Bee Prevention: 5 Tips From Professional Bee Exterminators

Honeybees are adorable, but they can be dangerous to those with allergies to bee venom. They’re also endangered and protected in many states. So, how can you protect your property without harming these essential creatures? Our professional bee exterminators would like to share five useful tips.

1. Keep Your Yard Tidy

Bees and other insects love to nest around the trees and flowers that create their food and shelter. This is especially true if you live in a temperate area, near woods or meadows, or in an area with lots of flowering plants, gardens, and water sources like pools and fountains.

Keeping lawns, bushes, and trees trimmed is the first line of defense against all sorts of critters. Inspect tress for hollows and fill them. Limit plantings near your home, especially flowering plants around windows and doors. Remove birdhouses and feeders when they’re not in use, and check dog houses inside and out for the presence of hives. Cover outdoor grills and other equipment.

2. Incorporate Plants That Are Unattractive to Bees

You can create an unwelcoming environment without stirring up a nest by incorporating plants that are pleasant for people but generally repellent to bugs. Two of the most effective are citronella and peppermint.

In addition to populating your yard with plants that repel bees, you can spray citronella, peppermint, cinnamon, or garlic oil around the perimeter of your home. Pay special attention to entryways and places that insects like to congregate. Bees also hate smoke, so building a small fire near the hive or placing candles with bee-repelling scents on a window sill is also effective. Bear in mind that candles may take a few days to drive the bees away. Make sure to remove the hive once they’re gone.

3. Inspect Your Property Regularly

Conditions that lead unwanted pests to your property will eventually lead them on to your home. Inspect the outside of your yard regularly for the presence of hives or nests and make sure than there are no cracks, crevices, or holes that will allow them construct a hive or get into your house and outbuildings. Replace or repair damaged screens and caulk around any openings.

Bees and other insects can squeeze into spaces as small as a quarter of an inch. According to our experts on pest control in Las Vegas, favorite nesting sites and points of entry include:

• Gaps around pipes and conduit
• Window and door screens
• Garages
• Sheds
• Under the eaves of roofs, window sills, and other overhangs

4. When All Else Fails, Protect Yourself

You can put measures in place to keep bees from taking up residence on your home or property, but few of us can avoid the insects completely. The best course of action when you can’t avoid bees in the wild is to protect yourself.

Remember that bees are attracted to bright colors and sweet scents. If you’re allergic, try to avoid wearing anything that will draw bees to you when you’re outside. Swap out your usual perfume or other scent for a repellent and wear neutral colors. Keep in mind that insects usually only sting or bite when they feel threatened. When you do see bees buzzing around, try not to panic and run or swat at them.

5. Call in the Professionals

If you do notice the beginnings of a hive forming, call in the professionals to remove it as soon as possible. Pest control companies in Las Vegas use a range of methods that are safe for bees but harmful to other, less beneficial pests. You can also call your local beekeepers association to come and safely remove the hive and its inhabitants. Make sure that they remove the entire hive, honeycomb and all, as any residual pheromones will attract new inhabitants.

Know Your Flying Insects

Not all stinging insects are bees, which are beneficial pollinators. However, other types of bees, wasps, and hornets can look very similar to the untrained eye. Their sting can also be just as dangerous to those who are allergic to venom.

You’ll find several varieties of bee buzzing around your neighborhood. The honeybee is the most familiar with its fuzzy coat and sturdy hind legs that are meant to hold pollen. Their abdomen has a honey-colored or yellow and black striped pattern. Bumblebees are just as furry and cute, but somewhat larger than other bees. In fact, their whole body is plump and fuzzy, with wider black and bright yellow stripes from head to stinger.

Carpenter bees have the same furry thorax as the other two varieties, but their bodies are smaller than honeybees overall and the abdomen is solid black. You’ll usually find them climbing the outside of wood buildings, lumber piles, and trees rather than flitting from flower to flower.

Ground bees favor sandy areas and live in small families underground with only a queen and her offspring. They’re very docile because they have no colonies to defend and almost never sting. You can spot the mounds of dirt around the entrance to their abodes. When you do see them outside of their nest, they look similar to honeybees, but with a paler, sparser coat that’s black and tan or almost white.

You can usually differentiate bees from other stinging insects by the size and shape of their heads. Wasps and hornets have small, narrow heads compared to bees. Hornets have black and white stripes around their bodies as opposed to the yellow and black of bees. The sole outlier is the yellowjacket, which has the same coloring as a bee but a much smaller body. Wasps are one solid color.

None of these flying insects have the characteristic fuzzy thorax that distinguishes them from bees. All of them act more aggressive than your garden variety bee and will sting without much provocation!

Regardless of which variety of flying insect is making your life uncomfortable, the best way to deal with the situation is to contact an exterminator. They know where insects like to hide, and they’ll also be able to distinguish essential pollinators from more aggressive insects and deal with them accordingly.

Where to Get Help for Your Bee Problem

No matter how careful you are, nature has a way of overcoming the best preventative measures. Protect your home and family by contacting bee exterminators when you need to rid your property in Las Vegas of bees and wasps.