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  • From: annallys Goodwin-Landher <annallys AT hotmail.com>
  • To: <jlnicholson AT gmail.com>, OCBA <ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [ocba] Advice Requested: Bees @ Community Swimming Pool
  • Date: Mon, 16 Jul 2012 09:46:24 -0400

I encountered the same problem last year when a neighbor informed me that he put in a swimming pool the year before and got disgusted with the bees seeking water there during the summer.  It turned out the pool was closer than a local pond. 

There were two beelines to the in-ground pool.  I placed a kiddie pool along the tragectory of the larger hive, placed a small recirculating pump in the water, added a couple drops of lemongrass oil and rinsed out my jars that carried bee feed in the pool.  Did the same with a good sized pot with bricks in it.  Both containers had lots of sticks.  In three weeks I was able to stop the beeline from the smaller hive and decrease the bees going to the pool by about 70%.  However, the neighbor withdrew his permission to have bees next to his property and I ended up moving the hives. 

I checked out the inground pool noticing bees along the sides getting water, when there was someone in the pool, the water was agitated washing the bees from the side, as they struggle to get out they climb on a person who, according to the the neighbor, were usually stung on the hands, feet, and head. 

There are wave machines that can be installed in swimming pools then bees are less likely to forage for water.  It's my understanding that they are pricey.

I'm not as concerned about the behavior of beekeepers and being good neighbors as I am about the ignorance and fear of the public in general about bees.  I may have been able to do something about the bees in the swimming pool (placed down a slope behind the neighbors house) had he communicated with me a year earlier when the bees first showed up.


Annallys Goodwin-Landher
919 933-9109
annallys AT hotmail.com

Four years after the bees are gone, humanity is gone.

Albert Einstein



> Date: Sun, 15 Jul 2012 17:59:11 -0400
> From: jlnicholson AT gmail.com
> To: ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org
> Subject: [ocba] Advice Requested: Bees @ Community Swimming Pool
>
> 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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