HOW TO TREAT AND CONTROL DIGGER BEES | BUGSPRAY

DIGGER BEE OVERVIEW

Every spring and throughout the summer months, different species of bees will emerge from lawns and turf. These bees have been in the ground all winter developing in the third stage of being an insect called the pupa. As the soil warms, pupa hatch. And with the hatching of pupae come adult bees.

One of the most common is the Andrena digger bee.

These bees come in all sizes and colors. Some are black, blue, brown, white and orange, yellow, and probably mixes of any listed above. Digger bees tend to look more like common bumble bees, but can look like a yellow jacket, a honey bee or certain types of flies. Most all of these species have common behavior which make them easy to control and understand.

 

Related articles:        BUMBLE BEES         CARPENTER BEES             LEAF CUTTER BEES 

DIGGER BEE FACTS

1) Nearly all are solitary. Although it appears you have thousands of “nests” in the yard, in fact they are all independent nests owned by different bees.

2) Most like to fly around their “airspace” at different times of the day or season. This may have something to do with mating, air temperature or simply staking territory.

3) Most are not too aggressive, but stay clear of them. One never knows if they may be allergic to a certain sting or venom. Don’t let children or pets play around nest sites.

4) The first year these pests start to nest in a yard, they usually go unnoticed. It is easy to miss a few holes. Every year this will grow exponentially. Within 3-5 years, expect to have several thousand!

5) Although nests may be under pine straw or wood chips, most species prefer to dig on bare ground between grass and plants. Holes are easy to mistake for worm castings.

6) Most are predatory feeders foraging for grubs, small flying insects and ground dwelling pests. It is not uncommon for nest sites to be established in a yard which has little food supply. Because they can fly, food can be found in adjoining property. Nest locations may only be taking advantage of the free place to live without offering any help in controlling your pests! Once food is found, it is stung to death, brought back to the nest and buried. Eggs will be laid on it, in it or close to it so that hatching larva will have a ready food supply.

7) Some are pollen or other organic food feeders; not all are predatory.

8) Most nest sites tend to be where sunlight, moisture and soil density meet some requirement they like. Once a nest site is started, expect it to expand each year and become larger and larger. Although nests are abandoned each year, they are not reused. New nests will be made adjacent to old nests and most old nests fill in over the winter.

9) Expect populations to vary from year to year, based on things such as the severity of the past winter, local insect levels, rain patterns, humidity and temperature.

10) Most live a full year, emerging from pupa stages in the spring, building nests, laying eggs and then dying in the fall. Their offspring will emerge next year to continue the cycle.

Here’s what can happen if you don’t take a pro-active stance and start treating. This front yard took a few years to get to this stage but its amazing how one nest can become hundreds!

 

PROBLEMS WITH DIGGER BEES

1) Most people fear their presence. Although they usually will leave you alone if you don’t bother them, nests pose a hazard when built in play areas of the yard.

2) Infestations will start small and rapidly grow. If you have a nest or two, expect to have several more in the next year. This will quickly grow out of control if left alone to develop.

3) Nest sights will become unsightly. It is not uncommon for thousands of holes to be created within a few thousand square feet.

4) Large nest sites are scary when the species nesting goes into their hovering activity. During these times, you will expect to have thousands of them flying low to the ground, around 1-3 feet high, simply flying in circles. Be sure to keep children and pets away during this activity.

5) In every case, small infestations will eventually get too large and move into areas of the yard where you don’t want them. Be sure to prevent this by taking care of initial infestations before they grow.

 

FIRST DUST ANY HOLES YOU SEE

The first step is to dust any hole you see. This takes about 2-3 seconds per hole and then once dusted, cover it with a twig, pebble or dirt.

The best dust for the job is XEMPT DUST. It will readily absorb all the pheromones and scent in the ground as well as kill all stages in the hole. This is important for both long term control and immediate results.

Xempt D is the only dehydrating dust on the market that can get wet, dry and then work again. This feature is important for long term control. Once applied down their nests, Digger Bee eggs and larvae won’t be able to live. And since Xempt D will last all season long, eggs hatching in the summer or fall will die too.

 

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Use a good HAND DUSTER to apply the dust. And treat at night, close to dark, when the bees will be inside their nests.

