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  • From: Randall Austin <ra41717 AT gmail.com>
  • To: John Nicholson <jlnicholson AT gmail.com>
  • Cc: ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [ocba] Advice Requested: Bees @ Community Swimming Pool
  • Date: Sun, 15 Jul 2012 18:49:46 -0400

John,

This is a great reminder that all beekeepers must be diligent about being good neighbors. A big part of that is being aware of where your bees will forage for water, and providing water if there is any chance that they will become a nuisance. This must be done BEFORE a problem arises, because once bees are trained on a water source, it is very difficult to get them to switch. That's why the "trap and release" idea simply won't work. Some people have success with putting a fairly large barrel or kiddie pool, filled with similar water as the nuisance source, directly in the flight-path of the rogue bees. The approach that is most likely to work is to move the offending hives several miles away for a month (to cycle out all the water foragers that know where the "bad" source is), set up a bee-attractive water source in close proximity to where the hives will be, then move them back.

On a hot summer day, a bee hive can consume as much water as a good-sized dog. So a single hive can create problems if it is foraging in an inappropriate place. And all it takes is one irresponsible & inconsiderate beekeeper to paint us all with a bad brush.

The USDA Agricultural Research Service has a brochure for pool owners with tips for keeping bees away (http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/docs.htm?docid=11067&page=7). The harsh reality is that from the pool owner's perspective, killing ALL of the scouts and foragers is the only effective solution. If we beekeepers don't like that, then we must do our part to keep our bees from causing problems for others in the first place.

Thanks for highlighting this issue.

Randall Austin




On 7/15/2012 5:59 PM, John Nicholson wrote:
Greeting:

I live close to the Heritage Hills swimming pool in Southern Orange
County and am hoping to serve as a liaison between the pool staff and
members and our group of beekeepers. They have a significant bee
"problem" at the pool that has led the staff (mainly uninformed
teenagers) to set up traps that are pretty good at killing bees. I saw
several drink bottles full of dead bees in the short time I was
there....I spoke with the manager and apparently they also spray some
kind of insecticide around the edge of the pool as well. I was
surprised at the number of bees on Friday evening...they were all over
everything, including frantic kids (at least one of which claimed to
be allergic).It seemed to me that the bees were interested in the food
more than the water in the pool.

Does anyone have any advice to prevent the bees from coming in the
first place or a way of safely trapping and releasing them? I know
that having a water source between the pool and any hives within
foraging distance is probably a good place to start so if you or
anyone you know has hives in the vicinity, could you let me know we
can at least make sure beekeepers in the area of aware of the issue?

Many Thanks,

John
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