Did you know that bees contribute one-third of the world’s food crop production1, which relies on pollination? But while bees are a significant part of our ecosystem, not everyone wants them buzzing around their yard, garden, or home - especially if they are allergic to bee stings or have guests visit often. Bees carry a painful sting that can become fatal, in some rare situations, if there is no immediate medical attention.
Since we care about keeping bees thriving, how can we safely keep them away from certain spaces? Whether you are having a picnic with your family or just want to lounge in your backyard with no fear, you can try out a natural bee repellent to keep the bees far away.
In this article, we have put together natural ways you can deter bees from your home and other spaces.
Related: You might also like to swot up on our list of fascinating bee facts or perhaps see what bee lovers and appreciators say about our little friends in our compilation of the best bee quotes.
There are several natural ways to keep bees from buzzing around your yard, garden, and home. Here’s our list of natural bee repellents to keep those bees and insects away.
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Exterminator’s Choice Bee & Wasp Defense ticks all the boxes regarding natural and non-toxic. This bee repellent has a pleasing aroma that comes from its natural ingredients of peppermint oil, cinnamon oil, and white pepper oil.
This repellent works great at keeping bees, wasps, and other insects from your yard, lawn chairs, garage, or patio.
We found out that this bee repellent doesn’t have a strong smell and is safe to use around your kids and pets. It has a spray nozzle that makes it easy to use, although it doesn’t cover a large radius when sprayed.
You don’t have to worry about stain marks because this bee-repellent leaves no residue after it dries. To constantly keep bees, wasps, and any other insect away from your home, you may want to spray it as often as every couple of weeks.
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Peppermint plants are one of the many plants that bees avoid. You can use peppermint essential oil if you want to drive away some bees from certain areas in your house.
We recommend this product by Flora Naturals. It is free of additives or toxic chemicals, so you can be sure it is safe for you and your family. What we particularly love about this oil is the refreshing peppermint scent that lasts a long time.
Simply dilute the oil in some water so it still has a powerful smell, add it to a spray bottle, and simply spray liberally wherever you want bees to stay clear of. Note that this works as the natural smell repels bees as the liquid evaporates; therefore, you’ll need to reapply when it dries out. You can also dot a few drops around, which works just as well.
Note that our homemade recipes below both use peppermint oil combined with a few other easy-to-find ingredients for even more effective repelling properties.
Apart from driving bees away, you can use this oil on your skin or scalp. You can also use it for aromatherapy diffusers.
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Fischer’s Bee Quick is a natural and organic bee repellent, especially for honeybees and especially to help harvest honey from hives. A honey bee is a worker bee and can sting a person using their stingers when they feel threatened or to protect their hive. Their sting can be incredibly painful and even life-threatening to those allergic to their venom. Thankfully, this product helps to keep those honey bees away from your yard or patio.
This natural bee repellent is highly recommended by beekeepers and is also the leading product featured in the leading organic beekeeping book “Backyard Beekeeping.”
We love this product because it is everything but toxic. It comes with natural ingredients with sweet smells that are safe and non-toxic for you and your family. What’s more, it can protect your honey bees while repelling them from unwanted areas.
This natural bee-repellent spray comes in a pump bottle that makes it easy to use. Designed for actual beekeeping, all you need to do is spray it onto a fume board and place it at the top of your honey box, and the natural scent will move the bees out of the honey box. Many buyers agree that this product does exactly what it says it will.
You can make your own natural bee repellent to keep bees and other insects away from your home. Try our recipes below for a perfect natural bee repellent made from easily sourced everyday household ingredients.
Materials: Liquid soap, spray container, water, peppermint and cinnamon oil, and cayenne pepper.
Directions: First, add about two to three tablespoons of liquid soap with some water in your spray bottle to create a soapy mixture. You can add more or less soap depending on where you intend to use the spray. If you are using it outdoors, you may want to add a little water for a more pungent smell.
