How do you get bees out of your swimming pool and hot tub if you have a salt system and it appears they are attracted to that and you have no idea where the hive is?

Answer 1

Chase Bees Away From Salt Water PoolThey are not attracted to your salt water pool or any other kind of pool. It is not because the pool happens to have salt in it, either. The salt or the equipment that makes the chlorine ( a salt system) is not the cause.

Because bees live in wax combs, though, they have to keep the nest at a constant temperature, not only to keep the colony from overheating, but also to prevent the wax from melting.

In hot weather, bees cool the colony much like a swamp or evaporative cooler does -- by evaporating off drops of water. They collect water and spread it throughout the colony in droplets. Then fan the air to create an air stream over the water drops, causing the water to evaporate and thus lowering the nest temperatures.

When bees forage for water, they are not too fussy about where they collect it.

It could be from a small, muddy puddle, a stream, your swimming pool, irrigation system, swamp cooler or birdbath.

It is when bees come in contact with people, especially at Swimming Pools, that people notice them. Then they are considered not only a nuisance, but also a hazard. Here are some tips on how to keep bees away from your pools.

If possible, offer other water sources and encourage bees frequent visits on the outskirts of your property. Provide bird baths with stones around the edges, or other suitable water holding containers with stones or wood for them to land on, away from children and pets. Keep these filled all the time. If foragers find other water sources they will not bother with your pool.

Bees do not land in a pool unless they have something to land on. Any bees you find in the water are there by accident, they fell in, or misjudged landing as they do not see the same way we do. Once they are in they will drown within a short period of time.

As a beekeeper and pool owner myself, I pull the bees out of the pool with a long stick. They may dry off and live, but will not tell others about the pool because they nearly drowned and died.

Here are some tips to deter bees:

Evaporative coolers: add a few ounces of pine-scented cleaner to the water.

For birdbaths etc: Mix 2 tablespoons of vinegar per gallon of water .

Cover or drain pools or tubs when not in use.

Repair leaky faucets and faulty irrigation systems.

Bee notes: If you notice honey bees nosing around your shed, house or other small hole in your wall or foundation, these are probably scout bees looking for a new home site for a swarm. Make sure all holes larger than 1/4-inch in diameter (about the size of a pencil), is caulked over, or call a beekeeper to remove them.

Because honey bees are a social insect -- living in colonies of up to 60,000 individuals -- they need lots of food and water to keep the nest alive. The queen lays all the eggs in the colony and the worker bees do all the work. Worker bees normally forage on flowers for nectar and pollen. Nectar is the sweet flower sap that bees make into honey by evaporating off the excess water. Pollen is the protein resource bees feed their young larvae. Bees store their food and raise their young in the honeycomb nest. Honeycomb is made from beeswax, which is secreted by young worker bees, and fashioned into the familiar honeycomb hexagonal shape.