In this guide, we’ll look at the best bumble bee traps and baits to lure this species of bees.

There are well over 25,000 species of bees all over the world. Bumble bees are just one out of the thousands of bee species.

How To Trap A Bumble Bee

There are lots of amazing things about this species, for instance;

  1. Bees are always hungry because the rate of their system’s metabolism is super-fast, which makes them just 40 minutes away from starvation.
  2. Bumble bees flap their wings at the same rate as the RPM of an average motorcycle engine, that is, 200times per second. So if their nest becomes too hot, they can file out at the entrance and make themselves into the A/C unit. They keep fanning till it gets cooler because a bumble bee cannot survive under a temperature higher than 111 degrees.
  3. A mummy bumble bee can keep sperm inside her for months. And when she finds the right home for her new family, she’ll fertilize the eggs. But then again, after she has her young one, she stays with them for just about a year, and then she’ll die.
  4. The mummy bumble bee also decides the sex of her offspring. If she wants a male bee, all she has to do is to refuse to fertilize the eggs, and if she wants a female, all she has to do is fertilize the eggs.
  5. They don’t die after they sting. Painful right? Yes, they can sting you as many times as possible without any consequences. But then, they don’t sting, only the female bumble bee stings and they don’t do that unless you look for their trouble.

Bumble bees are big and beautiful bees that present a lot of benefits to crops; the only thing is their sting. They don’t stink except in defense, for instance, when they are trying to protect their hive against outsiders or when you mistakenly crush one.

This goes to say that once you have bumble bees around, it is merely difficult to tell when you are not getting in their way because you want to avoid their sting at all costs.

Their sting is very painful and it is barbed. Once it pierces your skin, it will keep causing throbbing pain as a result of the venom.

Therefore, once you get stung by a bumble bee, you should remove the stinger immediately. And you can avoid getting bites from a bumble bee if you stay away from their hives, never walk barefoot, especially when you are aware that the bees are around.

Generally, it is not safe to have bees around your home for the sake of your pets and younger children. But then, they are beneficial to us and the ecosystem.

The safest means of dealing with bumble bees around your home is to trap and relocate them away from your residence.

Types of Homemade Bumble Bee Traps And Baits

  • Net and Pot

Using a net and pot to trap a bumble bee is very easy, but it is useful if you are trying to catch one bee. Don’t try using it if the bumble bees are more than three to avoid getting stung by mummy bumble bee- her sting is quite painful.

To use the net and pot, you have to use a net with a fine mesh that is tiny enough to prevent a bumble from crawling out. Most butterfly nets will do fine and you can get them at your local store.

When you want to catch a bumble bee with this trap, first, you have to make sure that there are no spikey or thorny plants that can damage the net by ripping it. You also have to ensure that you have enough space to swing the net around for successful trapping.

When you get close to your target, swing the net fast across the bee in a horizontal direction. The net will fold itself if you flick your wrist, this way, you can ensure that the bee does not fly out.

Hold the net with the opening facing down and then get a pot, a jar, or any container. Carefully open the net into the jar or pot.

This method of trapping is very handy if what you want to do is get a better view of the bee, or you want to take a picture of it. Since they move around very quickly, the only way to be a better view is by trapping it using this method.

But you need to return the bumble bee to where you found it so that it can locate its nest

  • Soda bottle Trap- 2ltrs

This type of trap is useful if you want to get rid of bumble bee from around your environment

How to Trap a Bumble Bee With Soda Bottle Trap

To trap a bumble bee with a soda bottle, you need the materials below;

  • 2-liter Soda Bottle Trap
  • 2-liter soda bottle (clean)
  • Cordage ( nylon rope)
  • Drill (with drill bits)
  • Honey (or sugar water)
  • Masking tape (optional)
  • Stapler (or clothespins)
  • knife

Methods of Trapping Bumble Bees Using A Soda bottle

Step 1- First, remove the cap and then use a knife to cut off where the neck of the bottle straightens. To do an excellent job, put masking tape around the bottle to mark where to cut.

Cut out the top part of a clean soda bottle.

Step 2- Turn the bottle upside down. Make sure that the capless head faces down and put this into the bottle base- this will be like a funnel. Hold the bottle by the bottom with your finger, then staple it from the top downwards on the four sides of the bottle.

You can tape the crease between the upturned bottle top and the bottle base if you don’t have a stapler.

In case you need to reuse your traps, affix the bottle top and base with clothespins. It would help if you loosened the clothespins to neat, empty, and fill your 2-liter bottle again.

Invert the bottle top to nest it in the bottle bottom. Hold the bottle top, so the capless end is facing downward. Insert this into the bottle bottom and hold the bottle top in place at the top of the bottle bottom with your fingers. Staple the top to the bottom on four opposing sides.

Step 3- Burrow holes and insert cords to make it a trap that is hanging. To do this, you need to drill two holes of about an inch just below the top of the trap.

Ensure that each of the holes is directly opposite each other and also make sure that the hole is wide enough to allow your cord to go through but tiny enough not to allow a bee that might want to escape.

Put your cord through the holes, and your trap is ready to be hung. You don’t need to hang your trap so high to trap bumble bees.

Step 4- Any sweet substance will make good bait; it all depends on what you want to achieve. If all you want to do is relocate the bee, you can use sugar ad your bait.

Pour sugar at the base of the trap, and you don’t need too much sugar, a little is enough to attract bumble bee.

The bees will be trapped in the soda bottle, and unless you let them out of the bottle, they will not be able to make it out on their own.

This is why you must check your trap from time to time so that you can relocate the bees far away from your home.

Step 5- Place the traps where they will be easily accessible to bees. Locations that are exposed to full sunlight are more effective than shady places.

You should hang your trap rather than leave it on the ground. Except you are trying to guard the access into your home where you need to place your trap by the window, it is better to your hang traps.

Step 7- Always check your traps at regular intervals. You may check every week or two but make sure the interval is not more than two weeks.

Relocate the bees that are alive and dispose of dead bees. Pour out the sugar or honey, clean out your trap and fill it again with sugar or honey.

Do this until you have witnessed the last of bees around your home.

In Conclusion

Bumble bee can be found mostly in the North because it breeds well in regions of temperate climate. But then, it can also be found in other countries.

Bumble bees have stings on their tail, which they use to defend themselves and attack as well. Yet, once a bumble bee uses this sting, it breaks off, and the bee dies.

Sadly, bumble bee’s defense system is suicidal to the ant, and this also accounts for a decline in their population.

There is a significant decline in the population of bumble bees, which is why your primary target should be to bait, trap, and relocate the bee rather than kill it.

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