How to Get Rid of Cicada Bees
Cicada bees, which are better known as cicada killer wasps, paralyze cicadas with their string, drag them back to their nest and let their larvae eat them alive. "Control measures are seldom required because cicada killer wasps rarely sting people and only fly as adults for less than two months" reports Rutgers Cooperative Extension. The solitary cicada bee usually create tunnels in sand boxes, golf courses and other sandy soils. Nests in these locales might bring the bee into contact with people and increase the chances of a sting. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
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Catch and kill the two-inch wasps with a butterfly net. This method controls male bees, which sting more often then female cicada bees.
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Don protective gear and insert the spraying end of an aerosol insecticide such as carbaryl (Sevin), bendiocarb (Ficam) and pyrethroids into the nest at dawn or dusk.
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Add fertilizer and/or lime to the sandy soil around the nest. Water regularly. Once thick grass grows over the nest, these seasonal bees--the wasps only live through the summer before dying--will select another site, as the bees prefer sandy soil. It may take a season or two to remove the wasps completely.
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References
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Comments
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This article seems inaccurate, extremely so.
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Um, you might want to check your facts. Please note the following from a University of Georgia Entomologist: Nancy Hinkle, an extension entomologist with the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. "The individuals patrolling the ground are males, which cannot sting and are harmless. Females are rarely seen because they are busy hunting cicadas and must be provoked to sting."
