Good Versus Evil in Your Seattle Garden: Bees, Wasps, and Hornets, Oh My!

With the recent warm weather here in the Pacific Northwest, spring has sprung into action practically overnight. The tulips have bloomed, and now it is time for us to get our lawns nice and green and the garden growing. When things start blooming, you will have some new guests showing up. Some those guests are going to be uninvited. Bees and their ilk are one of those things you might have a love-hate relationship with. At Greenwood Hardware, we understand you may want to annihilate every little bee that dares to get close enough to sting you or the little ones. But honestly, complete annihilation isn’t always the best choice!

As you probably know, honey bees are welcome guests in your garden. You need them to pollinate in order to have vibrant flowers in your beds and lots of blooms on your vegetable plants. Sadly, there are some bees that are not quite as helpful in the garden. Wasps, hornets, and yellow jackets can be nuisances. They tend to be very aggressive and make being outdoors a bad experience. Even though they are annoying, they do serve some purpose, like eating webworms and other destructive insects.

It is almost impossible to find every nest and eliminate it, but you can be a bit more proactive. Using traps that invite unwelcome bees in is one option. Use yellow jacket traps baited with a solution that is only inviting to meat-eating bees. You could also use canned cat food or ground meat. This is one way to ensure honey bees are immune to the pull of the trap.

Cans of spray are also a nice option to have when you do happen upon a nest. Always wait until the evening hours or early morning hours to spray the nest. This will give you the best chance at taking out as many of the wasps as possible. There is also less chance of you getting attacked by angry bees!

A natural option includes setting out a solution of vinegar, sugar and salt in a little bit of water. This solution will need to be replenished often. This is a natural remedy, but it does attract honey bees and other insects that are beneficial to the garden.

If you are already inundated with bad bees, head into Greenwood Hardware to get what you need to make your yard a little safer for you and your family. You want to share the outdoors with the bees without being bullied back inside. Come on in, or contact us today.