Wacky Pest Wednesday: Bees

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Happy Wednesday, Tri-County Pest Control fans! We know that these are strange times with our regular routines being upended, but we here with another edition of Wacky Pest Wednesday to give some sense of normalcy–and to give you plenty of fun facts about all the strange critters out there. Please join us this week as we go over a springtime pest that you’re sure to see once the weather gets warmer: bees.

Whenever we think of bees, we think of warm weather and blooming flowers, and for the most part, bees deserve this reputation of happiness. They have certainly earned the nickname of “nature’s pollinator,” as many of the beautiful flowers adorning the springtime weather and the fresh food we eat on a daily basis can be directly attributed to the work of bees. However, this does not mean that all bees are perfectly fine and that no bees pose a threat—just like with spiders or other largely beneficial pests, there are good ones and bad ones.

For example, the honeybee is certainly a bee that you want to have flying around your home, especially if you have a garden.  Honeybees do a great job at helping flowers grow, as they are an integral part of your local ecosystem no matter where you live.  On the other hand, a honeybee’s larger and clunkier cousin, the carpenter bee, may not be the best house guest. These guys will drill holes in anything and everything made of wood that you have around your home.  Decks, decor, logs, and everything in between will make for a perfect nesting place for the carpenter bee, which is why it is considered one of the more “pestier” bees.

While we don’t recommend dealing with bees on your own, you can try to make some of your own traps to deal with a carpenter bee problem—there are plenty of good DIY guides that you can find online.  However, if you see a beehive that you want removed, then it may be time to call in the professionals. Bees will only sting as a last resort, but keep in mind that every hive has its own division of “soldier bees” that will attack if provoked—say if you went after the hive with a baseball bat or some of those DIY pest-removal sprays.

Did you know that in addition to pollinating and making honey, bees help society catch serial killers?  Bees gather pollen from sources that are far enough from the hive to where predators cannot follow them back, but close enough to make a quick return to their hive if need be.  Turns out, serial killers have a similar tendency, and through rigorous studies and a few algorithms, data scientists have improved the computer model that police use to track down suspects, and it has worked with some pretty impressive accuracy.  You can read more about this fascinating concept here, and maybe you’ll hear about it during your podcast binge during social distancing!

Enjoy your Wednesday, and please remember to wash your hands!

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