’d rather have a dead bee than a vet bill.

[Beadalin]

Aren’t bumblebees like, the hippies of the insect world? Long-haired, lazy-looking, all about flower power? The only time I’ve ever been stung by one was when I knelt on the poor guy. Can’t blame him for that.

They’re very beneficial to your plants – in fact, I try to attract them to my garden. More about them from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden:

The bumblebee isn’t the most glamorous insect around, but the lovable bear of a bee surpasses even the celebrated honeybee in the industriousness department. Bumblebees are often up and out of the hive before dawn, way before the honeybees, and they’re frequently still hard at work after the sun has set. In fact, the bumblebee is one of the world’s most proficient practitioners of the pollinating arts. Its distinctive striped fur coat is tailor-made for attracting pollen, and the plump pollinator is built like a Mack truck to carry a lot of cargo.

But bees are in trouble. In recent years, parasitic mites have killed most feral honeybees and many colonies maintained by beekeepers. Meanwhile, the natural habitats of bumblebees and other native bees, which were pollinating North America long before the colonists arrived with their European honeybees, continue to be carved up, destroyed, or degraded.

I say give those bees a hand.

[Beadalin]

Some more reading for you, this time from The Garden Safari:

Bumblebees have typical warning colours: black and yellow or black and red. And it is true: all species are capable of stinging. But they are not very willing to do so. We can even take many species in our hand. As long as we don’t squeeze them, they won’t sting us at all! Only bumblebees laying on their back should never be touched, for this is their typical defense position, indicating they feel threatened and are ready to sting! Even though the stinger of the bumblebees is build the same way as the Honeybee’s, their stinger will not remain in your skin. As a result a bumblebee may sting you more than once. The poison it injects is harmless, except for those allergic to wasp poison. Whether the sting is very painful or not depends on the species involved.

So yes, they can sting you or your dogs, but are extremely unlikely to do so. They’re mellow, man.

[DeVena]

Are you sure it’s a bumble bee? Carpenter bees are slightly smaller but much less fuzzy than bumblebees but nest in wood, not in the ground. Here’s a good informational site, but I also urge you to leave the bumble bees. Their benefits outweigh the annoyance.

This site has non-poison control options.

[Beadalin]

I swear I will shut up after this – but one last thing: they only nest for one year at any given site, and only the queen survives the winter.

Once last cite:

Bumblebees will nest in nature-friendly places - but they will nest there for only a year. Don’t disturb the nest - and there’s no need to worry about being stung, according to the experts.

Bumblebees aren’t like honey bees - they are gentle and slow! And they are an essential element to a healthy environment.

[Translucent_Daydream]

When I was growing up in East Texas, we would have carpenter bees. They were black and would just kind of float around. We had a tennis racket that we would smack them down with. My dog used to try to eat them, and every once in a while she would get lucky. If you ran around they would act like they were chasing you.

I used to smack them down with my hands. The carpenter bees were very destructive and could eat a large part of a barn in one season. But I never got bit by one.

[Anaamika]

Another plea to please leave them alone. You are planning to kill them and spread poison in the yard on the off-chance that one of them *might *sting your dogs? Pardon me, but this is exactly the problem I see with humans interacting with the animal world. Even when it’s not trouble to us we want to kill and destroy.

I understand what you are saying but it seems unneccesarily cruel to give your dogs shelter and love them and kill the bees just because you don’t like them. I don’t expect you to give them homes in your house but can’t you share your portion of the world with them?

[groman]

I have a bee sting allergy and I’ve had dogs almost all of my life and this is the first time I am hearing of a possibility that a dog might have a bee sting allergy. Do you have a cite for this?

[Sampiro]

@groman

I have a bee sting allergy and I’ve had dogs almost all of my life and this is the first time I am hearing of a possibility that a dog might have a bee sting allergy. Do you have a cite for this?

Here’s one with pics. There are others.

[Sampiro]

@Anaamika

I understand what you are saying but it seems unneccesarily cruel to give your dogs shelter and love them and kill the bees just because you don’t like them. I don’t expect you to give them homes in your house but can’t you share your portion of the world with them?

Oh great. Another Bee Zionist.

I don’t want to kill the bees or use poison, I just don’t want them to sting. They hover around me and the dogs and drive my already hyper and super-curious terrier nuts, and since he only weighs about 16 pounds I’m a bit afraid for him.

Maybe if I could find some Jehovah’s Witness bees it would make them leave. But then I’d have Jehovah’s Witness bees. Hm.

[Full_Metal_Lotus]

2 things

1. dress up like an old crotchety bee, and keep yelling “Hey you kids, get off my lawn!”

or…

2. you say you have no attractive plants that are bringing them to your otherwise perfect sanctuary. Is there old, weathered wood around, sawdust or other sources of celulose? They love that stuff too, and harvest it toi make their hives.

Regards
FML

[gonzomax]

My old husky got stung on the lip. He was pissed. He would hold his lip back and pick them out of the air. He wanted to kill every one of them.

[Savannah]

Can’t we all just get along?

[pbbth]

Get a bee outfit and a crown. Tell them you are the queen bee and you want them gone.

[Campion]

@Anaamika

I understand what you are saying but it seems unneccesarily cruel to give your dogs shelter and love them and kill the bees just because you don’t like them. I don’t expect you to give them homes in your house but can’t you share your portion of the world with them?

Yes, but what have the bees ever done for him? The dogs, I get. But the bees?

Sampiro, I’m with you. Take 'em all out. The hardware store near me has these bags of stuff you can hang in the trees. Bees check in, but they never check out.