Different pests can come and intrude our backyards. One would be bees that can sting and build their hives within your house’s walls. The same goes for wasps, which are sometimes said to “harm our native birds and insects, and are a threat to human health and recreation”. Does that mean though that we should immediately buy tons of pesticides to exterminate beehives and wasp colonies? Or is there a more humane treatment possible to control bees and wasps? Yes, there are. Several, in fact. Listed below are some methods of humane treatment of bees and wasps:
- Be careful with your food. One simple way of controlling the presence of bees and wasps in your home vicinity is by removing food and water sources. For instance, don’t leave sweet and sugary snacks without lids. Also, tightly cover your garbage bins and maintain their cleanliness. Avoid stagnant puddles and plug your pipes so that wasps won’t settle in them.
- Build a fence. Bees only sting as a defense mechanism in response to humans disturbing their homes. But we can live in harmony with bees living round the corner by putting up chicken wire or placing a fence around the hive entrance. This won’t bother the bees, but at the same time will deter people from going close to them.
- Seal entry points. Obstruct any unnecessary small holes you can find in your house. When a queen bee deserts an active nest, take that opportunity to fill the remnants with soil intending to keep future queens from inhabiting that same spot.
- Be bee-friendly. PETA also has some advice on how you can go about the humane treatment of bees and bugs. When you do gardening or are simply out in your yard, abstain from wearing white or yellow as these colors actually attract bees and wasps. Perhaps in their eyes, you look like a sunflower. It would be much better to wear red since most insects cannot see this color. Minimize fragrant smells of perfumes, hairsprays, among others. And most of all, never walk barefoot in your yard!
- Ignore them. Bees and wasps are non-aggressive (unless, again, their home is threatened), so if they aren’t bothering you, it will not harm you to leave them alone. You can even enjoy the natural scenery with their presence. After all, when the summer season ends, the wasps cease to exist after two touches of frost. If ever it happens that a bee or a wasp enters your car, it is suggested that you stop by the road for a while, open your windows and wait until the insect flies out of your vehicle. If it’s taking some time, you can guide it out with a piece of paper.
- Ask experts for help. For big-scale scenarios such as huge colonies and swarms, local beekeeping associations and pest control authorities are the best people to contact. Taking individual bees and wasps is not an effective way of reducing their population, a whole communal colony must be removed. This is dangerous if you’re a novice, so it’s definitely safer to reach out to the experts instead.
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Why should bees and wasps be humanely treated?
This might be a question you had in mind since you began reading this. As PETA declares, a lot of the insects we deem as pests are actually beneficial and play a vital role in maintaining the homeostasis of our environment. Bees and swarms, for example, should not be under pest control, rather “household guest control”. Bees are known pollinators, helping plants to reproduce by transferring pollen from one flower to another, thus expanding floral variety. Wasps are also extremely helpful to us humans, as they are humane treatments themselves aiding in pest control. As cited in a National Geographic page, “Nearly every pest insect on Earth is preyed upon by a wasp species, either for food or as a host for its parasitic larvae”.
In conclusion, bees and wasps SHOULD be given humane treatment instead of dealing with them with cruelty because they are essential inhabitants of nature who have their own role to play. This can be done by removing food and water sources, making a fence, closing entries, preparing your attire when going out to the garden, and leaving them alone or at least letting the experts handle them.
