All you want to do is sit outside on the deck of your house and enjoy sipping away your favorite drink. A moment of peace, of relaxation, is all there needs to be until you start hearing the faint buzzing sound of a bee nearby. Relaxation turns to anxiety wondering where the bee will land, and if it happens to land on you, are you going to be stung? Then the bee lands directly on the rim of your drinking glass, and soon you are staring eye to eye with a bee that is looking to share. All of this becomes too much, so you shoo away the bee and hurry back inside, where the bee can no longer be a threat, and now, frustrated you think, how to keep bees away from me?

How to Keep Away from Bees: But Which Ones?

Bees are important, annoying, fearsome, and beautiful all at the same time. No one loves them buzzing around and landing on them, but there can be an appreciation for them and what they were made to do. There are also ways we can coexist by keeping these mighty creatures at a distance. To know how to keep bees away, first, you need to know which type of bee you are dealing with. Which one is prone to seeking out your home or being at your favorite outdoor spot? Since New Jersey is home to lots and lots of bee species, let’s identify some of the most common bees that love to get curious about you.

Honey Bees

In New Jersey, honey bees are seen throughout the state by beekeepers in the area or seen in their natural swarm. If you have ever witnessed a honeybee swarm, it is kinda spectacular. Hundreds to thousands of them will cover an area like a mailbox, the side of a car, a fence post, a tree branch, or even the side of your house. They do this to reproduce and will eventually take to a new hive where they will continue to reproduce, build, and create honey. You will find them flying from various flowers and plants to gather nectar and pollen to take back to the hive. Honey bees play a very important role in pollination and the growth of other flowers and plants, and they create the honey we so love to eat. They are curious when it comes to humans because they crave the sweet scent of certain foods or drinks we typically have; they love bright colors because they think it’s a flower to pollinate, and the fragrance we have on our clothes or bodies from detergents or perfumes. While these honey makers might be curiously buzzing around and you still want to know how to keep bees away, these particular ones aren’t aggressive unless their hive is threatened or if the bee itself feels threatened. Stinging means death to the honeybee, so they will only fight to the death if necessary.

Bumble Bees

Big, fuzzy, and cute in nature, bumble bees are a staple in New Jersey. They carry a big responsibility in the ways they pollinate for nectar in fruits, plants, and veggies. These big, fuzzy, flying friends are known to be the friendliest bees because they are not aggressive and like to mind their own business. If you have a fear of them or anxiety about how to keep bees away, they may not seem too friendly to you, but if you leave them be, they will leave you be. Some people with aggressive allergies can be highly allergic to the venom of their sting if they are stung. They might be cute, but these furry little fellas are able to sting multiple times unlike the honeybee if provoked. This will cause some urgency in keeping them away from you; just make sure not to cause a scene. Bumble bees are also naturally curious of humans when we mimic something they are on the lookout for. Brightly colored clothes and sweet smells will always catch their attention and will leave them curiously buzzing around you.

Large Carpenter Bees

If you have a wooden deck or front porch attached to your home, it is more likely that you have noticed large carpenter bees. In their prime season, large carpenter bees can make it hard to enjoy the peacefulness of relaxing on the back deck. They are constantly buzzing around and making messes by boring into the wood, making all kinds of holes. Like all others, they are necessary in our environment for their contribution to pollination but can quickly become a nuisance once they are causing issues to your home. Large carpenter bees are not as large as the bumblebee, and they do not have hair, so they are more shiny in appearance. Carpenter bees have the ability to sting, but they don’t go looking for trouble. Figuring out how to keep bees away from your structures is going to be your biggest hurdle when finding answers to your question, “how to keep bees away from me?”

Sweat Bees

These little stingers are very small in nature and do not have the typical yellow and black colorations. Since sweat bees are tiny, they don’t make that familiar buzzing sound either. Sweat bees are gray to black or have a metallic sheen to them. In the hot summer months, they can wreak havoc on you and will have you coming up with a plan to keep them away. They are attracted to sweat, hence the name. Anytime you are outside and you break a sweat, it will be no time until these little sweat bees land on you and, with all your moving around, give you a little sting. The sting of a sweat bee leaves a small itchy bump but typically does not cause any reactions. It’s just flat-out annoying to deal with them every time you’re outside, but they depend on salt as part of their nutrition, so we make that easy for them to obtain by our sweat. This is definitely one of those bees to stay sway from.

How to Keep Bees Away 101

We have identified some of the culprits that like to curiously explore us in our element. So how to keep bees away and make our time outside more enjoyable?

Avoid:

• Brightly colored clothes
• Perfumes, cologne, or other fragrances
• Leaving food or drinks unattended and uncovered
• Spills
• Flowers in your direct space

Use:

• Essential oils like peppermint or tea tree oil
• Cucumber peels
• Smoke or mothballs
• Dress in darker colors

Many times pest control services need to be in place to keep bees away. If you or someone in your household has a severe allergic reaction to bee stings, it’s highly important that you have taken measures on how to keep bees away from your home. If you have a wooden porch or deck that’s untreated, then you will need assistance to treat the wood so the large carpenter bees do not burrow inside the wood. This will also keep bees off your deck, making it more enjoyable for you to be out there. Kapture Pest Control provides all these services and more to make your home and outdoor area safe and secure by keeping bees away. You can stop wondering about how to keep bees away from me and focus more on allowing Kapture Pest Control to take care of your bee situation, keeping them away from you permanently.

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To learn more:

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