As bee advocates, we believe educating the public on no-kill bee trapping solutions is a vital step in protecting bees and people. Humans couldn’t survive without the important pollination work bees do for us, but sometimes bees pose risks that require us to transport them to another location. Using the best bee trap to move bees can safeguard both the bee and the user. In this review, we answer all your bee trap questions and present the best bee trap options for professional and casual use.
Best Bee Trap FAQ
People who are only beginning to learn about beekeeping often share the same questions about how to handle bees when they’ve migrated from designated areas. This section aims to explain these questions while offering ethical and eco-friendly solutions for managing bees.
1. What Is a Bee Trap?
A bee trap is a container used to lure in bees. Bee traps come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and materials. They make some of the best bee traps from all-natural materials like wood and glass. Other effective bee traps look similar to a garment bag. No matter the appearance, they design all bee traps to house bees to move them elsewhere.
2. Who Needs a Bee Trap?
Experienced beekeepers know how to handle bees and have all the equipment needed to transport them away from sensitive areas safely. However, unless you have beekeeping experience, a bee trap might be a good option for you. Below we highlight some reasons you might use a bee trap.
Allergies
Fortunately, relatively few people experience severe allergic reactions to bee stings, but for those with bee allergies, people a sting can be deadly. Many people reach for the best bee trap when they want to eliminate the possibility of severe adverse reactions for those with bee allergies.
Aggressive Behavior
Mostly bees keep to themselves unless provoked, but certain bee species are more aggressive than others. Africanized honey bees, living in many southern US states are among the more aggressive species. Bee traps are a humane option for luring aggressive bees away from high-traffic areas of the home.
Beekeepers
To create a new colony, beekeepers use bee traps or swarm traps to simulate a hive environment. We call this process swarming. Beekeepers create new swarms for several reasons, but the most common cause is overcrowding. The best solution to inefficient, overcrowded hive conditions is to offer bees a new place to work. Some of the best bee trap options in our review are for these purposes.
Children
Although adults are at a higher risk for medical issues from bee stings, many parents and guardians want to protect children from stings. Curious children are also more likely to engage with bees and thereby provoke aggressive behavior. Removing bees with traps from areas where children play is sometimes the kindest option for children and the bees.
General Stings
Although stings aren’t dangerous to most people, they aren’t a fun experience. Pain, swelling, and other unsavory symptoms can be a damper on an otherwise delightful day. We all want to save the bees, but handling them is best left to the professionals. Traps enforce the right amount of boundary between an inexperienced handler and the bees.
Springtime Squatters
Flourishing bee colonies split in half every spring because there are more bees than space in the hive. Beekeepers and the bee-wise know that these bees need some place to go. The bees are liable to take up residence in architectural structures around a home without the permission of the property owner if they don’t have elsewhere to go. The best bee trap options offer a safe space for bees to live and work that doesn’t attach to the siding or gutters of a home.
3. What Do You Put in a Bee Trap to Attract Bees?
DIY Concoctions
Making bee lure at home from pure ingredients is the best way to attract bees naturally and safely. Because bees have a fondness for citral, a lemon-scented compound found in plants, using a citral essential oil is the best way to lure in bees. To apply, cover a cotton pad or cotton ball with citral or lemongrass oil and place in the trap. Wood and old honeycomb are also attractive smells to bees.
Regular table sugar is another tasty and natural lure for bees. To make a bee lure from sugar, mix one-part distilled water for two parts white cane sugar in a pot. Stirring constantly, cook the mixture on medium heat until all the sugar has dissolved. Add this mixture to a cotton ball to attract bees.
Commercial Products
There are many products online that claim to lure in bees, and many of them work effectively. Be sure to read the ingredients in these products before using them in a bee trap. If the ingredients sound like chemicals or pesticides, do not use them. To protect them, always use non-toxic ingredients to lure in bees.
4. How Do I Keep Bees Away Without Killing Them?
Just like humans, bees have preferences. Some smells are repulsive to bees and using these will keep them away from sensitive areas of your property naturally.
Cinnamon
Cinnamon is bee kryptonite. It’s a non-toxic spice that won’t hurt bees but also drives them out of places we want to ourselves. Sprinkle powdered cinnamon around areas of your home you don’t want bees to populate.
