# need to get rid of bees....



## avalonweddingsbcs (May 2, 2010)

at least i have your attention.. 

i was talking to a lady who owns a snow cone stand and she said she was trying to find a solution to their bee problem... seems everyone throws their mostly empty cones in a big trash can... #1 bee attractant.. 

so i said.. empty trash more often... i got a look...

then she said sometimes there are about 50 bees inside their stand, and they come through their open window...

so i said... close the windows... i got a look... again..

she said sometimes her customers get stung...

so i WAS going to say to get rid of the customers, but thought i was doing good so far..

but she does want me to help her figure out a solution to her bee issue.. no idea if they're from one hive, a bunch, etc.. no idea where they come from..

so i was thinking of a reverse hive trap... put a working nuc out with a queen and a mesh wire cone where bees can get in, but not out... so the big open end lets them in and guides them into a hive..

but any ideas?


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## jrbbees (Apr 4, 2010)

get rid of the sugar in the snowcones.


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## jpapper2 (Jun 23, 2012)

Do you know for sure they are honey bees


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## WesternWilson (Jul 18, 2012)

A few things come to mind...first I have never seen a trash can targeted by honeybees, so are we sure the problem is not wasps? Although I guess if honeybees were going to feed on garbage, melting sugared water would be a reasonable bait to draw them in.

Either way, a trash receptacle with a flap lid would be one quick solution, and a whole lot nicer to look at in terms of business premise aesthetics too!


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## jhs494 (May 6, 2009)

If you're not sure they are bees watch jpthebeeman zoo bees on You tube. He does a removal that the bees have been bringing in snow cone syrup. Lime green honey.


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## hilreal (Aug 16, 2005)

Most likely yellow jackets....


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## psfred (Jul 16, 2011)

Running an open feeding station for bees will attract them, no doubt about that. Also wasps and yellow jackets, too.

Two solutions:

Completely enclose trash and keep everything picked up. Screen the stand windows, including the service window, so that bees cannot get to sugar syrup. If they can't fill up and return to the hive, they won't bring friends.

As a last resort, a feeding station a good distance away but closer to the hive the bees are coming from will keep them busy there, they won't fly past a good source for a lesser one.

Peter


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## oklabizznessman (Oct 24, 2011)

We're in the vending business... bees will come to anything sweet. I've seen them outside schools in trash cans by the hundreds. I've even dusted them to follow them. I've seen them outside snow cone stands, concession anywhere. I've seen my kids busting out dated cans and after a few here come the girls. Whats made me scratch my head is they will even come to diet pop. Only way to get rid of them is to dry or restrict the source. Believe me with 300 cases of pop and fifty beehives at the house this is one area I know something about. We bust a pop we dilute the pop mess. It does help when we are feeding though they tend to stay more in the yard.


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## smilinpossum (Oct 27, 2011)

WesternWilson...

I have personally seen honeybees going in a trash can outside a convenience store near where I live.

Yes, these were honeybees..*not* yellow jackets...which one normally sees doing that.

First we thought it might be a feral colony in the area, but just today i met someone who lives not far from there who has 6 hives, so, I'd say they were probably his..

Mind you, this was several weeks ago when we'd had NO rain in about 6 weeks and everything had died or was dying, plant wise.
Also, there was no water available apparently for these bees..as the creeks around there had long ago dried up...So, i imagine they were in search of nectar for food as well as the liquid because they were thirsty.

Thankfully, we got a good bit of rain about 10 days ago.


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## avalonweddingsbcs (May 2, 2010)

so what about putting my reverse swarm trap idea with a couple of queen lures?

somewhere maybe a hundred feet from the stand?


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## Shazam (Mar 1, 2010)

Replace open trash cans with cans with tight fitting lids and tape a sign on it to keep it closed. 
Make sure they wash down the area if they can more frequently, spilled sugar will attract them, so dilute it with a wash a couple times a day, or at least at the end of the day.


Those are the best two suggestions I have


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## curios1 (Jul 2, 2012)

avalonweddingsbcs said:


> so what about putting my reverse swarm trap idea with a couple of queen lures?
> 
> somewhere maybe a hundred feet from the stand?


try it


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## Mr.Beeman (May 19, 2012)

Seems simpler to me to spray some bee gone or some other repellent into the can when emptied? Maybe the solution is that simple.


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## Shazam (Mar 1, 2010)

Maybe BeeQuick, but BeeGo is pretty noxious


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## waynesgarden (Jan 3, 2009)

Last year, at the Freyburg Fair in Maine, every trash can was being visited by so many honeybees, I wished I had some sort of trap to capture them all. 

They were most definitely not yellow jackets and they can be a problem.

Our club has an exhibit there every year. I might bring some Bee Quick to try spraying into a trash can or two as an experiment.

Wayne


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## danmcm (May 23, 2012)

Wash down area in evening and after any spills, screen side windows and place a fan blowing in the serving window tight fitting trash can lids also good idea. Keep a CO2 fire extinguisher near by if bees get bad in trash cans this will freeze them and not leave a chemical mess or bad smell which could repell customers.


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## AstroBee (Jan 3, 2003)

Yes, snow cones in trash cans during a dearth is like gold for honey bees. I've seen it at a local festival. Honey bees can be a real nuisance in these situations. As mentioned, tight fitting lids for the cans are a necessity. Also, the vendor may need to devise some way to keep their syrup containers out of reach from bees.


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## jredburn (Feb 25, 2012)

Long ago and far away I was building a parking garage next to a fish house type restaurant and their garbage/dumpster was full of smelly fish. Every day the dumpster was covered in honey bees and my workers were getting stung. In order to keep work progressing I had a man go out every morning and again at 12:20 and spray the dumpster with a half water/ half Clorax bleach solution. Not only did it keep the smell down it kept the bees away.
You might give it a try.
Regards
Joe


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## John D. (Sep 5, 2007)

Keep it clean as mentioned. Spray a little insect repellent (Off, Cutter etc.) around the container. Do not use a pesticide.


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## JWPalmer (May 1, 2017)

Y'all know you are responding to a seven year old post, right?


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## WesternWilson (Jul 18, 2012)

JWPalmer said:


> Y'all know you are responding to a seven year old post, right?


As long as there are new replies it bears repeating: honey bees do NOT go for fish/meat. Those would have been yellow jackets/wasps.

To euthanize wasps use rubbing alcohol. The dish soap method is very slow and not very effective. If you have to euthanize honey bees, the rubbing alcohol is the quickest most humane method for them, too.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

9 times out of 10 if I see "bees" getting leftover pop etc. they are yellow jackets... but 1 time out of 10 they are honey bees... I have heard of people using syrup (stronger than the sno cones or pop) to lure them away from the place the people don't want them with good success. I'm always afraid I'll bring more bees even if they are further away... I suppose a boardman feeder with few holes in the lid might give them a good source of strong syrup but limit the access enough that it doesn't turn into a feeding frenzy...


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