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Thor32 · Sep 21, 2010, 06:46 PM

I have ground bees or hornets in a ground nest. If I pour used oil into the holes, will that kill them or drive them out to build another nest somewhere else ?

I have ground nesting bees don't know exactly what kind they are to no if they have two entrances or exits. What I want to know is if I pour oil into the hole will this kill them or drive them out to go elsewhere ?

Fr_Chuck · Sep 21, 2010, 07:09 PM

I have merged your two posts,

It takes time for our experts to answer, no one here is paid, so they do it in their free time. Also some experts may live in England or other parts of Europe and answer at a different time.

Also it may even take a few days to get several answers from the best experts.

Some things they may want to know, what type of bees and what type of oil, baby oil, motor oil,

johndoe99 · Sep 21, 2010, 07:22 PM

Personally I'm against killing bees, they pollinate plants and they could be honey bees too. Have you tried looking in a phonebook for Bee Removals. I know here in Ireland it is free to remove them.

If they are hornets, pouring oil down on them is dangerous as certain species stings are toxic and can be lethal. You should really use the phone book and call an expert for advice.

ballengerb1 · Sep 21, 2010, 07:27 PM

Pouring oil on the ground is never a good idea, ask BP. You can buy a hornet, wasp killer that can spray 20' for about $5 at the hardware store. The oil will not kill them like a poison but it will knock out a few from drowning and really tick off the rest. Some bees will nest in the rgound, bumble bee comes to mind but most of what we see are yellow jackets.

Catsmine · Sep 22, 2010, 02:10 AM

To answer your question, Thor, I don't know of any species of bee that oil will do more than make them dig a different opening. The type of oil really doesn't matter. If you do manage to drown the guards at that entrance, you are asking to be swarmed by the rest of the nest.

There are some solitary ground wasp species that it might help with, but if you're in the Northern Hemisphere they've already laid eggs so they'll be back in the Spring.

There is also the use of gasoline to kill off a nest, but don't light it. The fumes are the lethal part. It also kills the ground for about 3 years.

A professional should be able to get them in one trip, if he studies them well enough first.

parttime · Sep 22, 2010, 03:13 AM

Thor, a little trick you can use, if you own a shop vac, early in the morning set the nozzle at the opening to the nest and turn on the vac and let it run for several hours, as the bees come and go they'll be sucked in to the vac. Then at the end of the day just cap the hose and haul off the bees. Good luck

Catsmine · Sep 22, 2010, 03:58 AM

Originally Posted by parttime

Thor, a little trick you can use, if you own a shop vac, early in the morning set the nozzle at the opening to the nest and turn on the vac and let it run for several hours, as the bees come and go they'll be sucked in to the vac. Then at the end of the day just cap the hose and haul off the bees. good luck

How do you empty a shop vac full of ticked off bees?

ballengerb1 · Sep 22, 2010, 07:59 AM

PT did not finish his thought,"just cap the hose and haul off the bees. good luck" and put the vac in the shed for a week. Then they will be dead not ticked off.

parttime · Sep 22, 2010, 01:31 PM

Originally Posted by Catsmine

How do you empty a shop vac full of ticked off bees?

I used this a few times and I've never seen a bee survive, the first time I tried this I did spray wasp spray in the vac right before I turned it off, but the other times I didn't bother , because the vac set in direct sun. Try it, you'll like it.