Honey bees are attracted to sweets, especially liquid sweets in the form of open cans of soft drinks. This is why they sometimes gather around eating areas at open air events, like fairs and carnivals, and crawl around on straws and can or bottle tops.
Sugars: Many bees feed on the nectar from flowers. Since nectar is sweet, it makes sense that bees would be attracted to sugars and fragrances that smell flowery or sweet. That's why you may notice bees at your picnic, especially if you're drinking sugary sodas or eating fruits, such as pineapple and watermelon.
The bees are being attracted to the half-drunk sodas that people toss into the trash without thinking about it. The problem is especially bad during the summer and sometimes into the early fall. Many of the plants that bloom during Kentucky's summer don't produce much nectar that honey bees can use.
Researchers have found that cocaine stimulates the reward system in the brains of foraging honey bees. As a result, bees on cocaine often exaggerate the quality of nectar and pollen they discover, says Gene Robinson, an LAS entomologist and Swanlund Chair who led the international research team.
Honey bees will forage for carbohydrates in discarded drinks. Bumble bees and honey bees are also on the prowl for sugar sources during the waning days of autumn. Carbohydrates obtained from flowers, fallen fruit, or open cans of soft drinks are on the menu.
Nectar is the sweet fluid produced by flowers to attract bees and other insects, birds and mammals. Worker bees drink the nectar and store it in a pouch-like structure called the crop.
Although fizzy drinks, including orange flavoured Fanta, are not a natural source of nectar, bees are still attracted to them.
In addition, bees are attracted to scented herbs such as rosemary, borage, sage, thyme, catnip, chamomile, lavender, basil, marjoram, hyssop and, of course, beebalm. Bees are partial to native plants, too, and there are plenty to choose from that can also be colorful additions to the garden.
This method works on wasps as well; the homemade wasp trap is similar to your slug trap, you could use a low bowl filled with the soda or even an open can or bottle of Coke will do. The wasps are also attracted to the sugar and travel into the container and drown.
The sweet scent is what attracts wasps, drawn to the aroma the same way wasps are attracted to blossoms. Soda drinks, jellies, cookies dissolved in water, a banana in water or other fruit or fruit juice have enough sugar to attract wasps.
Bees have a much better sense of smell than humans, which they use to find pollination sources. You can use this trait to your advantage by utilizing scents that bees hate such as lemon and lime juice, citronella, cinnamon, peppermint, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, almond oil, smoke, and vinegar.
Bees also have a distaste for lavender oil, citronella oil, olive oil, vegetable oil, lemon, and lime. These are all topical defenses you can add to your skin to keep bees away. Unlike other flying insects, bees are not attracted to the scent of humans; they are just curious by nature.
This attack pheromone, isoamyl acetate, is produced by cells lining the venom pouch. If a bee stings, this gland continues to give the attack signal. The emitted pheromone, which smells of bananas, makes the other bees more aggressive and incites them to sting.
If bees are attacking you en masse, they're most likely defending their home. Attacks by swarms of bees are uncommon. Most bees are not aggressive, said Erika Thompson, a beekeeper with Texas Beeworks.
1) If a bee "bumps into" you, it's not an accident. Run. If a colony of bees thinks you're a predator, it first sends out a few guard bees to warn you away by "head butting" you, according to a guide by the U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service's Saguaro National Park.
If a bee lands on you, don't make any sudden movements
Do your best not to swat at them. When a bee or wasp lands on you, it's better if you sit still and just try brushing them off gently. Although no matter how lightly you brush them off, there is always a risk of getting stung by aggravating them.
Bees and wasps like to take a drink, now and again, so you'll find them sunning themselves on a pool raft or float. Never drink from a soda can without looking inside first. Gross, right? But wasps and bees will crawl right inside that can of Diet Coke.
So instead of purchasing those expensive fizzies or abrasive toilet bowl cleaners, head to the fridge and let the carbonation of Coke work its magic on filthy rings, lime buildup, and water stains. Because Coca-Cola contains carbonic, citric, and phosphoric acids, it's great for tough stains and dissolving rust.
Neem, Mint, Citronella, Eucalyptus, and Cloves are some of the most common and effective ways to repel bees. They are easy to grow in pots and don't require a lot of maintenance. Bee repellents such as marigold and germanium can also be a very effective way to keep them at bay.
Flowers that are difficult to access its nectar and pollen tend to put them off as well. For instance, trumpet-shaped flowers such as buttercups, narcissus, and honeysuckle deter honeybees from accessing pollen and nectar.
However, at low concentrations, caffeine appears to have a secondary advantage, attracting honeybees and enhancing their long-term memory, said lead author Geraldine Wright, a neuroscientist at Newcastle University in England, whose study was published online March 7 in the journal Science.
Simply offer a drop or two of sugar water up to the front end of the bee on a teaspoon or an upturned drinks cap in a sheltered place and allow the bee time to recuperate. It is not advisable to use brown sugar as it is harder for bees to digest.
Caffeine is bitter tasting to mammals and is both toxic (24) and repellent to honeybees at high concentrations (25, 26).