Strategic Planting
Bees can’t stand the scents of certain plants. By strategic planting these them around decks and play areas, you can discourage bees from hanging out there. Plants that bees don’t like include:
- Basil
- Cucumber
- Eucalyptus
- Geraniums
- Lemongrass
- Marigold
Vinegar and Water
Vinegar mixed with water is one of the most effective tools for keeping bees away. Spray a solution of half vinegar and half water on around patio furniture and outdoor spaces you want to stay free from bees.
5. Why Should I Use a No-Kill Bee Trap?
If you aren’t a beekeeper, you may wonder why no-kill traps are essential. There are over 20,000 bee species in the world, and only some of them create honey. Bees are pollinators which means they help plants grow. Without pollination, plants do not grow. Without plants, humans and other creatures cannot survive. Because bees are vitally important to our ecosystem, we must protect them.
6. Who Do I Call to Report a Beehive?
If you have an unwanted beehive on your property, call a professional beekeeper to transport it away safely. Do not risk hurting yourself or the hive by attempting to remove it yourself. A beekeeper moves the hive away, harming the bees.
How We Reviewed
To compile this review of the ten best no-kill bee traps, we looked at each option’s features, budget, eco-friendliness, and effectiveness. We considered options for skilled beekeepers and for people inexperienced with the handling of bees who want a more compassionate way to move bees away from populated areas.
We’ve also looked for solutions for different bee trapping needs. Whether you are looking to control a swarm, segregate a queen, or provide a nest for carpenter bees, we’ve presented the best bee trap options below.
Blythewood Bee Company Wood Pulp Honeybee Swarm Trap
Features
For the most eco-friendly (and biodegradable) approach to trapping swarms the Blythewood Bee Company Wood Pulp Trap is the way to go. This water-resistant trap is durable, easy to use, and made entirely of molded wood pulp fiber. Considered a ‘cone style trap’ the design is similar to a large planter with a lid but resembles a natural beehive more than most traps. When used with natural bee lure, the naturally constructed Wood Pulp Swarm trap gives bees a cozy home to set up shop.
RefuBees Swarm Trap
Features
Other than winning the award for the most clever brand name, the RefuBees Swarm Trap has a lot to offer beekeepers managing new swarms. The environmentally conscious trap holds six traditional plastic or wooden frames (not included) to propagate a healthy new colony. The functional design allows for ongoing use and stacking for simple storing. The package includes the two story swarm trap, construction hardware, and two complementary vials of swarm lure.
CBS Our Best Carpenter Bee Trap
Features
Carpenter bees aren’t dangerous to humans but can be destructive to wooden elements on a home. As a result, CBS Best Carpenter Bee Trap made from natural wood and a glass jar is one solution for trapping bees before they burrow into your home. The all-weather design makes this trap an excellent no-kill option to hang high in trees away from the hubbub of daily life. Used with natural bee lure, carpenter bees nest in the trap’s wooden structure to find a safe home away from yours.
Mac’s LLC Carpenter Bee Trap Natural Wood
Features
The more, the merrier is the Mac’s LLC motto; that’s why the company offers this four-pack of carpenter bee traps made with Douglas Fir wood, tree bark, and a glass Mason jar. The company warns that the natural wood is prone to cracking, but this doesn’t impact its attractiveness to carpenter bees. Mac’s LLC Carpenter Bee Traps are ready to go straight out of the box for bee transferring year after year.
TOPINCIN Black Bee Cage
Features
TOPINCN’s tiered Black Bee Cage is a safe and effective measure for swarm transport. Heavy-duty polyurethane-coated leather and cloth lined with triple layers of steel wire separate the swarm from the body. Equipped with a user-friendly top loop for swift hoisting and an extended drawstring closure, the Black Bee Cage provides an expedient and functional design.
UEETEK Transparent Plastic Clip Queen Bee Cage Catcher
Features
If you’ve already accumulated a wealth of beekeeping experience, you could be in the business of queen trapping. If this is you, the UEETEK Transparent Plastic Clip Queen Bee Cage Catcher is one of the best bee trap options. The set of five clear, plastic queen traps allow for a quick and efficient way to quarantine the queen while working with a colony. Each spring-tension clip provides enough room for the queen, but not enough room for her to escape. Worker bees can freely move out of the trap.
The Verdict
Because the best bee trap is always the most humane bee trap, we believe any of the options in our best bee trap review are worthy of praise. Each trap offers environmentally conscious and no-kill solutions for the safe transport of bees by keepers and friends of bees alike.
