I bee going crazy

Hi All,
I live next door to a beekeeper. It's wonderful for my plants, but they are a little intimidating at times when I am working in my flower beds. Any ideas on temporary ways of shooing them off while I am gardening?

I'd ask your neighbor--they're sure to know more tricks with bees than any of us would!

Did that this morning. He had no clue other than to suggest working at dusk. They are still busy at that time as well. Thanks for the reply!

Don't know if I could live near a beekeeper. I am terrified of those things. I know they do great things but don't really want them doing them around me. LOL.

Leslie

I worked with a beekeeper...the best thing is not to shoo them away...just ignore them....if you scare them they will sting...when I helped him I had100 or so on me all day!! Never got stung once!!

If you're allergic I wouldn't try working around them, but I've found that the bees here are much more interested in the flowers than they are in me, so I'm usually able to do what I need to do even when they're around. They love the lavender and coreopsis which are all over my front yard, so they're pretty much always around, probably not in the numbers you have though!

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I have been working alongside the honey bees for a couple of years with no stings yet. It just gets a little unnerving sometimes. LOL. Oh, well, at least I get lots of free honey and plenty of blooms on my perennials!

That would be a little scary--but I do love that homegrown honey!

When you're around lots of bees, you want to be very sure that you don't accidentally kill one. When a bee is killed, it releases a pheromone that can cause the rest of it's buddies to attack.

Although my neighbors is not a bee keeper I do have loads of bees and wasps in my beds, so I sympathize with you. The bees don't seem to give a hoot about me, even if I put my hand right next to them. It's the wasps that scare me, and I feel like they are more unpredictable, so I steer clear of them.
I have no issues in my front bed as I have an Agastache 'blue fortune' planted there. It's a lovely plant, about 4-5' tall, and requires almost no maintenance (I do cut back once early in season to control height/shape). I can work around in that bed as much as I want because any bees in the vicinity are going to be on that plant. It's bee central, and when they are on it they are so busy that nothing phases them. Because the plant is so tall, if I am down low weeding or digging I am not really even near the bees.

Thanks, Bobby, that was great advice. I didn't know about the pheromone.

Ky, I am going to take a look at the agastache now. That is exactly the kind of idea I was looking for. I love the bees, I just want to be able to work near them without worrying about stepping on one. They are literally all over my gardens!

PS Anyone have advice on how to take care of poison ivy on my face! LOL!

That is a pretty neat plant, aspen! I just checked it out on plant files, too.
Oh, nooo, deerchaser--poison ivy on your face? Don't think I ever had it there. Calamine lotion would be yucky-looking. Hopefully someone can come up with something better.

The bonus with all species of Agastaches is that the foliage smells AWESOME !
The bees also love Nepeta (catmint) just about as much as agastache. I have some with Portulaca planted around it. I was just outside collecting seeds from my Portulaca for about 1/2 hour, just sitting there pulling dried buds off the plants and emptying into envelopes, while the bees were working on the Nepeta, literally inches from me, totally ignoring me. It's pretty cool when you can blend in with nature. :-)


sorry- no suggestions for poison ivy on the face, except grin and bear it.. lol (sorry, I had to) I've had it on the face too... once when I was about 10, pretty sure I got it from rubbing cheeks with my horse... I remember it well

This message was edited Aug 6, 2007 7:16 PM

I guess I had better plan on adding those plants if I want to get any alone time with my garden. For now, though, I think I will just go soak my face in a bucket of ointment! LOL!

deerchaser, I can really sympathize with your poison ivy problem. Last summer I went out and weed whacked my way through a large area of poison ivy - big mistake. And I was wearing garden clogs, shorts, and no socks! My legs were covered in the stuff, and I was one miserable person. I went out and bought one of everything I could find for poison ivy both locally and on line. The best thing by far was Technu http://www.drugstore.com/products/prod.asp?pid=144622&catid=82241
This stuff does a good job of stopping the itch. I took it to work with me and reapplied it every time the itch started.

If you know ahead of time that you will be working around poison ivy (next time), this product got lots of good reviews: http://www.drugstore.com/products/prod.asp?pid=13244&catid=44616
I bought some but haven't tried it.

There is also a plant called jewel weed that is supposed to grow near poison ivy and which reportedly is the natural antidote. You are supposed to cut the stem and rub the sap on the blisters on your skin. I've never tried it, but those who have swear by it. http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/73313/

Also, in the future, if you know that you have been around poison ivy the best thing that you can do is wash the effected area in cold water and scrub briskly - use the Technu if you have it on hand. Do this ASAP. The point is to try to remove as much of the sap as possible. If you do this within the 1st hour you may avoid an outbreak altogether and will almost certainly limit the severity otherwise.

As for the bees, I have lots of bees in my garden, honey bees, bumble bees, large and small. I work around them all of the time and have done so for many years. None have ever stung me. I ignore them as was suggested earlier. Sometimes the large bumble bees will get up around my face to try to run me off when they are around something they really like. I pay them no attention. I believe my success in not being stung is due to the fact that I never get excited and start flailing around at them. I don't bother them, and they don't bother me.

Good luck with the poison ivy.

Deerchaser so sorry about the poison ivy! Scutler is very right about how to prevent an outbreak by washing the affected area right away. As for the bees my husband used to keep bees for a boyscout badge on a one or two acre plot. My husband usually talks to the bees, I suppose this helps him to keep calm working around them. But he'll say things like "hello mr. bee" "your not going to sting me today". I also have a large amount of bees as well, I have a butterfly bush in a separate location in my small yard which tends to attract a large amount of the bees which helps in my garden. The bush does have a tendency to be really big however so if you concider this option choose a location for it wisely.

