# Bees and the Neighbors Pools



## paul4168 (Aug 19, 2010)

I try to be a responsible beekeeper; my hives are at least 25 foot off my property line; and I always keep water/sugar syrup available on a hivetop feeder on all of my hives so that I do not have a problem with the bees bothering my neighbors (it does not seem that there are any correlation with the complaints below with colony number on my property). 

There is a neighbor with a small fishpond about 50 foot off the beeyard with no problem/no bees; but there is another neighbor (~500 foot+ off my beeyard) with a pool (that I was unaware about since it is behind a 8 foot+ high fence) with a nice garden surrounding the pool. The bees may be attracted to the chlorine since there are bees in her pool but not in the fishpond. 

The facts are that I did discernably see bees in her pool/hot tub in the middle of the day (~20); I also saw yellow jackets (which are prevelant on my own property; and their is a problem with her children getting stung by something. There is lush vegatation and trees on her lot. There is about 20 acres of woods with a pond directly behind my house as well so with the vast water supply I do not see why they should be bothering her.

In general; what can I do better to ensure that my bees are not bothering her pool?

What can she do to keep the bees out of her pool and from bothering her?

Thanks I want to keep the neighbors happy, and she appears happy to partner with me to solve the problem.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Jim Tew brought up this problem in his talk this past Saturday. His conclusion was, there's not much a beekeeper can do, except move their bees.

One slide he had showed a saltwater swimming pool which had loads of bees in the water, at the water's edge and around the base of the ladders, clustered there.

Maybe you coulkd get an ordinance banning swimming pools.  Just kidding.


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## jbeshearse (Oct 7, 2009)

If it is a bad enough problem, take some mosquito repellant(off) with deer and spray lightly all the way around th pool apron. A few days in a row should eliminate the problem.


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## Ben Franklin (May 3, 2011)

It might be the chlorine in the Pool that is attracting the bees. It may help you to alter your water source adding some chlorine and perhaps salt to it. Just a thought, I have ponds and even a gold fish pool,,I never seen the bees there, but then again maybe the frogs and the Koi are eating the Bees.


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## throrope (Dec 18, 2008)

Honestly, I doubt they're your bees. Why would they go 500 ft when 50 will do. Even if some girls wander past on their way home, I doubt they're bothering anyone since they have nothing to defend.

Yellow jackets are more likely the issue, not honey bees. If they don't know the difference, the most obvious landmark becomes the source.

I was out back one afternoon when the neighbor started shrieking about bees. I ran up to her deck to ID the culprit and found wasps had taken up residence under her closed table umbrella.

"Thems wasps, not bees."
She said "How can you tell!?!"
"That's a bee" I replied as one of my girls swooped to my rescue. Haven't gotten a peep from her since.

Even if you got rid of your girls, I doubt it can make a difference.


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## ken rice (Apr 28, 2010)

Its the CHLORINE, no chlorine in a pond. I had similar situation and once they are useing the pool, its decision time. If you are legal as far as ordinances you either stand your ground or move the bees. I chose the latter. Good luck


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## Diogenes (Jul 3, 2012)

Actually, it's the byproducts of the pool chlorine. The pool will end-up with a fair bit of salt and sodium hydroxide over time. 

You could try a bird bath or kiddie pool close by your hives with some salt in the water.

And, while most pool owners are reluctant to do it, you could suggest that the pool owner add maybe 10% of the pool volume a week in excess of evaporation to dilute the salt content and make the pool less attractive to bees and wasps. I'm not sure how much it would take to effect a 50% water change in a month, and here is a calculator that might help: http://www.angelfish.net/DripSystemcalc.php <--- Just tried it with 500000 and 40000 so it should handle any size pool.

And 500 feet past a pond is a bit further than I'd expect unless they really, really want that salt.


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## dmpower (Nov 7, 2010)

I have a pool and for many various reasons this summer have had to top up the pool many times, and much more than the evaporation.
The bees have a pond and two birdbaths that are much closer than the pool, but they still prefer the pool. They also travel to my neighbors pool. Luckily they don't seem to mind the bees.
For my own pool, I now have a tea towel that lies over the edge of the stairs. It acts like a wick and the bees seem to use it exclusively now at my pool. They used to hang upside down all around the water line so when you swam and disturbed the water you would disturb the bees. Not anymore.
I'm sure your neighbor doesn't want to add a wick to her pool, but you could do it at the pond or at a birdbath. They definitely prefer the wet towel to the side of the pool.
good luck


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## MichaelShantz (May 9, 2010)

My 6 hives are all within 30 ft of our pool. The bees mostly ignore the pool and fly over the house about 100 ft away to a small fountain. I've tried everything to get them away from that fountain. The only thing that works is to empty the water out of it. It's a mystery.


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## Ben Franklin (May 3, 2011)

Your Towel is acting like a wick for evaporation too. But I like your idea for the bees,,what's a little water among friends??


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## paul4168 (Aug 19, 2010)

Thanks this has been a big help.
Moving the bees is not an option since I don't have a place to move them too. 
I can believe as suggested that the stinging is from the yellow jackets vs the honey bees.

