# Alternate Weedkiller
**URL:** https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/alternate-weedkiller/3215
**Category:** General Bee Chat
**Created:** [September 10, 2015, 10:05am UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/alternate-weedkiller/3215 "2015-09-10T10:05:34Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Scottn1au](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Scottn1au)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2015, 10:05am UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/alternate-weedkiller/3215/1 "2015-09-10T10:05:34Z")
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?
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### Author:  [@Valli](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Valli)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2015, 10:24am UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/alternate-weedkiller/3215/2 "2015-09-10T10:24:10Z")
Pour salt on weeds but it may kill things close by - unless it is in a path
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### Author:  [@Dee](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Dee)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2015, 12:48pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/alternate-weedkiller/3215/3 "2015-09-10T12:48:03Z")
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!
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### Author:  [@adagna](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/adagna)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2015, 5:39pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/alternate-weedkiller/3215/4 "2015-09-10T17:39:04Z")
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.
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### Author:  [@PaintedProse](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/PaintedProse)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2015, 9:26pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/alternate-weedkiller/3215/5 "2015-09-10T21:26:27Z")
You can use vinegar but be careful, it can kill surrounding plants too.
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### Author:  [@Rodderick](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Rodderick)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2015, 1:48am UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/alternate-weedkiller/3215/6 "2015-09-11T01:48:30Z")
Boiling water is pretty good, but will also kill any beneficial life in the soil, so use this method sparingly or on paths.
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### Author:  [@DextersShed](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/DextersShed)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2015, 5:04pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/alternate-weedkiller/3215/7 "2015-09-11T17:04:31Z")
This post was flagged by the community and is temporarily hidden.
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### Author:  [@EleebanaBees](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/EleebanaBees)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2015, 11:12pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/alternate-weedkiller/3215/8 "2015-09-11T23:12:49Z")
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”.
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### Author:  [@Scottn1au](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Scottn1au)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2015, 9:42am UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/alternate-weedkiller/3215/9 "2015-09-13T09:42:41Z")
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.
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### Author:  [@Scottn1au](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Scottn1au)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2015, 9:53am UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/alternate-weedkiller/3215/10 "2015-09-13T09:53:15Z")
I was thinking of adding dish washing detergent to the vinegar. Apparently the detergent helps it stick to the weeds better.
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### Author:  [@Anon](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Anon)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2015, 12:54pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/alternate-weedkiller/3215/11 "2015-09-13T12:54:57Z")
Most weeds are wildflowers but when they have to be removed I use these organic weed killers 
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### Author:  [@Dee](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Dee)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2015, 3:51pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/alternate-weedkiller/3215/12 "2015-09-13T15:51:36Z")
In which case use a garden blow torch ?
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### Author:  [@sempro](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/sempro)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2015, 7:20am UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/alternate-weedkiller/3215/13 "2015-10-23T07:20:44Z")
I use this method as well… Make sure the water is boiling hot, otherwise you will be watering the weeds
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### Author:  [@JeffH](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/JeffH)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2015, 10:15am UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/alternate-weedkiller/3215/14 "2015-10-23T10:15:33Z")
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.
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### Author:  [@Dee](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Dee)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2015, 12:06pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/alternate-weedkiller/3215/15 "2015-10-23T12:06:53Z")
> [@JeffH](#):
>
> Someone jokingly mentioned a blow torch
I meant one of those garden ones that you use to flame weeds.
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### Author:  [@Valli](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Valli)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2015, 5:29pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/alternate-weedkiller/3215/16 "2015-10-23T17:29:56Z")
@JeffH Jeff why would anyone in their right mind use Roundup??
1. I’t a subsidiary of Monsanto
2. It Kills Bees
3. It Kills other pollinators
4. It’s Carcinogenic
5. It gets into the table water - especially where you are
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### Author:  [@JeffH](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/JeffH)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2015, 8:48pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/alternate-weedkiller/3215/17 "2015-10-23T20:48:09Z")
@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.
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### Author:  [@Valli](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Valli)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2015, 8:49pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/alternate-weedkiller/3215/18 "2015-10-23T20:49:32Z")
Sorry, if we encourage these companies by buying their products, we are no better than the companies that supply it
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### Author:  [@JeffH](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/JeffH)
#### Post date: [October 23, 2015, 8:54pm UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/alternate-weedkiller/3215/19 "2015-10-23T20:54:37Z")
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.
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### Author:  [@Hailey\_Dunphy](https://forum.honeyflow.com/u/Hailey_Dunphy)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2018, 8:50am UTC](https://forum.honeyflow.com/t/alternate-weedkiller/3215/20 "2018-03-30T08:50:02Z")
The [best weed killer](https://www.cfone.net/best-weed-killer.html) I 've tried is hiring goats, pour vinegar, or you can try other [weed killer](https://www.cfone.net/best-weed-killer.html) such as: PBI/Gordon 652400 Speed Zone Lawn Weed Killer.
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