Dealing with honey bees - Ask Extension
There are honey bees living next to a garden we are working on. We'd like to get rid of them so that we can work undisturbed. The entrance to their ne...
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Dealing with honey bees #811326
Asked September 19, 2022, 10:01 AM EDT
There are honey bees living next to a garden we are working on. We'd like to get rid of them so that we can work undisturbed. The entrance to their nest is somewhere in the railroad tiles in the image. I don't know how big the nest is.
How would you recommend dealing with these honey bees?
Ramsey County Minnesota
Expert Response
First of all. Are you certain of the variety of insect? A lot of insects look quite a bit alike. Without a good photo there is no way I could ID them. Secondly, why do you want to destroy pollinators? Are they aggressively attacking you? If they are just around the plants they are doing their job of pollinating which gives you the fruit. I have various bees of all sizes in my gardens and on my blooming shrubs all summer and as long as they are not threatened by someone swatting at them, they are content to do their job and I reap the benefits. Finally, is the nest on someone else's property? If so, I do not know the law regarding that but would guess you cannot just destroy something on another person's property.
Pretty sure they are honeybees, but getting a picture has been difficult. I don't want to destroy pollinators which is the reason for this inquiry. They are attacking us when we try to tend to the garden, which makes it impossible to do our work except for very early in the morning. The nest is on our property.
Is there any way to calm the bees or remove them without harming them?
The aggression you describe sounds more like yellowjackets. I am giving you a link on identifying various wasps and bees. It also gives you information on how to control or rid your property of them. Open all the drop down boxes:
Wasps and bees | UMN Extension
Wasps and bees | UMN Extension