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Since most nests have eggs and pupa which are still developing, having the dust in the nest for extended periods of time insures there is something around to knock out young that will hatch throughout the season. And by capping off the top entry hole after the hole is treated will help the dust last longer.

Once treated, most nests will die off and show no activity within one day. However, it is common to have new holes “pop” up from nowhere within a week which will need immediate attention. Furthermore, if the nests treated have a lot of eggs and pupa developing, you will assuredly get some new nests at some point in the future so be prepared to treat in the coming weeks.

HOW TO TREAT HIDDEN DIGGER BEE NESTS

Once holes have been dusted, broadcasting BITHOR over the yard will kill bees you spray and keep killing for a few days. That said, the ground does absorb the spray and so you need to be prepared to spray several times per week for the first 1-2 weeks to knock down all the newly arriving bees drawn to your yard.

Bithor uses two ingredients; one kills on contact and the second is a unique “non repellent” so insects won’t know its present. Bithor is easy to use, odorless and can be applied with a pump spray but our HOSE END SPRAYER is usually best.

Plan on using 1.5 oz per 1,000 sq/ft of turf. So for a 5,000 sq/ft yard, you’ll need to add 7.5 oz of Bithor and then some BOOST (see below) and lastly, water. Add to the 5 gallon line, hook it to your garden hose and spray the entire amount over 5,000 sq/ft of turf.

The following video is about 1 and half minutes along. Give it a watch as it explains why its imperative to treat every 3 days until there is no activity.

As the video above mentions, new bees will be coming to your yard drawn by the bee “pheromones” present so again, do not expect results that last more than a few days. THIS PROCESS WILL INVOLVE TREATMENTS EVERY 3 DAYS UNTIL THERE IS NO ACTIVITY!

True, some property owners will see immediate results that last but most need to repeat every 2-4 days for about two weeks.

In the end, the Bithor will do its job once the initial surge of spring slows. That said, be sure to follow up with at least two more yard treatments in the summer to insure you don’t let developing young survive.

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To get the most of your treatment, add SPREAD-X BOOST to your tank mix along with the Bithor. Boost is an adjuvant, also known as a wetter spreader or spreader sticker. It basically makes water and the mixture more “slippery” so you get better coverage. Treatments will spread 2-3 times wider and penetrate deeper.

The following short video summarizes why Boost can help deliver your treatment to where it matters the most. And this is extra helpful when treating ground dwelling pests like digger bees.

Add 1 oz of Boost for every 1.5 oz of Bithor. So in this case, if you’re adding 4.5 oz of Bithor to the hose end sprayer, add just 3 oz of Boost before adding water. If you’re adding Bithor to a pump sprayer at the rate of 1.5 oz per gallon, use 1 oz of Boost.

And don’t spray in the middle of the day; treat late in the day close to sunset so the treatment can dry without direct sunlight. UV light on the Boost can stress plants if the temperature is 85 degrees or higher so treat 2 hours or less before sunset to reduce sunlight stress.

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It’s important to understand that the water used to apply the spray will serve you by carrying the chemical down into the soil. This is important to ensure all the hatching young will be affected in the future. And where possible, spray directly down any holes you see. Treatments done early in the year will help stave off the spring hatching so if you have a history of problems, get the yard treated in April-June and you should be able to keep activity minimized for the entire year. Since Bithor will control any type of “plant” eating pest, it will help keep your yard happy and healthy as well.

Apply Bithor using a good PUMP SPRAYER. Remember, 1 gallon of mixed material for every 1,000 sq/ft.

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For large yards, use a good HOSE END SPRAYER. Using this sprayer, you’ll need to add 7.5 oz of Bithor along with 5 oz of Boost. Now add water to the 10 gallon line. Next, hook it to your hose and apply the contents over 5,000 sq/ft of turf (effectively applying about 2 gallons per 1,000 sq/ft).

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Lastly, its important to understand that digger bees will be marking infested areas as a good place to nest which will make the yard attractive to bees in the community. For this reason problems will tend to be ongoing once you get active nests. To prevent this from happening, get all active nests dusted with Xempt Dust and followup with Bithor for long term control.

 

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