Thank you Scutler and Nickeler. Today I woke up with one eye almost completely shut from the poison ivy. I work with the public, so you can imagine how happy I was to go to work looking like that! Oh well, it's good to be humble, I guess. lol. If the itching is still persisting tomorrow, I will try that product you recommended, Scutler. Your experience sounded pretty horrible! I guess we have both learned valuable lessons.

Nickeler, as a matter of fact, I do have a butterfly bush in my garden. It's a lovely plant, and it definitely is a favorite of the bees.

As for the bees, I will try to remember that they are as benign a nuisance to me, as I am to them. I had a teaspoon of their honey tonight for dessert...they really know how to cook!

I'll butt in and add Monarda or bee balm as a good magnet for your neighbor's bees. Some people find it invasive, so consider planting it in a submerged pot, but I had "Gardenview Scarlet" and the 4 ft wide patch drew bees and hummingbirds all the while when in bloom. Hummingbirds would fight for possession of the patch of red, sweet blooms!

Agastache is great! The leaves smell like licorice- good old fashioned licorice. And catmint yes: full of bees for many weeks in bloom. I work right by them, inches away and they could care less about me. Nice lavender/blue blooms too. Even the cats rolling in it and the bees got along without stings.

The only time I got stung in the past 20 years was playing tag when I literally ran into a bee and the impact on my chin, made him sting me. So go ahead and garden next to your neighbor, but do not play tag in your yard LOL!

Technu is a great thing to have on hand for your next such experience. I can't over stress that TIME is an essential element of the cure. Technu is a scrub, and the sooner you start to apply it after the exposure the better the outcome. It helps even if you use it days later, but if you use it within that all important 1st hour after the exposure you may be able to avoid the outbreak altogether (next time). Even now, sooner is better. Each day I thought mine was had reached its peak and was going to be getting better, but it continued to get worse for days. The Technu really works instantly to stop the itching which in turn stops the scratching and so on - but I believe you have to reapply it every hour or so until the blisters start to dry up.

You might also get some relief from benadryl (sp?) as that helps to stop the allergic reaction. I took benadryl at night (because it makes me too sleepy during the day) while mine was at its worst.

Lastly, given the proximity to your eye, you may need to seek medical attention if it continues to get worse. I feel for you and wish you the very best of luck; hope that your outbreak will be getting better soon. (And, yes, humility builds character.)

Ok so my husband has corrected me and informed me that there is an old wives tale that states if you tell the bee about your family they will not sting you! And while he didn't always talk family he theorized that a calm tone while allowing the bee to know and sense where you were and when you were coming was helpful. He used this technique and throughout 3yrs of beekeeping he was never stung once! His two younger friends who would help him thought he was crazy but he was the only one who would work just in long sleeves with gloves and a net on his face and also the only one never stung.

Deerchaser - I don't know anything about bees, but I know a lot about poison oak and ivy! I would get it so bad it would go into my bloodstream - lots of medication! Now I fight it topically with Technu and internally to push it back out. I would eat lots of baked garlic, onions, steamed cabbage...yes, you will stink. Really badly. But it works. It really does! Also no sugar, no starch. You can test this yourself - if you eat a slice of bread, you will feel the itching intensify. Drink lots of water and try to relax! Good luck!

Hi digatunnel,

I finally got to the doctor on Wednesday. By that time my eyes were almost completely shut! I was calling myself FrankenDonna! LOL! Doctor gave me Prednizone and it did the trick..the next day I almost looked normal. I certainly have a new respect for poison plants. Now I have to get up the courage to weed again. lol

Thanks for the feedback.
Donna (Deerchaser)

Hey Donna - I also have the same problem with PI - I couldn't understand how I kept getting it, too, when I was so careful... until I realized that my dogs and horses are *not* so careful... grrr..... a quick rinse with rubbing alcohol will usually denature the oil from the plant, Dawn dish washing soap or Dial soap. Round up is my friend, lol.

As far as the bees are concerned.. .a couple of small hints. They are attracted to dark colors, so keep it light. (Ever see a black bee-keeper suit?) They love sweet smelling items, so try to tone down your shampoo, your hairspray, your soap, etc. when you know you'll be spending the day outside. Stay away from the hive, they will sting to protect their stash. Wear shoes so you don't step on them. If you burn a little tray of leaves, incense, grass, whatever to make a little smoke,where you'll be working, they will try to avoid it. And yeah, the cooler it is outside, the more likely they'll be keeping warm in the hive, so early mornings and dusk are prime-times for avoiding them.

Good luck!

Thanks, Pagancat! I really like the idea of using smoke. That just might be what I was looking for...just a little something to discourage them from being near me for a while. It's really getting out of hand here. This evening I was trying to entertain on my porch and we kept getting harrassed by the bees. I think they want us to move, so they can have the whole place to themselves. lol.

As far as the poison ivy goes....well, I don't have any pets that go outside, just an indoor cat. So, it's all my own dumb fault if I get it again. lol

Thanks, for all the advice and have a nice Sunday.

Donna

the tame bees like italian bees are very docile.you would have to swat them or step on them before they will sting you. so hopefully his tame bees are keeping out the wild ones
which seem to be have a lot more attitude.

Yes, Len, I hope they continue to behave. I was just told about vinegar as a repellent, today. I will try that tomorrow.

What, as a spray on yourself?

No, it should be sprayed near the area that I want to work in, so they will leave it for a while. Sounds reasonable. This was from a beekeeper, so I think it's worth a shot. I'll post the results. Thanks!

Just be careful what you spray it on - it's a great weedkiller, too, but it will sterilize your ground in good quantity...

hmmm ok I will watch where I spray it. Thanks!