For years I have been using weedkillers like Round Up and Yates to keep control of my yard because one thing I really hate doing is pulling weeds. This season I’m getting my first bees so I will have to change my ways. What’s a good alternative for Weedkiller that won’t harm bees?
Pour salt on weeds but it may kill things close by - unless it is in a path
1 Like
My hives are in a field on a stand. The stand/s are on weed supressant membrane with gravel chippings on top.
Time to get that done before boxes are in place. It works well.
Or do you mean your whole area?
Then roll your sleeves up!
1 Like
pay a neighborhood kid to do it 
How big of an area are you talking about, and how many weeds? I would say the weed cloth would be a good option but only if you are going to cover with wood chips or gravel. Which might be expensive depending on the area to be covered.
1 Like
You can use vinegar but be careful, it can kill surrounding plants too.
1 Like
Boiling water is pretty good, but will also kill any beneficial life in the soil, so use this method sparingly or on paths.
1 Like
Yes…maybe I need to rethink my view of what “weeds” are for and whether to control them or not. I have never even thought of it before but now I think about it all the time. Bees seem to have changed my thinking about lots of things - for example Clover is now a “good thing”.
3 Likes
Thanks for the replies guys. The main areas I want to weed kill are on brick paving and paths with the weeds coming up between bricks. Also our gravel driveway and garden beds and along neighbouring fence lines to stop ivy and blackberries coming through. I like the vinegar idea, I might give that a try. Will be easy enough to fill up the backpack weedsprayer. We have a one acre block with about half an acre of grass area (more weeds than grass), I just mow it with lawnmower.
I was thinking of adding dish washing detergent to the vinegar. Apparently the detergent helps it stick to the weeds better.
1 Like
Most weeds are wildflowers but when they have to be removed I use these organic weed killers 
7 Likes
In which case use a garden blow torch ?
I use this method as well… Make sure the water is boiling hot, otherwise you will be watering the weeds
1 Like
Personally, I think you can safely use roundup, zero as long as you use it sparingly. It gets used around the hives I’m looking after at an orchard. The hives are doing extremely well. Your bees will do very little foraging in your own yard. Someone jokingly mentioned a blow torch, however I wonder how a heat gun would go, I don’t think that would be a silly idea. Anyway pulling a few weeds by hand isn’t all that bad.
I meant one of those garden ones that you use to flame weeds.
@JeffH Jeff why would anyone in their right mind use Roundup??
- I’t a subsidiary of Monsanto
- It Kills Bees
- It Kills other pollinators
- It’s Carcinogenic
- It gets into the table water - especially where you are
1 Like
@Valli, the bloke/lady is currently using roundup, you missed my point, my point being, “use it sparingly”, it wont effect his bees, his bees cover a vastly larger area than his/her backyard. I have calluses from pulling weeds. I don’t use weed sprays myself, but if other people have to use it, I encourage them to use it sparingly/responsibly. I don’t believe that using weed killers “sparingly/responsibly” in our backyards will effect our bees.
Sorry, if we encourage these companies by buying their products, we are no better than the companies that supply it
1 Like
Hi @Dee, I didn’t realize you could actually buy one for that purpose. I recently bought a heat gun, they sure put out some heat. I reckon one of those would work. Most of the weeds I pull are around my veges, so I’ll continue to pull them by hand.
The best weed killer I 've tried is hiring goats, pour vinegar, or you can try other weed killer such as: PBI/Gordon 652400 Speed Zone Lawn Weed Killer.
