[Jackam]

I've heard that soapy water will kill a honeybee because the soap clings to the body and they suffocate.

If this is true, wouldn't sugar water tend to do the same thing just before installing a package?

 

[kenargo]

Sugar water doesn't make bubbles of substance (soap bubbles have a skin) so no, it doesn't kill them like soapy water does. Honestly I've never heard about soapy water and honey bees but it is a common way to kill YJs so I suspect it would do equally well at killing honey bees.

 

[Riverderwent]

"If this is true, wouldn't sugar water tend to do the same thing just before installing a package?"
No.

 

[Michael Bush]

>If this is true, wouldn't sugar water tend to do the same thing just before installing a package?

It doesn't make a bubble, but if you put too much syrup on them, yes, it will kill them. I would NOT spray them with sugar water. Ever.

http://www.bushfarms.com/beespackages.htm

 

[mala54]

be sure you label your spray bottles! I sprayed an entire colony with what I thought was sugar water only to realize I had changed the contents of that bottle to insecticide! I killed the entire colony!!

 

[mrobinson]

Spray them with ordinary water, with a couple drops of peppermint-oil (the essential-oil ...) added. This seems to disrupt the alarm-pheromone: if you happen to get stung, spray the sting-site before removing the stinger.

I've never used a smoker. Discovering that their wings are suddenly wet gives them other things to think about. (Having a top-bar hive also helps, because I don't have to rip their world apart to work with it.)