How To Keep Wasps Away From Pool

Poison The Well Pine Soap Or Vinegar

While we dont want to kill any honey bees on a large scale , killing the occasional bee wont have a drastic effect on the honey population as a whole. If you put pine, soap, or vinegar into exposed sources of water, it can kill those few bees.

Dont put soap, vinegar, or pine into your pets sources of water. Each of these can cause varying amounts of discomfort and danger to your pets. Typically, its not going to be too serious. However, each case will be different because every product is going to be different. Chemical burns, nausea, and diarrhea are some of the more common results of ingesting these substances.

Side note Because pine can cause gastrointestinal discomfort, you shouldnt let your pets drink from Christmas tree water. It wont likely cause any major problems, but there is no reason to let them hurt themselves.

Cover Your Swimming Pool

Of course, you can always keep the pool covered, eliminating a large water source for the bees and wasps.

• Winter cover. Lasting 1 to 3 years and costing around $150, a winter cover is a tarp material that rests over your pool. This will protect it during the cooler months, and keep things like snow, dirt, leaves and other debris from getting in the water. A pool cover pump should be added to move water off the surface so the bees dont have a stagnant source they can drink from.
• Safety cover. At $1000 to $3000, a safety cover is significantly more money but will also be a cover you can put on your pool in the warmer months. This cover is available in solid vinyl or mesh, and is secured over the pool using strapping attached to the pool deck. Both versions of this cover will keep bees away, as there is no way they can penetrate either material to get into the water.

• Solar cover. Keeping heat locked into your pool can be done with a solar cover. It looks like a big sheet of bubble wrap and can be installed on a reel for quick deployment. Costing upwards of $500, these are popular to reduce your pools heating bill, and by covering the water itll deter bees from flocking to the pool.

How To Keep Bees And Wasps Away From A Pool

Nothing can ruin a good time in your pool faster than a sharp bee sting. Well, maybe someone using the pool to, uh, relieve themselves. Thatll definitely put a damper on things. But at least thats not physically painful, though it may seem like it is.

Bees hang out around your pool for good reasonits a giant watering hole in their multiple compound eyes. And if you have bees buzzing around, chances are youve seen a wasp or three as well. While you may be tempted to destroy them, remember theyre actually very good for the environmenteven the small environment of your back yard. You just need to show them a better place to be than around your pool.

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How To Keep Wasps Away From Your Pool: 12 Simple Ideas

Stop swatting!

Learn 12 simple ways to keep wasps away from your pool this summer so that you can freely enjoy your outdoor oasis pest free!

Is it spring break for wasps or something?

Does it seem like every time you go to your pool, wasps are either drinking out of the water or flying overhead?

Well if so, you are unfortunately suffering from a pretty common problem among pool owners

Wasps flying around your pool.

So what can you do?

Thankfully there a few tried and true solutions to keep wasps away from your pool and weve put together a list of our 12 favorites right here.

Just like we showed you how to keep frogs out of your pool, we are doing the same today with wasps.

So lets DIVE in!

Provide An Alternative Source Of Water

Bees gain nothing from coming after you and your children. In fact, they lose everything because they dont survive that experience.

So they come to your pool for the water. If you can work out what direction they are coming from, you can provide a small body of water for them.

You can go with several options: A barrel pond or a birdbath/hummingbird feeder/bucket.

A Barrel Pond

If you have the creativity and energy for it, have a go at it. There are plenty of options available like this Bamboo Accents Water Fountain. Bees really like murky water a lot more than they do the pristine clear liquid in your pool.

Its a lot closer to what they would go for in the wild. Murky water has all sorts of debris floating on it, making it easier for them to perch and enjoy a drink of water.

Its also full of nutrients from the various organisms living in the water. It would really add to the beauty of your backyard as well and isnt difficult to maintain.

Birdbath/ hummingbird feeder/ bucket

Basically, anything that can hold water. A birdbath like thisworks wonderfully because its wide, and the water isnt very deep.

This means you dont need to provide any floating perches for the bees. Theyll just line up around the watering hole and quench their thirst.

Any other container will do. A bucket with a sponge that allows the bees to perch and drink should do the trick.

In each instance, the bees get water, remain unharmed, and stay away from your pool.

