Some insects seem to be so interested in getting too close for comfort to us. Whether you have guests over often who are attracting these bees or you are simply noticing too many for your own comfort, it is reasonable to want to get rid of them.
Luckily, there are several effective ways to deter sweat bees from being near your yard and your body.
In this article, we will go over several ways to get rid of sweat bees from your house and yard.
We know that pesky bees can be frightening and annoying, so let’s take some time to figure out the best way to get rid of them in your space.
What Are Sweat Bees, and Why Does Getting Rid of Them Matter?
Sweat bees are one of the many kinds of bees that you can find in North America that have a ton of variation within their species.
They don’t have one set look, ranging in colors from solid yellow to yellow and black to brown and black. These bees are typically nonaggressive, so you usually won’t have to worry about getting stung.
Sweat bees do a lot for our flowers and produce. They are strong pollinators that are attracted to many kinds of plants, colors, and smells.
However, with their strong sense of attraction, they are also attracted to our sweat.
If you like bees, this may not be an issue. You can become friends with your neighborhood bees on hot and sweaty days.
If you are allergic to bees or simply are afraid of them, this can be a different story.
Dealing With an Allergy
If you are a part of the population that deals with bee allergies in the family, know someone who has a bee allergy, or have pets that like to snap at anything flying by, it is important to deter them from your backyard.
Because sweat bees are still a part of the bee family, those with a bee allergy can have a reaction from a sweat bee sting.
Even though these bees tend to be friendly and social, there is still always the chance that they will feel threatened and sting out of defense.
It’s safer that there aren’t any sweat bees around for this chance to be possible.
How to Get Rid of Sweat Bees?
If you have a nest of sweat bees in or near your yard, you’ve probably dealt with being harassed by these bees because they just love the sweat clinging to your skin.
If you are tired of this unwanted behavior, try one of these methods to get them to go away and stay away.
Bee Insecticide
If you are tired of these bees beyond the point of caring, or if you have tried what feels like everything and still aren’t seeing changes, you might want to consider bee insecticide.
There are both spray and powdered forms of bee insecticide that you can either spray at the bee or flood their nest with.
Sweat bees live in the ground, making nests in the dirt of your yard. Spray or pour the insecticide into the hive so that it will cover the bees as they enter and exit.
Over time, the insecticide will make its way to the queen bee, and if anything happens to the queen bee, the colony is at a loss of what to do.
What bees remain after that will most likely fly away in search of a new colony.
Bee Traps
If you can’t find the nest of the sweat bee colony, simply draw them out into a new location.
You can find bee traps both online and in many hardware stores. When you get your bee trap, hang it up or set it out near where you see the bees mostly hang out.
In the trap, there will be sweet and tasty nectar that will draw the sweat bees to the contraption.
The trap is designed to allow bees to easily wander inside through one of the openings, but they won’t be able to fly out again.
They will all be trapped within the bee trap and will either starve to death or you can move them to a new location (but this is not recommended without the guidance of a beekeeper.)
Put Mulch Around Your Yard
While it may seem weird to put a bunch of mulch around your yard, it will create an unwanted habitat for the pesky sweat bees.
Any colony of insects that burrow into the ground wants an easy way to get back to the surface to search for food.
Putting mulch around your area and especially on top of their nest will make it very difficult for them to get in and out of their home.
This creates an unhabitable space and the sweat bees will need to move their colony to a new area. As long as they don’t move to another spot in your yard, you will have a sweat-bee-free yard.
Plant Unwanted Plants
There is a select group of plants that many insects hate being around. This set doesn’t exclude the sweat bees.
If you want to repel the sweat bees in your yard, plant lemongrass, mint, rosemary, and/or eucalyptus in your garden.
You can also get sprays, candles, or oil diffusers of these scents that will deter sweat bees from your backyard as well.
These plants have smells that are too strong and too gross for these bees to handle and if the smell stays, the area will become unhabitable to them.
You can also use products that are scented with these plants on your body to make sure that these bees stay far away from you.
Mothballs
Mothballs don’t only work against moths; they will repel a variety of insects. If you want to tackle many different insects at once, including sweat bees, place mothballs alongside your house and in safe areas of the yard.
Just make sure that they aren’t placed in areas that can be accessed by small children or pets.
Try to put these mothballs as close to the sweat bee nest as you can to make sure they are constantly bombarded with the gross smell.
This method can work better than using different plants as the smell of mothballs can be really intense.
3 Tips and Reminders for Getting Rid of Sweat Bees
When you are fighting against sweat bees in your yard, we have a few tips and reminders to help you along your journey.
Don’t Have Sweet Smelling Plants
Just as you can have plants that repel bees due to their smell, you can also have plants in your yard that will attract these bees.
If you are dealing with a sweat bee problem, don’t plant bright-colored flowers, sweet-smelling herbs, or any plant that produces a lot of pollen and nectar.
Otherwise, your yard will be too attractive for the bees to want to leave.
If One Method Isn’t Working, Try Another
Whenever you are trying to remove an insect from your house or your backyard, you will need to have patience.
First, any method that you use will take time to go into full effect. Bees will put up with unpleasant smells or less than ideal situations for a little while before deciding that it’s not worth it.
If you are using a spray against the bees, it will most likely take you numerous applications to remove enough bees to make a difference.
If you are finding that even after several attempts that you are still dealing with way too many sweat bees, don’t be afraid to switch to another method.
Using several methods can be more effective as it’s just adding more weapons to your arsenal.
Clean Sweat Away
If you can avoid it, try not to walk around too sweaty while you are still having a sweat bee problem. When you bring sweat right to their doorstep, they will take it as an invitation to not leave the area.
Take wipes with you outside so you can wipe the sweat away from your skin if you are prone to getting sweaty in the sun.
If you can manage it in your current weather, wear clothes that will cover your skin and the sweat on your skin. Keeping your sweat away from the bees will keep them away from you.
Final Thoughts
Dealing with bees usually isn’t a fun situation, but now you don’t need to worry about being harassed by sweat bees anymore.
Use one (or several) of the methods listed above to make the bees hate being in your yard to the point that they will leave.
It’s okay if you don’t want bees around. Even if they are amazing pollinators, a well-pollinated garden isn’t worth the risk of activating a bee allergy from the off chance that you will be stung.
If you try any of these methods listed above, let us know how they worked in the comments below!
