Eliminating Ground Nesting Bees (Recommended Methods)

Almost everyone looks forward to the spring and summer months. When the weather is finally nice and warm, it’s a great feeling to get out to enjoy the outdoors. After being cooped up for many months during the cold of winter, feeling the warmth of the sun on your skin is very refreshing. You’ll likely want to spend a lot of time in your yard doing all of your favorite activities.

Be Careful of Bees

Everything from cooking out to playing sports is part of the appeal of the warmer months that people look forward to. Getting plenty of use out of your yard is inevitable but you need to make sure that everything is safe. The warmer weather also means that insects have sprung back to life in spectacular fashion. If you or someone you love is allergic to bees, then this can be quite the dilemma.

ground nesting bee in lawn
By Sarah [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Even if you aren’t allergic to bees, many people just find them to be a nuisance. Whatever your reasons are, it’s probable that you won’t be happy about having bees on your property. Some bees aren’t too bothersome or dangerous. It’s simply up to you to decide whether you want to leave the bees alone or get them off of your property.

If your property has an issue with attracting many bees, you may wish to take care of this problem. Not all bees nest up in a tree or somewhere that will be easily accessible, though. There are bees that nest in the ground. Not everyone exactly knows what bees live in the ground but it can be useful to arm yourself with as much pertinent information as possible.

Learning about Ground Bees

Having to worry about bees coming at you from underground isn’t the most pleasant of thoughts. If you’re the type of person with bee allergies, then this premise could even scare you to death. Thankfully, getting rid of ground bees is possible and you should be able to do so as safely as you can. Before turning to information about how to kill these bees, you should know a little more about them.

The types of bees that go into the ground are actually solitary bees or miner bees. In these situations, the queen would be living by herself raising the young while the other bees go off to other locations. Interestingly, the queen ground bee is quite timid compared to other queen bees. She doesn’t have the same instinct to protect her nest and likely won’t attempt to harm you if you come across her.

ground nesting bees
By Panoramedia [GFDL or CC BY-SA 3.0], from Wikimedia Commons
The female ground bees often flock together forming little communities. They aren’t aggressive either and won’t actively try to pester humans. Male bees come around the female areas simply looking for mates. They can appear a bit more aggressive than the females but they’re actually harmless.

These male ground bees can’t even sting you so you could actually leave them be if you wanted. Since they aren’t looking to cause you any harm, it’s not unreasonable to simply let them go about their business while you attempt to ignore them. People with above-average bee fears still may not be comfortable with having them on their property, though.

Getting Rid of Ground Bees

Figuring out how to get rid of ground bees is actually very simple. You see, these bees prefer to have dry ground to burrow into. They don’t like it when things get too moist. If you were to simply water the area where they’re nesting sufficiently, they will move away to another location in a hurry.

If you want to ensure that they won’t come back to that ground after things have dried up, it’s a good idea to simply get a sprinkler. You can set up the sprinkler to water the area at regular intervals, preventing the bees from having an opportunity to get back to the ground when it’s dry. This is the easiest method for preventing ground bees from flocking to your property. It won’t cost you much money because it simply involves watering and you may already have a sprinkler in your yard just sitting around.

By Rob Cruickshank – Flickr

Of course, some people won’t be content with the idea of just letting the ground bees fly away to their neighbor’s yard. If you would rather pursue eliminating the ground bees completely, then there are methods that you can employ. The best way to kill ground bees is to use an insecticide designed for killing bees. You can spray it around and potentially inside of the areas where you know the bees are located.

It won’t take long for the insecticide spray to kill all of the ground bees. They will be eliminated quickly and you’ll be able to feel more comfortable in your yard. Just remember that it’s smart to leave the area after spraying the insecticide as the bees may act erratically after being sprayed. Despite the fact that they are generally harmless, it’s still advisable to avoid the annoyance of the bees reacting to the spray.

Enjoy Your Yard

With your bee problem remedied, you will be able to enjoy your yard to the fullest. It’s understandable that having bees resting inside the ground would make you quite uncomfortable. Thankfully, they’re very easy to get rid of. Unlike most of the other varieties of bees, these ones are harmless and easy to deal with. Simply watering your lawn is enough to get the problem to fly away to some other person’s yard.

ground nesting bee emerging from nest
By Charlesjsharp [CC BY-SA 4.0], from Wikimedia Commons
Although you don’t necessarily have to kill these bees, it isn’t difficult to do so. If you want them eliminated to make yourself and your family feel safer, it’s not hard to get the proper insecticide. Most stores will sell these products and you’ll be able to remedy the issues without having to put forth a herculean effort. Ground bees won’t be able to ruin your summer when you’re equipped with the necessary knowledge to deal with the issue.

You need to be able to enjoy the summer months while you can. There are only so many days where you get to feel the warm sun shining and can enjoy the full extent of your property’s beauty. You don’t have to let pesky insects prevent you from having a great time. Just take these simple measures and you’ll be able to sit back, relax, and enjoy the great outdoors.