Friday, June 17, 2011

Make a Bee Catcher...For Free!

It's bee season. They are everywhere. Most people will buy sprays, which are not great to have around if you have children in your household. Or the other alternative is to run from them like a crazy person. I have a great suggestion that my grandma told me about when my daughter was first born and we had a huge bee problem in our backyard. In fact my grandma still uses this method to keep the bees away.

Items you will need:

1 Empty 2 Liter Soda Bottle
About 12-16 inches of rope or chain
1 Pair of scissors
Dish Soap
Water
Meat (more about that later)

First remove any labels from the 2 Liter Soda Bottle. Take the scissors and cut a hole about 3 inches by 3 inches right in the middle of the bottle. Then on the other side of the bottle but another hole 3 inches by 3 inches. Now remove the cap from the two liter bottle. A good pair of scissors will work just fine, but if you have a drill around the house you can use that as well. If you are using scissors press down right in the middle of the lid with the scissors till a small hole appears. The caps are not that strong and a pair of scissors will work just fine. You don't want a huge hole, just big enough to pull the rope or chain through.

You can use whatever you have around the house for the next part, I used a small chain (they can be purchased at your local home improvement store for about $1.00) I pulled the chain through the cap and brought it down to where the two hole are in the two liter bottle. See the picture.

Use a pair of pliers and open the last chain that is hanging in front of the hole, open it enough so that it resembles a hook. The cap should screw back on just fine. The rest of the chain is what you will use to hang from a tree or your house. If the chain feels like it is moving a lot from the bottle cap (because of the hold you created to get the chain to go through) take the bottle cap off and either tie a piece of string to the chain inside the cap so that the chain can't move.

Next add 2-4 drops of dish soap to the bottom of the 2 liter bottle. Then fill it up with a 1/2 cup of water. Next you want to hang a piece of meat to that hook you created. The meat will hang right in the middle of the two holes that you cut out. You can use any kind of meat. Leftovers from dinner, piece of hot dog, etc. The bees are attracted to the meat, but once they fly into the container to get to the meat, they become trapped in the soapy water.

A good rule is, when you have about a dozen bees empty the soapy water in the trash and start over with a new piece of meat and fresh soapy water. Yes, this does kill the bees. But think about how much safer it is for

the family. No more dead bees on the lawn or patio so that people step on them. And you don't have to worry about the toxic spray around the children in your family. This is a great free way to get rid of bees in your backyard.

If you have any questions on how to put this together, email me joe7807@gmail.com or @greetingstogo.

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