7 Useful Homemade Wasp And Bee Spray

7 Useful Homemade Wasp And Bee Spray – Kill Them Safely

A lot of pesticide and insecticide based anti bee sprays are available over the counter, each promising to eradicate wasps and bees from your home and gardens. But it’s natural for you to be anxious about using toxic bee sprays, because not only do they kill the insects slowly and painfully, these chemicals also badly affect the surrounding microecosystems and the soil. In this article, you will find some very easy to prepare sprays to deal with your wasp and bee problem. Sprays are not only easy to prepare and use, but also help get rid of a large number of insects over a large area in a short period of time.

Killing wasps and bees is not a pleasant task for most horticulturists. Those who are into plants and gardening know very well their importance for the maintenance of a healthy life for the plants. Wasps and bees have also a host of other well-known environmental benefits. However, it is these people who bear the brunt because gardens and orchards and even the portico or balcony can become dangerous because of these insects. So, what can be done?

Prevent Them From Happening

The age-old saying prevention is always better than cure couldn’t be truer. Bees are well-mannered insects and won’t form hives inside your residence. But if you don’t want them anywhere near you, you have to be vigilant and carefully keep your garden or orchard in order.

For wasps though, it is an entirely different matter. They are hunters and scavengers, and in the case of wasp hornets, well, biters. And they build their nests almost everywhere. Start by regularly and frequently cleaning your wastebasket. Do not leave dead or stale material lying around. Remember that wasps are also attracted to pet food like bird food and cat food. Be very careful with your perfumes and sweet stuff, because nectar and flowery smells attract them.

Also, make sure that there are no cracks and big openings on your walls and boards. Those are eternal favorites of solitary wasps. Keep your house up to date and regularly fill up holes and spaces that appear. If convenient, you can also use decorative decoys of wasp nests. These are easily available online. These decoys are especially useful against paper wasps, who are extremely territorial and won’t build their nest at least within 200 metres of another one.

Hairspray

Many have found hairsprays to be effective against bees and wasps. But its effectiveness is dependent on brand and composition of the hairspray, and the method of application. You can, of course, use this to chase away the ones buzzing around you.

Soap sprays

Soap sprays are one of the most common methods to instantly kill bees and wasps. Mix some detergent or liquid soap to the water and shake it well. You can even add lemon, hot peppers or peppermint to make it stronger. Now put the mixture in a spray bottle and douse the insects around you. However, take care not to use this on an entire nest as spray bottle quantities are seldom enough for that many bees or wasps. You would risk getting stung for no reason.

This is a much more humane way of killing wasps over pesticides, which not only contribute to pollution of so many kinds at so many levels but can also take hours to work, making it an extremely painful death for these beings.

This also functions as one of the best yellow jacket sprays you can make at home. However, remember that you need a spray that will work long distance because yellow jackets tend to be aggressive.

You can even use this with a garden hose. But make sure to have protective gear on you. Don’t try this if you are allergic to wasp or bee stings. Using a garden hose, start spraying on the nest from some distance. This is one of the messier methods though. So be very careful and do not try it unless you are absolutely confident.

Mixed spray

In a large bowl, put 2 cups of sugar, 2 cups of apple cider vinegar and a cup of water. Stir until the sugar dissolves. To this mixture, add a quarter or a half cup of liquid dish soap and stir it gently so as to prevent bubbles from forming. The sugar attracts bees and wasps. The dish soap acts as a degreaser by dissolving the outer protective covering of the wasps and prevents them from flying, making them drown faster.

Put 4 cups of the liquid in a 2-litre plastic soda bottle and the remaining in a 16-ounce spray bottle. To fill up the spray bottle add 2 tbsp liquid dish soap and half a cup of water.

The soda bottle is to work as a wasp trap while you can use the spray bottle while you work in the garden or move about.

However, you can not spill this on your garden plants. Because such a strong mixture is sure to kill them. It should also be kept away from the animals.

Essential Oils Bee Spray Killer

Some essential oils are natural bee killers. Fill a spray bottle with water. Now add a few drops each of essential oils of lemongrass, geranium and clove. In case you want to go for only one essential oil, you need to make the quantity of the oil more. You can add a few squirts of dishwasher or liquid soap to this. Now using the spray bottle, squirt around the places most frequented by bees.

Peppermint

Using a homemade wasp spray with peppermint is another popular way to get rid of these irritating buzzers. Peppermint can be used in many ways. For example, you can dip some cotton balls in peppermint oil and place them at strategic locations.

Peppermint is very attractive to wasps and is a natural repellent. Putting peppermint oil on water makes a good spray. Applying the spray on old nesting sites is a very good idea as the strong peppermint does away with the markers and prevents wasps from returning.

This is how you go about it:

1. To 500 ml of water (which comes up to 2 cups roughly), add at least 30 drops of peppermint oil. Mix these well.
2. Put this in a clean spray bottle and shake the mixture well. Be careful to not leave air bubbles inside. It is best to go for bottles that would fill out with the water. You can also increase the proportion of your ingredients according to your need.
3. Now spray away happily. To increase their effectiveness, you can use this with soap water. It would ensure that the peppermint sticks on the target and gets time to act well.

Spices

Prepare a sticky mint spray on your own. And to that, add 1/8th of a teaspoon of cinnamon or cayenne pepper. These are very useful against hornets, who simply can’t bear the smell of these spices. If you are targeting a lot of insects at once, increase the concentration of the spices. Always take care of the amount of water used to make the mint spray. A heavily diluted mixture won’t work.

Using plant extracts

A lot of plants are natural wasp and bee repellents, so you can plant them in your garden to naturally and effortlessly drive away those pests. Some such plants are thyme citronella, wormwood, spearmint and eucalyptus. They also add to the beauty of the space. You can use any of these plant extracts to prepare a spray. All you need to do is to boil a sprig of around 8 oz. of leaves on 4 pints of water for around half an hour. You can increase the concentration if you require. Then add a teaspoon of castile powder before putting it in the spray bottle. And you are set. Only keep in mind not to use this on young plants or in areas frequented by you or your pets. These can be very poisonous for the tummy.

Driving out wasps and bees

Wasps are pesky, though they do have their job of pollination and scavenging. But bees are very beneficial for your garden. Unlike the wasps, they are rather gentle and won’t disturb you unless you intrude into their lives (wouldn’t you be angry if someone did the same to you?). The question here is rather, how much is the killing worth? The European honey bee is a global favorite, with honeybees being the only natural source of honey.

Nowadays, horticulturists are leaning toward wasps as a pollinator option. The unanimous opinion is that wasps should be targeted over the bees, if at all. Breaking a beehive is always a bad idea as besides being a natural wonder, it is beneficial. Wasp nests, on the other hand, create a lot of problems in the surrounding areas.

Keep in mind that the point here is not killing these insects, but repelling them. So, do not be disappointed if you see a bee or two escaping your onslaught. And try not to directly hit the insects if possible. As long as they don’t come back to the places you do not want them to be in, it shouldn’t bother you really. Wishing you luck!

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Difference – Bees vs Wasps vs Hornets vs Yellow Jackets