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How To Keep Wasps Away From A Swimming Pool

by Lisa Russell / in Home

Few things can ruin a carefree day soaking up sunshine by the swimming pool more than wasps. Keeping hornets, yellow jackets and paper wasps away from a swimming pool is important to prevent stings. Splashing water, fruity drinks, sweet poolside treats and even landscaping can attract wasps, making your pool their summer hangout. Diverting wasps and removing their nests can prevent stings.

• Few things can ruin a carefree day soaking up sunshine by the swimming pool more than wasps.
• Diverting wasps and removing their nests can prevent stings.

Locate the wasp nests to determine what kind of wasps you have. Paper wasps build funnel-shaped nests under eaves and corners. They love to come to the pool for a drink, and then fly away. Hornets make bubble-shaped nests that attach to the sides of trees or buildings. Yellow jackets nest underground in old rodent burrows or in rock walls. Watch them return to their nests about an hour before sunset to see where they live.

Consider purchasing an over-the-counter insecticide. These are generally inexpensive, and you can get 1 can for less than £6 that will treat 3 to 5 nests, depending on the size.

If your vegetable garden is near your pool, protect it by laying a tarp over the plants. Put a cover over your swimming pool to keep insecticide out of the water. Make sure no small animals or children are in the vicinity before you spray.

TIP

Related

Move Potted Plants And Flowers Away From The Pool

If honey bees are your primary issue, it is likely due to the flora and fauna around the pool. If you have potted plants and flowers around the deck of the pool, consider moving them away. The nectar will be a constant siren call to the honey bees, and the plants require the pollination. The plants and bees require each other due to their symbiotic relationship. If you successfully prevent the bees, your decorative plants will die.

Note on Fake Flowers Bees are also attracted to the colors of the flowers, so fake flowers should also be removed from the pool area.

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How To Keep Wasps Away

• Use a decoy nest. Like stated previously, wasps are very territorial. If there is a decoy nest in your backyard the creatures will likely want to move somewhere where the land is considered theirs.
• Remove the wasp nest. You can do the same procedure as with the beehive but remember wasps can sting you and not die later so it is a higher likelihood that you will be stung. Be careful.
• Catch wasps with diesel fuel or raw meat. You can use this as a trap of sorts with wasps. Wasps have a strange attraction to diesel fuel, and a much less odd attraction to meat . These will both attract the wasps and you can gather them up, and either move them or kill them.

Make A Bee/wasp Bottle Trap

This method requires a little creativity but is incredibly effective. And if youre only dealing with bees, the trap can easily be converted to no-kill.

How to make a bee/wasp trap:

• Use scissors to cut the top off of a soda bottle
• Remove cap from top
• Grease the inner opening of the bottle top
• Insert the removed top into the bottle, cap end first like a funnel
• Fill 1/4 of the bottle with bait
• To make the trap no kill, use only a small amount of bait

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What Happens If I Get Stung By A Wasp

Your efforts to keep wasps away have failed? If you manage to get stung, you can treat the sting with various home remedies for example:

• Soak a cotton ball with white vinegar and apply to the sting location
• Make a paste of baking soda and water, apply to the sting and leave on for at least 30 minutes
• Cut an onion in half and place on the location of the sting
• Cool the sting with cool packs.

Normally wasp stings are harmless. However, if you are experiencing symptoms of an allergic reaction such as difficulty breathing, hives, or dizziness, contact your local emergency services immediately or have someone take you to the ER. You should also seek medical attention if you have been stung multiple times or if your sting symptoms do not improve after a few days.

Read more:

How To Keep Bees/ Wasps Away Using Chemical Solutions

You can apply several tricks to drive away from the bees and wasps from your pool area and make your pool a safe place. Previously, we have mentioned natural or DIY solutions, but you can go for chemical options also. You can use pesticides and other contaminants to remove insects. The chemicals will make them weak, and it leads them to die. Parathyroid-based insecticides can also control insects such as ants, cockroaches, mosquitoes, and fleas, among others. But try to keep the chemical solution as the last option. As sometimes, chemicals are highly dangerous for the environment as well as your family.

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Have Another Source Of Water

If there is a beehive within the vicinity of your property, the bees may keep coming back to your pool area. Another method is to introduce an alternative water source for them. Its best to do this after you have drained the pool or installed a pool cover so that the pool will no longer be their main water source.

