Ok... I'm at wits end. Yep the old story about bees and the neighbor.
I live in the county on a ¾ acre lot in a no restrictive subdivision (about 20 homes). Got my state bee certificates also... that's not a problem.
It's been all good for the last 4 years up until several months ago. My neighbor started complaining about my bees and his pool. I have plenty of water sources the bees use heavily... but you know how they like chlorine. The 4 hives were too close to the fence line so 2 months ago I moved them to the opposite property line. Seemed well and good for awhile but now my neighbor is saying that he was stung while in the pool and his 4 year old "step nephew" was also stung. Not sure I really believe that (could have been anything stinging them) but now for the last several weeks he has been asking if I'm going to move them somewhere else. Don't have a place to move them and really don't want to do that. I love my babies!
Done the usual "good neighbor" things (give generous amounts of honey). So I'm not sure what to do at this point. I'm up for some ideas from folks who have been in this situation before.
...DOUG
KD4MOJ
Have you gone to his pool and actually verified that what he is dealing with are honeybees? Have him explain what he was doing when he was stung. Maybe some lessons in beehavior could help him avoid contact with them.
Speaking from experience as we had our own bees who were all over our pool. They can become quite a nuisance. They come to get a drink but a large amount end up in the water in various stages of drowning and if they happen to fall in, a person is a good flotation device and easily results in people getting stung. Just from what we experienced, I would not doubt that what your neighbor said is true.
That being said the only thing we found that kept them away from the pool water was a water source that was laced with sugar. We supplied a 5 gallon bucket of water and I dumped about a quart of 1:1 sugar water in it maybe a little more. We placed the bucket so that the bees would have to pass by it on their way to the pool. It took about a 48 hours, but after that almost no more bees at the pool. We never did lace ours with any more sugar water after that, but in your case I would keep it up, just to keep the neighbors happy. Certainly it would be heartbreaking if they were to poison the girls and that has happened more than once in the past to other people.
good luck
njoylife10
Similar neighborhood situation. I have neighbors with pools, and nobody has complained for years. I just put one of my own in, and while we definitely have bees around it, and I clean lots of them out of the skimmer, they aren't really a problem.
Nobody has been stung in the pool yet. If we're in it we're active enough that the bees stay away. I've only seen bees in the pool when we're not in it. But then again 5 kids are going to make a lot more movement than an adult and child...
Don't really have any advice other than trying to get them to be attracted to a different water scent as njoylife suggested - start out with some sugar water, add scent like peppermint oil, and then drop the sugar but keep the scent.
All I can say salt water pool instead of the standard chlorine.
Quote from: hilreal on June 22, 2011, 09:18:40 AM
Have you gone to his pool and actually verified that what he is dealing with are honeybees? Have him explain what he was doing when he was stung. Maybe some lessons in beehavior could help him avoid contact with them.
Several months ago I did witness the bees at his steps in the deep end. Seems they are attracted to rust on the ladder where the steps are attached. I explained that if he kept the water level above that, there would be no problem. Haven't checked lately to see if they are still attracted to that area but I'm going to check today on that.
Also explained their behavior (stinging shouldn't be an issue) including them not being defensive outside of the hive etc... etc... etc.
I'll have to ask him again about what he and his nephew were actually doing when they were "stung".
...DOUG
KD4MOJ
i have 20 hives on my acre lot and have no problem with them .they do come to my pool for water,but not a problem. i found that placing water for them dosn't work that much.i noticed that if you have a leaking water hose they will go there for water.so what i did is let my pool pump leak alil but not enough to lose its prime when the pump is off and the bees love it .they get most of the water there instead of my pool. ...schawee
I have 2 hives in my yard and 3 that I put in my neighbors yard. Before I took the bees in my yard to my farm 60 miles away, I was loosing hundreds of bees to the pool every day. I used to reach down and lift them out of the water until I received a couple of stings for just lifting them out. I don't doubt your neighbor was getting stung. I just brought the 2 hives back but before that I repaired the water fountain that is pretty close to the pool and hives. The bees love it and I try to keep it flowing during the day and that has greatly reduced the numbers of bee that end up in the pool. Good Luck.
tell em you brand all your bees just like cattle, so if the bee that stung you didnt have the brand, then it wasnt yours...
Quote from: slacker361 on June 22, 2011, 04:29:24 PM
tell em you brand all your bees just like cattle, so if the bee that stung you didnt have the brand, then it wasnt yours...
Yeah... I like that. We'll see if it goes over his head! :-D
...DOUG
KD4MOJ
Quote from: slacker361 on June 22, 2011, 04:29:24 PM
tell em you brand all your bees just like cattle, so if the bee that stung you didnt have the brand, then it wasnt yours...
Yep, it wasn't your bees. He can't prove it was your bees. I would have a field day with that guy, he would hate me by the time we were done our discussion.
I live out on a farm simply because I attract lousy neighbors, either that or I'm the lousy neighbor, I don't know which, but I decided ages ago that I won't put up with idiots or cry babies.
Tell him to start peeing more in the pool. Bees don't like urine. Maybe you can help him out with raising the urine percentage of his pool.
Otherwise he is just SOL with your bees. He does not have a leg to stand on. There is no way to stop your bees.
Glad I live on a lake and don't have to worry about water issues. :-D
I don't think a lake would be a problem. I didn't have problems with the pool in the spring when the 2 tons of oak pollen and dropping leaves made it impossible to get it clean. As soon as I got it crystal clear the bees seam to aim for the water. Even when I was taking them out, most of the time they would walk right back in. I suspect the reflected light, coming off the blue bottom, messes up there navigational system and they go right in. One of the big beekeepers in south FL used to put 40 hives next to our farm, close to the pond (he stopped when he found out that I have hives). We would have thousands of bees all the way around the pond, in the mud getting water but we never had bees floating like we have with the pool.
Jim
I have not had a problem with bees in the pool here. I have only found 1 bee in the pool. Then again, this is Michigan and we are a bit cooler than Florida (thank God). On top of that, I do keep foam over my hives in both the winter and the summer. In the summer, the foam keeps hundreds of watts of solar heat out of the hives. The reduced heat load on the hive may result in the bees requiring less water for their evaporative cooling efforts, but I don't know that for sure. I do know that my bees have not been a problem in our pool or the neighbor's pool.
You might try doing something to reduce the amount of sun load on the hive while not inviting SHB. I also like the sounds of the water fountain idea, but have not tried it myself. Maybe try one of those small electric plug in fountains near the hives and fill it with scented water?
My opinion is different than some here. I don't want my neighbors infringing upon the enjoyment of my property and likewise feel it is my responsibility not to infringe upon their enjoyment of their property. If my bees start stinging my neighbor in their pool, that is my problem, not theirs. Nobody likes getting stung, especially if you're not a beek. It's like if some snake lover moves in next to me and I start finding snakes all over my property, I would be angry.