How to Get Rid of Bumblebees Quickly & Effectively

There is no doubt that bumblebees are important to nature. By taking pollen from plants and pollinating other plants, bees help with the fruits, vegetables, trees, and flowers.

But even though they are a positive influence on the life cycle of vegetation, when inside your yard or house, they can be pests that need to be dealt with.

Along with the buzzing and the unease caused by having bees in your house, they do offer a real danger. Bees can be aggressive if they feel attacked, and getting stung by a bee is not anybody’s idea of a good time. Learning how to get rid of bumblebees is important to keep your home and yard pest-free.

Positively Identify Your Pest

How can you be sure you are dealing with bumblebees? Bumblebees are interesting creatures whose wings flap side to side rather than up and down. They eat pollen and nectar and are responsible for pollinating other plants.

The queen is the head of the colony, and as they are social creatures, there are usually between 50-150 bumblebees in a colony. Bumblebees build their nests in holes and crevices, like mice holes in your yard.

Bumblebees are hairy, about ½ inch to ¾ inch in length, and have the tell-tale yellow and black stripes around their bodies.

Bumblebees are often confused with carpenter bees, but carpenter bees are shiny instead of fuzzy, and have an all-black abdomen. Carpenter bees are more solitary creatures who live in the woods. They can excavate the wood themselves and lay their eggs in the tunnels they create.

Reasons You Must Eradicate the Bumblebees

Although bumblebees do much good to nature and keep the life cycle of plants going, they sometimes need to be eradicated. The colony will naturally die off in the fall, except for the queen that is hibernating underground.

Honestly, with as much good as bees do for the world, you really don’t want to kill them. But there are several reasons why they must go.

• The females of the species have powerful stingers and are willing to use them to defend themselves and their nests. Once you incur a bee sting you will experience painful swelling, and the bee sting could cause more serious problems.
• If you are allergic to bee stings, the stakes are a little higher. A bee sting could cause extreme swelling, hives, throat constriction, and even death. Benadryl is an important fix in dealing with serious bee stings, and people who know they are allergic also carry an Epi-pen in case of emergencies.

How Are the Bees Getting into Your House?

There are several ways that bumblebees are getting into your house. The first step you need to take to get rid of the bees is figuring out how the bees are getting in and where their nest is. To get rid of the bees you must get rid of the nest.

1. One place you may not think of for bee entry into your home is the chimney. The bees enter the house through the chimney but are then attracted to the light of the windows.

2. Vents are another easy way for bees to enter the house. Make sure to look at the vents in the kitchen, the bathroom, and the dryer. Whenever a connection is made with the house, there is a chance for there to be a hole from where the bees can sneak in.

3. Attic vent holes also leave room for bees to enter the house.

4. Any gap, hole, or crack offers an entrance opportunity for the bees. Study these carefully from the outside of your house. Pay special attention to places like where the phone cable or television wire enters your house. These are not always caulked appropriately and can offer the bees an entrance.

5. Pipes and gutters are also ways in for bees. Just like the other connections to the house, these places offer cracks or holes big enough for bees to sneak in.

How to Get Rid of Bumblebees Naturally in Your House

Because bumblebees are so important for the environment and several species of bumblebees are already on the Endangered Species List, it is a good idea to kick the bees out rather than kill them. There are several all-natural ways to do this.

• Vinegar is an excellent deterrent to many pests, and bees are no exception. Simply put equal amounts of vinegar and water into a sprayer, and treat the nest or the area where the bees are entering your house with the spray bottle solution.
• Another way to get rid of bees is by using citrus. If you boil down lemons you can put the resulting lemon water into a spray bottle, and this will deter the bees.
• Peppermint, tea tree, or cinnamon oil mixed with a cup of unscented baby shampoo will also do the trick!
• The simplest way to get rid of bees is to sprinkle cinnamon all around the nest

The Best Products to Rid Your Home of Bees

There are several products on the market that can make your home safe from bees. Sometimes the natural solutions take a little longer to kick in, therefore, people would prefer a store-bought solution.

• Especially if you have children or pets in your home, the Ultrasonic Pest Repeller Plug In is a great choice because it uses optical, ultrasonic, and electromagnetic waves to get rid of the bees. Therefore, it does not leave behind any poison or residue that can harm children.
• Another great product that helps you get into tight spots in order to kill the bees is the Spectracide Foaming Bee Killer. The foam will kill the bees immediately and has great coverage.
• Finally, a powder is also a powerful way to get rid of bees. Delta Dust is a popular powder product that is easily sprinkled around bee’s nests to take care of the problem.

How to Get Rid of Bumblebees in Your Yard

Bumblebees are essential to keep the ecosystem moving. They eat the nectar from flowers and pollinate plants so they keep growing. This circle of life is important to maintain, but if you have a nest of bumblebees in your yard, they can cause more trouble than they are worth.

Bumblebees live inside cracks and cavities in your yard. Sometimes they leave well enough alone and everything can live in peace. But other times, they cause trouble. For example, if you are mowing the lawn and hit a bumblebee nest, you are bound to be stung. If bees make a nest in a swing set that could be problematic for young children.

It is best to deal with bee’s nests in the yard at night, when the bees are groggier. If you cover your flashlight with red cellophane, the bees will not be able to see you coming.

You can successfully use the same techniques outside that you use inside, depending on your taste in products. If you use natural products like cinnamon or vinegar, you may need to repeat the process several times.

Preventing Their Return

After you have worked so hard to rid your yard of the bees, it is imperative that you keep the bees away in the future. There are several great ways to do this.

• Cover any holes in the yard. These include mice holes, groundhog holes, or other areas where bees could decide to make a home. Bees can burrow in little crevices under rocks as well.
• Fill in any cracks in the siding on your house. Pay special attention to the eaves and any place where cable or phone lines enter the house. You may need to caulk these places to prevent bee entry.
• Keep your flowers and your garden farther away from your home. Since pollinating is what bees naturally do, placing the objects of their pollination farther away from your home would keep you and your family safer. The bees are necessary and natural, but having them a little farther away from your front door will protect your home and family.

Call an Exterminator

If all else fails, call a professional. Some people do not have the time or wherewithal to solve a pest problem themselves. If this is the case, calling an exterminator is the best idea. Additionally, if you or your family are allergic to bees, this could literally be a life or death situation, so an exterminator is definitely advised.

Calling an exterminator to take care of a bee’s nest in your chimney or in your garden will keep you safe while clearing your house from the pests.

Concluding Thoughts

Although bumblebees are integral in the vegetative cycle of life, they can certainly also be a nuisance. With the added worry of people with allergies, getting rid of bumblebees quickly and carefully is of the utmost importance.

After finding the right product for you, apply it liberally. When the bees disappear, make sure to prevent their re-entry by filling the mice holes or the cracks in the house. If all goes well, you will be bee-free in a week or two!