9 Ways To Keep Wasps and Bees Away From Your Swimming Pool

Trying to keep wasps and bees away from your swimming pool?

Learn a few DIY solutions and home remedies in this post

There’s nothing like hopping in the pool on a hot summer day. But if there’s one thing that can quickly turn a peaceful swim into a stressful one, it’s bees and wasps. And if you’re opening your pool for the season, chances are, they’re going to be spending a lot of time there too.

So how do you keep wasps and bees away from your pool?

Understanding why they’re there in the first place helps the most. Bees in a pool area are likely just looking to quench their thirst, whereas wasps may be attracted to the smell. Therefore, the best ways to keep wasps and bees away are by making your pool less attractive to them.

This can be done by using natural repellents, deterrents, and traps for relocation.

In this post, we show you 9 ways to keep wasps and bees away from your pool.

9 Ways To Keep Wasps and Bees Away From Your Pool

Use a decoy nest (Wasps)

Wasps are naturally territorial insects. So when one group of wasps sees signs of another group, they usually avoid them.

For wasps, another nest is the most obvious sign of another group.

Use nature to your advantage, and hang a few fake wasps nests around the pool. You can purchase them online, or make your own.

To make a fake nest, grab a brown paper bag and blow it up into the shape of a nest. Toss a few moth balls into the bag before closing it to create a defensive odor.

Use diesel fuel (Wasps)

Wasps are oddly attracted to the smell of diesel fuel. So much that they’ll fly directly into a bottle of it just to get a taste.

If you have diesel fuel to spare, try filling a small bottle with fuel and leaving it near the wasp’s nest (or wherever they hang out).

Check back in a day to see what you’ve caught.

Use raw meat (Wasps)

Ever noticed how wasps show up uninvited at nearly EVERY summer barbecue. Well, this isn’t just because they want to ruin a good time.

The real reason is that they probably want one of the raw burgers that keep getting tossed on the grill. Yup, wasps love the taste of raw meat.

And if you have raw meat in the fridge, you can use it to make a simple trap. Well really, as bait. The wasps will be drawn to wherever you leave the raw meat as long as it’s close to your pool.

If you’re dealing with a lot of wasps, try combining the upcoming bottle trap method with this one, using meat as bait. You can also make a simple trap by placing a small bucket of water under the raw meat for the wasps to fall into.

Remove nest (Wasps)

This is the most direct way to solve your wasp problem. But if you choose this method, preparation and safety is everything:

• Purchase a wasp killer spray from your local home & garden store.
• Locate the nest.
• Wait until nighttime, when the wasps are least active, and spray the nest from as far away as possible.
• Continue spraying the nest each night until it’s no longer active
• Once wasps are gone, physically remove the nest.

Make a bee/wasp bottle trap

This method requires a little creativity but is incredibly effective. And if you’re only dealing with bees, the trap can easily be converted to “no-kill”.

How to make a bee/wasp trap:

• Use scissors to cut the top off of a soda bottle
• Remove cap from top
• Grease the inner opening of the bottle top (this makes it harder for the insects to crawl out)
• Insert the removed top into the bottle, cap end first like a funnel
• Fill 1/4 of the bottle with bait (sugar water, sugar & lemon juice, soda, syrup)
• To make the trap no kill, use only a small amount of bait (not enough to drown insects)

Use lemongrass and mint (Bees)

Although bees are pollinators and usually love being near plants, they aren’t attracted to all of them.

For this method, instead of using bait, you’re using a completely natural repellant.

Bees really don’t like the smell of lemongrass or mint. So, grab a few place them around the pool area in pots. With enough plants, this alone will do a great job of keeping the bees away from the pool.

Bonus: Using a solar cover creates a barrier between your water and the atmosphere. It also makes your water less accessible to the wasps and bees — a great natural deterrent.

Use dryer sheets (Bees)

Much like the last method, you can use dryer sheets as a natural repellent against bees.

Using the same strategy, place baskets of dryer sheets around the pool. This can easily be done decoratively with colorful bins to add a bit of flare to your pool set up.

That said, dryer sheets are not an unlimited repellent like lemongrass and mint. So be sure to replace them every week or so, or whenever you notice them becoming less effective.

Create alternative water source

As we mentioned earlier:

If it’s the bees you’re worried about, they’re probably just trying to find something to drink.

And if it’s the wasps, well they’re probably just oddly attracted to the strong chlorine odors coming from your pool.

Either way, adding a new water source to the mix can help deter these insects. The new water source can be as simple as a bucket or bird fountain. The important part is using it to gradually draw the bees and wasps away from the pool area.

The best time to this is before you open your pool. This helps the bees get familiarized and accustomed to the water source.

Simply fill the container up with water, add a sponge or two to give the bees a safe place to hang out, and you’re good to go.

If you’re dealing exclusively with wasps, try putting the water source near their nest. Use old pool water to attract them faster. To them from hanging around in the future, try to keep your water as clean and odor-free as possible.

Call a beekeeper

If you can find the bee’s nest, a simple solution could be to call a beekeeper. They’ll come by to remove the nest and safely relocate the bees. That way, you end up with a bee free pool, and the bees keep pollinating to their heart’s content.

Closing thoughts

Using a combination of these methods can help you alleviate your wasp/bee problem in no time. Of course, once the bees and wasps are gone, keeping the pool clean all summer becomes the new challenge. But it doesn’t have to be!

You can use a number of common household products to clean your pool. And keeping the water balanced is easy when you use a pool care schedule.

Have your own way to keep bees or wasps away? Let us know