Sorry for the 2 week hiatus. As I previously mentioned, we're out of town a bunch this month. Internet was not always available and well... I'm on vacation so I decided that I didn't HAVE to do anything, including the blog. But, we're home now so it's back to the routine, including the blog.
It's also summer now and summer means all sorts of critters and bugs are around. We noticed some bees and wasps scoping out our balcony and I began to wonder what I could do to discourage them from building their home too close to our home. Off to the internet I went to see what I could find!
Criteria for my Bee/Wasp repellant research:
1) I was looking for something that would repel, not kill. I'll admit that I'm kinda a wuss about bees/wasps and other stingy things, but I also like having food to eat. So, I would like to keep the bees alive, just away from me.
2) As non-toxic as possible. Even if it is just repelling (and not killing) the bees I don't want to spray toxic fumes on my balcony.
3) The cheaper and easier the better.
4) Confirmed by more than one source online. While this still doesn't mean it actually works, it's a little bit better than accepting everything I read anywhere online as fact.
What I found:
To keep the buggers from moving in, this apparently works. They won't build a nest/hive if there is another colony nearby, so if you hang up some brown paper bags stuffed with newspapers they think it's someone else's nest and should move on and find somewhere else to build their home.
To keep them away from you or your gathering, the obvious:
1) Don't wear perfume, cologne, etc. especially floral scents.
2) Cover food or just don't leave it outside at all. This is especially true for sugary things.
3) Avoid brightly colored clothing*
*NOTE: Some discrepancy here. One site said avoid yellow and white and that wasps can't see red so red is a good color to wear. Another site said specifically to wear white. Multiple sites simply explain that wasps ARE visual so if you look like a flower they may be attracted to you. That logic makes sense. Lots of flowers are red or pink so I would think that wasps would be able to see red. I didn't research further.
Additional Suggestions, new things to try:
1) They don't like mint/peppermint. I saw this on multiple sites.
2) Cucumber slices/peels. Really. Cut them up and lay them around. Bees and wasps apparently don't like the smell of cucumber and they stay away. I saw this on multiple sites and am definitely going to try it out.
3) Tea Tree oil + Benzaldehyde. I'm adding this to the list simply because it came up so often. It was always these two things together, never one or the other or one mixed with something else. It seems odd to me because, as far as I know, I can't run out to the store and get a bottle of Benzaldehyde. Maybe I can? I'm also not sure how safe Benzaldehyde is. Besides, I'm much more curious about the cucumbers anyway.
4) Other scents that may repel them: cinnamon, garlic, other strong smelling herbs, wormwood, and human breath. Multiple sites said that if you stay calm and blow gently on the wasp they will fly away, possibly because they don't like how our breath smells. Though this could backfire if you just ate something really sugary I suppose.
In Summary, here is what the TDE recommends:
1) Don't look or smell like a flower
2) Keep food, especially sugary food, covered or indoors
3) Hang up paper bags stuffed with newspapers
4) Cucumbers and mint.
I'm not sure how to set up a truly controlled experiment, but I'll definitely report back any findings I collect this summer on how well the cucumbers work.
Most useful sources:
(I scanned many additional sites, but these three support the bulk of my content.)
WikiHow
DIY.com
StepIn2
Garden Guides
Daily Mail
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