Keeping Honeybees Away from Your Pool: Cooperation with Beekeepers and Soapy Water Deterrent

Q: My neighbor is a beginner beekeeper. His bees like my pool but I'm allergic. What can I do?

Tom Bonnell, Henry County beekeeper, says honeybees are highly beneficial: they pollinate crops (apples, melons, almonds), produce honey, and make beeswax.

Quick tips:

First: Talk to your beekeeper neighbor. Explain the problem and ask if they have a water source near hives. All good beekeeping programs say: "You must have a water source for your bees—it's not your neighbor's pool."

Second: Take matters into your own hands.

1. When you first notice bees at your pool, mix ¼ cup dish soap to a quart of water in a spray bottle. Spray any bees at the pool.
2. This soapy mixture kills bees quickly without harmful pesticides in the pool.
3. Do this every time you see bees at a water source you want bee-free.
4. This kills foragers telling others about your pool. Eventually, those foragers die; others find a different source. You're not harming the colony—just eliminating a few individuals.

Full comments: Bees are social, living in colonies up to 60,000. They need lots of food and water. The queen lays eggs; workers forage for nectar and pollen. Nectar becomes honey; pollen feeds larvae. Bees store food and raise young in honeycomb cells made from beeswax. They must keep the hive at constant temperature to prevent wax melting. In heat, they cool by evaporating water droplets—workers collect water, spread it, and fan with wings.

When foraging for water, bees aren't fussy: mud puddles, streams, pools, ponds, dog bowls, birdbaths. Contact with people at pools makes them a nuisance and hazard.

Story from an elderly lady at a bee program: "I understand the water source. Growing up, my Dad and his Dad were beekeepers. Our only water source was the outhouse—I fought honeybees every time I used it. And I never ate that honey!"