Dilemma- ground bees.

[underpants]

Last edited Tue Jul 9, 2019, 02:28 PM - Edit history (1)

So we just had a pro come and take care of a ground hornet nest.

This morning in the back yard I see a bunch bees flying around in one spot on the ground. I check it out and there’s a hole. They are going in and out. Look I know bees are important (at our old place I routinely left clover uncut for them) but I don’t want anyone getting stung by them. Apparently just flooding them usually does the trick.

(Shatner voice) BUT..... should I!?!

¿Opinions?

Oh and there’s this too:

Make a soda bottle trap

A soda bottle trap attracts the bees and then traps them; they eventually drown in a solution and die a slow death. You can easily make your own soda bottle trap at home using a used soda bottle or any plastic bottle. Cut it in half and fill one portion of it with sweet soda or some fruit juice. Hang it on or around the beehive in the ground and leave it for a few days.

https://www.howtogettingridofbees.com/how-to-get-rid-of-ground-bees-naturally/

[Cattledog]

1. Ground bees are not aggressive.

Not all bees live in hives like honey bees do. In fact, 70% of all the 20,000 species of bees nest under ground. In North America, most of these ground bees become active in early spring. Nests of these bees are easy to identify above ground because of the conical piles of dirt with a large hole in the middle that serves as the entrance to the bee burrows

Unlike social bees and wasps, solitary species are not aggressive insects even though females do have sting. These bees will not attempt to sting humans unless handled. Most activity at nest sites in early spring is of males looking for females to mate with – male bees cannot sting.

All of these native bee species provide important ecological services that include pollinating many of the plants in your garden and nearby. Specifically, Colletes inaequalis and similar looking Andrena species are important pollinators of spring crops like apples, blueberries and cherries.

Therefore, we do not consider these bees as pests and strongly recommend avoiding the use of chemicals to control them. Pesticides are bad for humans and beneficial insects. Usually, using water over the area of the nest is enough to encourage the bees to look for a different nesting area. However, due to their beneficial role as pollinators and their lack of aggressive behavior, please consider maintaining these important bee pollinators in your backyard!

https://entomology.cals.cornell.edu/extension/wild-pollinators/native-bees-your-backyard/

[csziggy]

21. My experience proves that they can be aggressive

My husband and I were setting some posts. We didn't realize that some bumble bees had a nest about a yard away from where we were digging holes and tamping the posts in. They took exception to all the pounding. Of course, they didn't go after my husband - few insects do. I was stung twice on the right ankle and they were coming after me so I ran. About fifty yards later, I slowed down and got stung twice more. I ran the other hundred yards back to the house.

I don't get an anaphylactic reaction to bee and wasp stings, but I swell like crazy. The leg that was stung was the same size from the top of my thigh to my ankle. I probably should have gotten it treated but I had no health insurance. I took Benadryl tablets and applied a paste of benadryl, baking soda, and meat tenderizer, plus kept the leg iced for two days.

Meanwhile my husband got the posts set without being disturbed by the little bastards.

I call them bumble bees since that is what they looked like, though I did not stop to make detailed observations.

[Laffy Kat]

25. Mine were.

I had ground bees right beside the sidewalk in front of my house and they were stinging both dogs and their owners as they walked by the nest. I saw and heard it happen twice. When the owners bent over to help their yelping dogs, they got stung, too. As soon as the second one happened I got some of that yellow ribbon tape and cordoned off the area. I will never use pesticides, so I waited until dark and stuck a garden hose down the nest hole and let it run for about an hour. They have never returned. I hated to do it because I think ground bees do pollinate and are useful, but I had to take action in this case.

[rownesheck]

2. About 4 years ago

we had a massive swarm of cicada killers at our house. I had no idea what they were. They were HUGE and creepy! I tried making a soda trap, but it didn't work. We were scared to go outside. I'm shuddering just thinking about that time. Yeesh! I hope I never experience that again.

