I accidentally disturbed a nest in the ground of sweat bees while weed eating. They swarmed over me and the weed eater. I have to say, their stings were very painful, 6 to 8 on my legs, hand and arms. This was not expected, and contradicts some of what I have read since. Swelling and severe pain was experienced. These were brown/black with yellow stripes, 1/2-inch in length.
My first thought is that you may have encountered something other than a common sweat bee. Typically sweat bees live in the ground but they don’t “attack” or swarm like you’ve described. However, they look a lot like a yellow jacket and the two are commonly mistaken for one another. If you compare a SWEAT BEE and a YELLOW JACKET, you’ll note they have a similar pattern. Additionally, there are different species of both distributed throughout the country and many are so similar it’s easy to mistake one for the other.
Another type of bee it could have been is the common DIGGER WASP. They can and will sting and though generally not aggressive, they do group up in great numbers different times of the year. Regardless of what you have active on the property, I suggest you treat the nest using the products and treatment methods listed in our Digger Wasp article. If you now think they’re yellow jackets (which commonly nest in the ground too), treat them as explained in our YELLOWJACKET CONTROL ARTICLE.
Sweat Bee Picture: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweat_bee
Yellow Jacket Picture: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_jacket
Digger Wasp Article: http://www.bugspray.com/articles99/diggerwasps.html
Yellowjacket Control Article: http://www.bugspray.com/article/yellowjackets.html
robin starcher says
July 21, 2011 at 2:54 pmi have an above ground pool. the sweat bees are terrible. they land on the water and if you come into contact with them they will sting you. you do not have to do anything to them. it seems like no matter how often i try to skim them off of the water more show up. the sting is painful and leaves a welt on you. i think that sometimes one of the sweat bee will sting multiple times. what can i do to get rid of the sweat bees. desperate in wv.
thank you
Tech Support says
July 21, 2011 at 3:10 pm@robin starcher: Apply some Killit Aglaecide to the water. This product is generally used to control algae in pools and spas but will also keep flying pests from landing on the surface. This happens because this product changes the water surface tension. Basically it reduces the tension so mold and algae can’t land and properly develop. Wasps and bees will be able to detect this change and will avoid the water because without surface tension strong enough to support them, they cannot land on it. Killit is easy to use and will provide instant results. You sill might see them trying for a few days but they will quickly reroute their fly patterns elsewhere.
Technical Support
U-Spray Bugspray
http://www.bugspray.com
1-800-877-7290
Wanda Ahrens says
March 12, 2016 at 4:42 pm@robin starcher: Hi Robin, I’m equally desperate for the exact same issue. Our above ground pool has the exact same problem you described. I’m curious if you tried this method, and if it helped. My son runs back in the house as soon as they start landing on the water. And our friends young kids will cry when they get stung. Need help ASAP!!!
Tech Support says
March 13, 2016 at 8:30 amGo with the Kill-It Algaecide. Its easy to use and will keep them away immediately.
Pat Krieger says
October 13, 2011 at 12:40 pmwE HAVE SWEAT BEES DOWN BY THE LAKE. tHEY GOT IN OUR BOAT AND BURLED UNDER THER SEAT AND WE USED ALOT OF SPRAY AND DEFOGGER TO GET RID OF THEM. WE THOUGHT THAT THEY WERE GONE. WE MOVED THE BOAT AND NOW THEY ARE BACK AND SEEM TO BE IN THE GRASS. CAN WE USE THE CYFLUTHRIN GRANULES OR CYONRA? CAN YOU BY THIS IN LOCAL STORES LIKE HOME DEPOT? tHANK YOU, PAT KRIEGER
Tech Support says
October 13, 2011 at 10:20 pm@Pat Krieger: The Cyfluthrin Granules have been replaced by these:
http://www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/granule/complete-insect-killer-granules
Sprinkle them out over the infested area. Next, spray the Cyonara over the top:
http://www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/liquid/cyonara-32-oz-rts
The Cyonara will kill them quickly but you’ll need the longer lasting granules to get all the ones still nesting down deep. And no, I don’t think you’ll be able to find either locally as they’re kind of unique products with limited distribution.
Cathy says
October 18, 2011 at 9:13 pmThis afternoon, while attending some flowers that I’d planted over the last 2-3 weeks, I heard what sounded like a squirrel or rabbit chewing/gnawing on something. The sound seemed to be coming from under some bushes right next to me. As there is room beneath the bushes I bent over to take a look. I discovered the sound was coming from inside the evergreen bush next to my ear. I pulled back, and noticed a tunnel approximately 3″ in diameter bored into the center of the bush. Almost immediately small bees began flying out. I quickly turned and entered my screened-in porch, from where I observed the bees flying rapidly in and out of the tunnel. I noticed one bee, about 1/2″ long, hovering over a pansy, almost like a hummingbird. My guess is that they are sweat bees. As the nest is located less than four feet from my porch door, I am wondering if they are aggressive, and a threat to my dog or me (I am allergic to bee and wasp stings). The speed with which the nest seemed to appear disturbs me, as I didn’t notice any bee activity even as recently as yesterday. How do I get rid of the nest, especially as the bush can have many avenues of escape?
Tech Support says
October 19, 2011 at 8:11 am@Cathy: I would treat in the evening, preferably after dark, when all of the nests occupants will be inside and vulnerable. As for the products to use; there are a couple of ways to proceed that should do the job. The first would be to treat the main hole you see. True there could be another hole but if you treat the first one with Drione Dust, there is a good chance you’ll do enough damage to shut them down without them having a chance to use any other hole. Drione is unique in that it floats around and can penetrate several feet down, much like smoke, and get every last one of them. Use a Hand Duster to apply it. If you dress up in long sleeved clothing and wear several layers, there is little chance of getting stung as the treatment will only take 5 seconds if done properly. Basically you’ll place the duster at the hole and start squeezing it rapidly to get the dust to flow. 4-5 full squeezes will be plenty. By the next morning the nest should be dead. You can see the dust and hand duster here:
Drione: http://www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/dust/drione-dust
Hand Duster: http://www.bugspraycart.com/equipment/dusters/crusader
This would be the preferred treatment over a liquid because it’s hard for liquid to penetrate all the way down to the bottom of the nest. And by design, liquids will rarely have a chance to flood these nests completely so it’s a 50-50 chance with liquid. But dust will move, bend and distribute over all the galleries and tunnels of their nest which is critical to getting uniform coverage. Still, if you want to give the liquid a try, you could get at least 1 oz of Cypermethrin, mix it up in a bucket and then pour it down the hole. This would effectively be “drenching” the nest and if the liquid is able to distribute uniformly down and all around the galleries, it would do the job instantly too. By the next day the nest should be dead.
Cypermethrin: http://www.bugspraycart.com/insecticide/liquid/viper-cypermethrin