I can't argue that there are honey bees present, whether they are mine or not or they are some of mine that have gone feral; who knows without devising a tracing experiment.
I like the idea of spraying insect repellant around the pool; and I am also like the idea of taking some of her pool water and putting it in a bucket in my bee yard. Hopefully the two pronged approach solves the problem. Her water did have a strong smell to it.

any other suggestions are appreciated!

Thank you!


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## snl (Nov 20, 2009)

paul4168 said:


> I can't argue that there are honey bees present, whether they are mine or not or they are some of mine that have gone feral; who knows without devising a tracing experiment.


Put some colored chalk on your landing board, then go look to the pool......you'll see if they are yours very quickly. Won't stop em from going, but will let you know if they're yours.........


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

paul4168 said:


> they are some of mine that have gone feral; who knows without devising a tracing experiment.
> 
> Thank you!


A. your bees have not gone feral, they have gone looking for water
B. No tracing experiment is necassary. Simply wait by the pool and watch them head for home as the evening progresses.


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## paul4168 (Aug 19, 2010)

sqkcrk said:


> A. your bees have not gone feral, they have gone looking for water
> B. No tracing experiment is necassary. Simply wait by the pool and watch them head for home as the evening progresses.


I can accpet that the bees could be mine; 

On the theoretical standpoint; I did loose a very large swarm from my strongest hive back in the spring so they could have taken residence in the undeveloped land near the house; there could be another swarm that I missed; there are other beekeepers within range; and the flight lines from the pool all point my direction so watching is uninformative. The chalk experiment will only tell the tale; but if a bucket of the pool water in my beeyard every couple of weeks will solve it; then we should be good. I do not mind making the effort to solve the problem.


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## Riverratbees (Feb 10, 2010)

Go to Wal-Mart buy a plastic kids pool for $15.00 and throw a bunch of sponges in it. The bees land on floating sponges and get there water. I have 10 hives in my yard and 20 sponges to keep the fighting down. Kept them out of our garden pond. Neiighbor appreciated it to due to there pool.


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## mmmooretx (Jun 4, 2012)

I saw something in one of the Fat Bee Man YouTube videos that may help. Get a 1-2 lb. salt block from you local feed store and put it in a cinder block (rain protection). If it is the salt they are going after this may help, if not this may do nothing.
Just a thought, good luck.


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## David LaFerney (Jan 14, 2009)

I got stung by one of my honey bees in my own pool yesterday - despite my best efforts to keep them disinterested. It Helps a lot if there isn't any horizontal surface for them to land on - IE nothing floating in the pool ever. But nothing seems to be completely fool proof. For what it's worth, wasps are also attracted to it, and hurt a lot more. 

Neither bug is there wanting to sting of course - stings only happen when they get stepped on or squished by accident. Honey bees may be worse because they have a harder time taking back off if they get wet - wasps are better at the skimming fly-by water pick up.


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## hilreal (Aug 16, 2005)

Then odor of the chlorine gives them something to home in on. Try a 5 gallon bucket with some bleach and salt added to it as an attractant. Problem you have now is that they are trained to the pool. I hope that when you say you keep a top feeder on "all" the time that you do not have honey supers on. You might try just water in the hive top feeders. They are not going to the pool for sugar water, tehy want water to cool thier hive.


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## Birdman (May 8, 2009)

Check the Ph of the pool,I have heard if the ph is right the bee's will not bother it. I have bee's by two pools haven't had any problems this year. I did have problems with one pool the first year when the pool was installed. haven't had any problem sence.


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## activematrix (May 10, 2012)

Hold your horses... you ALWAYS keep sugar syrup available to your bees? Doesn't it end up in the honey? 

As far as retraining bees, giving them a new water source with some honey-b-healthy in it will get their attention, and then once they are used to it you can switch to plain water. Make sure you add some wood chips or styrofoam peanuts for them to float on. Honeybees floating in the pool water will sting quite agressively, because they are distressed by being half drowned, just like they will sting when stepped on or when trapped between skin and clothing.


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## paul4168 (Aug 19, 2010)

The issue is that my bees always have water readily available to them via a hive top feeder with honey bee healthy in the feeder.
They are not going to the pool looking for water. Especially with the pool being 500 feet away with other closer sources plus the water sources on the hive. Based upon the advice here; I took a livestock salt block and put it in a tupperware with some water and some sponge floats. I soaked some towel in a 25% bleach solution and put it in a tub in the beeyard. The smell in the neighbors pool was much stronger; I may try some pool chemicals over the weekend.