Next, add some drops of cayenne pepper, peppermint, and cinnamon oil.
This creates a potent bee deterrent that can drive away mosquitoes, hornets, wasps, yellow jackets, and most pesky bees.
Materials: Witch hazel, peppermint essential oil, tea tree oil, spray container
Directions: Get a clean spray bottle and add some witch hazel to it. Next, add some drops of peppermint oil and tea tree oil to the mix. You can decide to use just one essential oil or combine both. Once done, shake the mix and spray in areas where you want to get rid of bees.
This homemade bee repellent strongly smells and can repel insects like hornets, wasps, mosquitoes, and bees.
Aside from repellents made of essential oils, there are other natural and effective bee repellents you can incorporate. Here are some natural and safe methods to keep the bees away:
Fresh cucumber peels could be an excellent way to get rid of bees in your yard. Simply cut up some cucumbers and line them in a single layer on an aluminum pie dish. When the cucumber comes in contact with the aluminum pie dish, it creates a chemical smell that bees can’t stand. To keep bees away, you can line some cucumber peels on your windowsill for much smaller spaces.
Some distilled vinegar can be a powerful substitute for commercial repellents used to keep bees out of your garden or house. Simply put some vinegar in small containers and place them in areas where you don’t want the bees hovering. You can also use vinegar to clean your birdhouses to prevent a bee nest from forming in them.
Bees are always in search of flowers for pollination. If you are hanging out in your yard and want to keep the bees out, avoid wearing bright colors like red, green, or yellow, as this may attract them to you. You also want to avoid wearing clothes or accessories that have floral patterns. Instead, wear clothing with more toned-down colors.
As we mentioned earlier, bees always search for flowers to pollinate. If you have flowers or plants around your lawn, you want to move them far away from your guests, as bees may be attracted to the sweet smells that come from flowers. Bees love sunflowers, lilacs, poppies, and honeysuckle flowers.
Cinnamon is a natural and effective way to get rid of bees, particularly ground bees. These types of bees create their nests underground. If you notice a bee hive around your garden, you can sprinkle some cinnamon around your space to drive away bees. You can put some cinnamon sticks around your window to protect your home and other areas from bees.
One way to drive bees away from you is to burn some citronella candles in your yard. You can also spray citronella oils around the bee nest or in areas in your space where you want bees to avoid.
Bees simply can't stand the smell of garlic. Garlic powder is a natural repellent that can get rid of bees and insects.
Simply add garlic powder to your window, wooden structures, or any entry point to keep the bees away. You can also soak some garlic in water to make garlic juice and set it around you to repel bees.
If you have some ground bees burrowing in your garden soil, you could use cayenne pepper to remove them. Cayenne smells strong and irritates bees and other pests and stinging insect varieties. You can sprinkle the spice in different locations around your house to keep bees away.
Marigolds are one of the plants that bees dread. They give off a strong scent that repels them. Marigold plants bloom throughout the summer, so you can grow these bee-repelling plants in a pot and keep them around your space to drive away bees.
While bees are important to biodiversity and our ecosystem, we don't always want them buzzing around. Above, we have mentioned several natural methods to drive them away, as we certainly don't want to kill bees with nasty chemicals.
You can make your bee spray by mixing different essential oils. You also use other methods like using fresh cucumber or growing marigolds. Additionally, you can contact professional bee pest control services if you've tried different natural ways and still can't get the bees off your space.
| 1 | University of California - Berkeley. (2006, October 26). Pollinators Help One-third Of The World's Food Crop Production. ScienceDaily. Retrieved August 18, 2022 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/10/061025165904.htm |
Jen’s a passionate environmentalist and sustainability expert. With a science degree from Babcock University Jen loves applying her research skills to craft editorial that connects with our global changemaker and readership audiences centered around topics including zero waste, sustainability, climate change, and biodiversity.
Elsewhere Jen’s interests include the role that future technology and data have in helping us solve some of the planet’s biggest challenges.
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