Pest Control and Bug Exterminator Blog

A customer that I serviced in Litchfield Park had a problem with ants and bees coming in and out of her dog’s water dish.  She had ants all over her front yard.  I took the time to follow the trail of ants leading to a dirt area outside their lawn.  These ants had to of been traveling over 50 to 70 feet just to get to her house.  I sprayed the curbing were the ants were trailing and around their hill with termidor.  I told her that the treatment may take up to 3 days in order for it to fully work.  As far as the bees were concern, I looked around and could not find a hive.  The bees were just coming in and out for a drink, but I still wanted to help her keep the bees out of her dog’s dish.  I told her of a trick I learned in scouts.  I told her she could make an easy bee trap with a 2 liter soda bottle.  She needed to leave a little soda in the bottle and cut the top of the bottle off with a knife.  The top needs to be turned upside down and put into the top of the bottle.  The idea was to attract the bees to the soda instead of the dog’s dish.  It worked and some bees were trapped in the soda bottle.

Jameson Hunter

Phoenix Branch

The Bee’s are outside doing their job with cross pollination.  Bees are attracted to “citrus” smells.  You may want to avoid shampoo or conditioner that utilizes citrus extracts.  Bees may accidentally mistake you to bee’ the latest “orange blossom.”

KT

I have read a recent article about a young child being stung multiple times by bees.  The population of Africanized bees is increasing and I have one tip that just might save your life.

Africanized bees are very aggressive and have soldier/guard bees circling around the hive.  Guard bees will basically run into you; giving you a warning that you are entering an area near their hive.  Sometimes the Africanized guard bees circle at a diameter away from the hive where the location of the hive can remain well hidden.  If you feel that you have bumped into these guard bees your best option is probably to backtrack.

If you happen to come across an africanized guard bee, and like most of us your natural intention is to swat; make sure you swat in a direction that would push the bee(s) away from you.  If you crush a bee on yourself and release the pharamones…you better run-Forrest.

Ground Bee Control

If ground-nesting bees and wasps can be ignored and their tunnels tolerated, do so since they are valuable in agricultural production and helpful by controlling pests in nature. If nests are in locations undesirable and stinging is a great possibility, control is justified. During the day, carefully watch where the nest entrances are located. After dark, tunnels and the surrounding area can be treated with dusts of carbaryl (Sevin), bendiocarb (Ficam D) or diazinon when the nest is in the ground. Use pyrethrins, permethrin, resmethrin or propoxur (Baygon) when the nest is in the side of a building. Other lawn and garden insecticide sprays can also be used, but dusts have the advantage of not soaking into the soil. Those who are allergic to bee stings, should contact a licensed, professional pest control operator to perform the control job. Always read the label and follow directions and safety precautions.

Source:Keith L. Smith, Associate Vice President for Ag. Adm. and Director, OSU Extension.