[Cirque du So-What]

8. I got stung by one

Apparently it was attracted to the scent of my underarm deodorant. I had been working with my arms raised, then got zapped when I lowered my arms. It was the most acutely painful thing I have ever experienced - like liquid fire. I saw the bugger fly away wnen my arm reflexively flew up. I rolled around on the ground for a minute, inventing new curses all the while. That sting left a raised welt 3" wide from armpit to waist. Good thing they're not aggressive.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

17. It was probably a wasp or a hornet and not a bee if you got such a bad sting.

Ground-dwelling bees are not aggressive and unlikely to sting. https://www.thoughtco.com/how-to-id-and-control-ground-bees-1968396

[Cirque du So-What]

20. It was a cicada killer - a solitary hornet

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphecius_speciosus

[tonekat]

16. Cicada Killers are OK...

...unless you're a Cicada. I watched one land on a Cicada and ride it up the side of an oak tree before taking off with it back to the nest to feed it's young. A bit macabre.

Now European Hornets...you might want to be careful around, they have different colored wings than Cicada Killers but are also huge. Oh, and they like to come out at night and gather around lights. Fun.

[Cirque du So-What]

3. Sounds like yellowjackets, which are wasps - not bees

They contribute nothing toward pollination, so I consider them fair game - especially when the little bastages dig nests in my yard.

[Historic NY]

4. They will come after you in a mass and attack...

and attack. Nasty buggers

[Cirque du So-What]

6. Yep, them's yallerjackets alright

I found a nest once by mowing over top of their entrance. Got stung about 20 times. Then I did a very environmentally-unfriendly thing: filled a quart Mason jar with gasoline and went to the entrance, which was filled to capacity with wasper heads sticking out, ready to attack me again. I doused all in attendance, resulting in their instantaneous deaths. For good measure, I ignited the gas, but was denied a spectacular explosion.

[Historic NY]

12. Me too, they let me go by twice...

[jberryhill]

23. Yep

Except mine were in some high grass and the mower stalled out right there. Naturally, I reached under to clear the chute...

[underpants]

11. Found on the Google - this guy has a plan!

[Boxerfan]

5. Mud Potter Wasps-AKA Yellow Jackets

As someone else said-probably Wasps-kill them it is not a issue.

Nasty buggers & very aggressive especially in hot weather. I worked in a outdoor wrecking yard-and many of the cars had nests in them. I was upside down under a dash yanking some part-looked off to the side & there was a active nest about 8" away.

Because it was early & cool they didn't attack. I would walk by a nested car in the heat & 20 yards away they would attack.

So much fun handing a customer a say-mirror assembly. Then realizing it has a nest in it as the hornets start getting upset. Had to rinse & extract the nest from a few.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

18. Ground bees are not aggressive.

https://www.thoughtco.com/how-to-id-and-control-ground-bees-1968396

[Lars39]

9. Yellowjackets usually have 2 entrances to their nest in the ground.

Gotta find the second one or you can be in a world of hurt.

[underpants]

10. Great tip. Thanks.

🐝

[Cracklin Charlie]

13. I got them one year.

We had to get a professional to exterminate them. A golf course is out behind my fence, and the bees kept stinging golf course workers, and my son, when they ran the lawn mower.

[underpants]

14. I was planning on cutting my grass tonight

First time cutting the new lawn. Oh gee guess I’ll have to wait at least another day.

[lunasun]

28. See if you have wasps, ground bees or bumble bees someone up thread posted a link

The ground bees as stated do not usually sting but they can freak visitors out to your new digs because they are bees and people think they will be stung ,chased or confronted

If you have wasp yellow jackets those are very bad !

Bumble bees meh we left some in the ground but certainly not in an area with foot traffic . They were off to the side in a large flower border and did not spread or increase and then we moved
I thought it was cool they were round little ground dwellers .

The fact you have them where you mow almost points to ground bees because they will go by patchy grass , but make sure you ID the three do not look alike really
All can be ridden
and if wasps -don’t even ponder or try to mow over HA they will surprise you . I know someone that messed with wasps . The wasps won
stung about 25 times . They are more inactive on cooler nights if I remember look it up new home owner you’ll find some choices to rid ! Congrats on your new home 🔑

[samnsara]

15. what are those little striped things that sting like hell?..or bite?

..is that a wasp? Cuz those are very aggressive if you disturb their nest.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

19. Those would be wasps or hornets. Entomologically speaking,

bees are vegetarian wasps, or you could say wasps are carnivorous bees.

[Cirque du So-What]

24. When I was a kid, the old-timers had a nickname for yellowjackets

Meat bees.

[Lefta Dissenter]

26. The chart here

The chart at this website is helpful:

https://kottke.org/18/08/a-comprehensive-guide-to-yellow-stripey-things