You can use an old bird bather, or it can even be as simple as filling a bucket with water. Just make sure theres always water there because if it dries up, the bees will once again look for another water source, and they might come back to your pool. Its worth noting that if the bees are coming from your neighbors, you might want to alert them, so they can help deal with the problem.

Ways To Keep Them From Nesting

Since wasps are territorial, hanging a fake nest is a great way to keep them away from your home. Some people have had success hanging crumpled paper bags from their eaves. Others prefer to buy fake nests made from glass other materials. Either way, since they look a bit like a nest, they discourage other wasps from building nearby.

WD-40. Although its not a natural solution, the common household lubricant spray known as WD-40 does a great job of repelling wasps due to its odor. Attach the long nozzle that comes with a fresh can and spray your homes eaves and overhangs. Repeat this a few times throughout the season to keep your home free of nests.

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Repel Them With Something Smelly

Repelling them using natural scents such as lemongrass, clove, geranium, and mint works well. A good trick is to mix peppermint oil with water and spray it around the pool area.

Dryer sheets, as weird as it sounds, also work well to keep these bugs away. You can place them in the patio furniture so theyre inconspicuous, but still giving off a repellent scent.

Sweet smells like flowers or sugary drinks, as well as exposed food will have the opposite effect, so these are best to avoid close to the pool.

Create An Alternative Water Source

As wasps will be using your pool as the water supply, why not try placing a new water source around your yard to encourage them to sip elsewhere. The new water source can be as simple as a bucket or even a bird bath.

Another, somewhat bizarre solution, could be to place some diesel nearby. Strong enough to overpower the stench of chlorine, the wasps will be enticed over. Plus, if they fall in it whilst attempting to drink, you have the added advantage of getting rid of the wasp for good.

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What Attracts Wasps To Your Pool

Just like us, wasps get hot in the summer.

When they want to cool off, they might take a dip in your pool. They might also take drinks from your pool for the same reason.

Some nests will designate a handful of wasps just to transport water back to the nest to share with the rest of the team as well.

Hence why it feels like the wasps are CONSTANTLY around.

If your pool has a lot of flowers, grass, and wildlife around it, then thats another open invitation for wasps to come visit too.

No Still Water Here: Turn On Your Jets

Theyre great fliers, but bees are terrible swimmers. You might have even notice a few casualties that youve had to net out in the pastR.I.P., little dudes. Bees know that theyre not up for a dive, and if your pool water is moving, they wont even try. Go ahead and turn on your jets or your automatic pool cleaner. Of course, this is just a temporary solutionor you wont want to see your next energy bill. Want to cut that bill down, no matter what? Make sure youre using a variable-speed pump.

Is your pump not powerful enough to really get your jets flowing? Try the 3 HP Variable Speed Blue Torrent Thunder In-Ground Swimming Pool Pumpit pays itself off in under a year, comes with a lifetime warranty, and can be super high-powered when you need it to be. As customer Jordan MacDonald says, it truly is super quietand that was while it was running at full capacity.

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Give Them Another Water Source

The wasps dont visit just because they like pools, they just like water in general.

If you want to keep them away from your pool, you can put together an alternative source of water for them to play in.

This method is a little riskier because youre still providing a place for wasps to congregate. You can use a birdbath or a bucket of water. If this water dries up, youll be on the hook again.

Its best to introduce this source of water when the wasps cant access your pool. Whether that means draining or covering your pool, it doesnt matter.

Theres nothing stopping the wasps from returning to your pool after a period of time. This isnt a highly suggested option as far as longevity is concerned.

Raw Meat Traps And Decoys

Effectiveness:

Cost: $1 to $3

Meat traps and decoys can be a great way to keep wasps, hornets, and carpenter bees away from the pool. If you dont want to hurt them, just put a bit of uncooked meat on a plate or multiple plates. Set the meat far away from the pool, and many of the surrounding wasps will head straight to it. If you have ever had barbecue outside on a hot summer day, you will have experienced this. Meat is an excellent decoy. It will buy you a few hours of peace, so you can enjoy your fun in the sun and temporarily push your wasp problems to another day.

Trap Description: If you want to use meat for a trap, it should be very easy. Heres what youll need and what youll need to do.

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