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## virginiawolf (Feb 18, 2011)

I was worried about the bees going to the neighbors pool this year. They were all over my hot tub last year. I tried a few things but they wanted the hot tub.It was out of control because they get under the cover and clog the filter. This year I put a sprinkler on a timer that goes off everyday at 8:30 am. For 15 minutes. I have the tubs of water with styrofoam in them by the sprinkler so the water is always fresh. The sprinkler is a short range type of sprinkler. It has totally worked. I used to be able to see the bees going to the hot tub making round trips. The sprinkler on a timer worked. I'm extremely pleased because it was such an issue. Perhaps you could try a sprinkler for a week everyday and see if it satisfies them. Our neighbor has a pool right over the fence and he hasn't complained. I am optimistic with this suggestion. 
Here's a link to the sprinkler model http://www.lowes.com/pd_19002-306-775GF_0__?productId=1054181&Ntt=sprinkler
I don't see the exact timer but Lowes has them for like twenty ? Bucks

Here's a picture of my set up. I have the sprinkler over some outdoor carpet to eliminate having to weed wack. I can relate to your concern. This could be perhaps my best contribution to this forum yet I hope it will help. Good Luck!!!!


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## mmmooretx (Jun 4, 2012)

Very clever solution VirginiaWolf! :thumbsup:


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## AstroBee (Jan 3, 2003)

I've got a pool and probably 25 colonies of bees within a 100 ft of the pool. I rarely have bees in my pool. Bees target certain water sources for many reasons, a few include: smell, ease of access, proximity to colony, and the big one consistency. In my yard I NEVER let the prime water source run out. I provide a source that's consistent, and easy for the bees to access. Their water source is established before the pool is opened for the season. Once I left on an extended vacation and their water source dried up and the pool was mobbed - the wife was not happy. Bees like to take water off stones that are partially submerged, out of mulch, towels, wet sand, decaying wood, and sponges. You can try attractants, like HBH, lemon pledge, lemon grass, Bee Scent, etc to try to draw them away from the pool.

I'll provide my 2 cents on some of the previous comments. It is very likely that these are your bees, to assume otherwise is just wishful thinking. 500 ft, if the source is ideal, is nothing for the bees. Yes, its true that bees do not defend the pool, but once bees are in and around the pool accidental stings WILL occur. Also, most modern pools are salt based systems, where salt is directly added to the water (target 3000 ppm) which is used in electrolysis to convert it to chlorine, so asking the owner to remove salt may not be an option. Lastly, I never see yellow jackets seeking water the way honey bees do. I suspect it has a lot to do with the different nesting behaviors. 

Bottom line get a favorable water source established and keep it full at all times.


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## virginiawolf (Feb 18, 2011)

Thanks, I was a bit reluctant to try it because the hose is kind of long and what not but when it worked I was really satisfied. Our city water has chlorine in it. The bees really respond to the water spray they kind of fly around in front of the water. It took 2 days but then the bees completely left the hot tub alone after they had that fresh water appearing magically before them everyday. I waited for a while before I posted this because I wanted to be sure it was a successful solution. I tend to wonder as it gets even hotter and drier if it won't ease the stress level of the bees. I see a few yellow jackets and other large black hornets I guess hanging around the water source lately but it is not as bad as last year so far. If this helps even one person with the water source problem that would be great. When the bees start hitting a water source like they did our hot tub it is a mess. They won't stop and you can't blame them they need the water. I'll report back if they change their behavior but I'm optimistic this will stick


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## mmmooretx (Jun 4, 2012)

Just curious how often do you run it and how long for each running?


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## Huntertn (May 3, 2012)

My bees preferred my neighbors pool cover water over the two water sources I provided. Based on what I saw them doing and what I was reading on the forum it seemed like they would rather get the water from a cloth/moss/foam or other porous material. They weren't drinking out of the open area of the pool but off the cover. So I tried laying a rag on top of the wood blocks in my water source. On one water source I baited them with a little lemongrass oil in the water. 

It took a couple of weeks but now I never see them at the partially covered pool but they love the wet cloth. The majority are getting water from the wet cloth with only a few drinking from the wet margin around the water edge. I think easy access is part of the equation (I have not added anything to the water since that one time).

As someone else already said. The bees may not be yours. When I stand at the water source I can watch the bees takeoff and the head strait in the direction of my hive. If it is the swarm you lost that is raiding the pool it may be because it is closer to their new hive. I would sit a watch them for a little and see which direction the head when they leave.


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## paul4168 (Aug 19, 2010)

AstroBee said:


> .
> which is used in electrolysis to convert it to chlorine, so asking the owner to remove salt may not be an option. Lastly, I never see yellow jackets seeking water the way honey bees do. I suspect it has a lot to do with the different nesting behaviors.
> 
> Bottom line get a favorable water source established and keep it full at all times.


Bottom line is that I keep water on the hive in a feeder at all times with some honey bee healthy in it; is there anything more favorable?
Seriously; I check the hives at least once a day.

I installed sponges in a container in the bee yard with chlorine; and some salt mixed in water; I see no bees seeking water from those sources so far. Their are more favorable sources of water then the pool; the flight lines from the pool are pointed toward my house because it is the only area without trees so watching them go will be uniformative; watching them come-in may be helpful, but it could be the incidental bee that finds the wonderful flowers the neighbor has growing. the pool has a strong smell. the other issue is that alot of bees to the neighbor consists of the number of bees that fit into the palm of my hand.
She has other water sources on her lot; but the bees seem to be only in the pool


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