Grow These Plants to Keep Bees Away From Your Garden This Summer
Summer means more time outside, and fresh flowers and garden plants make that time better — but they can also invite more bees than you’d like, especially if anyone in your household is allergic. The good news: you don’t have to give up the garden. A few plant choices can naturally keep bees at a distance without harming them.
Mint
Bees can’t stand the strong aroma mint gives off, even though people generally love it. Mint prefers shade, so you don’t need full sun, and it spreads quickly — plant it somewhere it has room to run, or in a container if you want to keep it contained.
Wormwood
Wormwood releases a pungent scent that bees and wasps read as a warning sign and tend to avoid. It’s also the plant absinthe is distilled from — but be careful with it in the garden: wormwood can be toxic to nearby plants, so give it its own space, full sun, and well-drained soil. Beyond that, it needs very little care.
Basil
Basil earns its spot in a garden twice over — it’s a genuinely useful kitchen herb, and its aroma repels bees at the same time. It needs six to eight hours of direct sun a day, which makes it a natural fit for a Texas summer.
Pitcher Plants
These are the dramatic option — carnivorous plants that actually consume bees and wasps for nutrients. They’re pickier to maintain (rainwater or distilled water only, frequent direct sun), and we’d rather point you toward a gentler option: bees are essential to the ecosystem, and there’s no need to actively reduce their numbers when a scent-based deterrent does the job just as well.
Cucumber Plants
Bees don’t care for the acidic peel of cucumbers, which makes cucumber plants a nice dual-purpose choice — they discourage bees and give you fresh produce all summer. If you don’t want to grow them yourself, even scattering cucumber peels around the garden can help keep bees at a distance.
If Bees Have Already Moved In
Plant choices help keep bees from lingering in your yard, but they won’t do anything for a colony that’s already inside a wall, soffit, or attic. If that’s what you’re dealing with, we’re a beekeeping family that’s handled North Texas homes for over 45 years — we’ll tell you honestly whether it’s a save-the-hive situation or a removal, lay out your options, and give you the price before we ever head your way.
