Who hasn’t been bailed out by diatomaceous earth, basically a powder made of fossilized diatoms millions of years old? Keeping armies of slugs at bay, drawing a no-roach line between our apartment and our neighbors’ apartments, protecting seedlings from early season grubs and maggots. I’ve known people who’ve rubbed the stuff into their dog’s coat to stop fleas and heard that’s it’s a common big-city cure for bed bugs.
Diatomaceous earth has something of a miracle-cure reputation and it certainly is effective against many pests. It’s not a poison, but kills by scoring an insect’s hide as it crawls over the powder. Under the microscope, that powder looks like a pile of broken glass. There were suggestions that diatomaceous earth was an effective anthelmintic (a sort of cleanse, popularly known as worming) for sheep and goats, but a series of studies proved this not to be true.
Back when, trying to combat insect damage to my vegetables without the use of harmful chemicals, I heard DE was safe enough to eat. And, in a way, it is if bought as food-quality. But much of it isn’t and might even be dangerous if ingested. DE sold for pool maintenance and other filtering uses may have additional contaminants, including chlorine. It’s also been heated which concentrates its silica content. Much of the diatomaceous earth sold as OMRI listed (for organic use) is 85% silica or above. It contains naturally occurring remnants of crystalline silica, as fine as powdered beach sand. Like any mineral dust, you wouldn’t want to inhale it. Of course, there’s food grade diatomaceous earth that’s both recommended as a supplement for its healthy silica content and as an insect barrier around the house or in the garden.
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Diatomaceous earth works wonders on larvae, maggots, and grubs; anything that crawls over it. How many times have we kept slugs off our favorite plants with a circle of DE flour? It addition to its Jack-the-Ripper reputation on crawling bugs, it also works as a repellant on flea beetles and grasshoppers. And no, it doesn’t cut your fingers when you use it. It feels like chalk. But then, you’re not an insect. (You may still need to wear a mask when applying it.)
Because DE is so effective, we have to ask about its effects on honey bees and other pollinators. While it turns out the bees have some defense against the powder — those furry hairs that cover much of their bodies — DE is neither good for them or a desirable thing to have taken back to the hive. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be used cautiously with the bees in mind.
Pauly, over at Worm Farming Revealed, checked out the possible diatomaceous earth exposure and dangers to honeybees and concluded that knowing a few things about bees and DE takes away most of the risk. He cites Tui Rose’s book Going Green Using Diatomaceous Earth How-To-Tips on how bees are protected: “When Diatomaceous Earth is applied to crops or orchards, the honey bee tends to protect themselves by simply avoiding those blossoms already treated with DE. However, if DE does get on a bee’s body, it is covered with slick hairs that are able to help prevent dehydration of body fluids.”
We can’t confirm that bees avoid DE. The body hair theory makes perfect sense. (Amazingly, earthworms aren’t harmed by diatomaceous earth. They’ve got that slick gooey mucous layer that helps them slide through the soil.) But, Pauley, in his wisdom, comes up with the best advice: “It is my opinion that diatomaceous earth should only be used when necessary to eliminate an over infestation of pests in the garden.”
Others have suggested that proper application of Diatomaceous earth can cut down on the risk to bees and other pollinators. If you can, avoid using it on or near blossoms. You know where the bees are headed. Give ’em a break. Also, apply, be it spray or broadcast, when bees aren’t active. This means applying in the evening as bees move back to the hive for the night. I’ve seen some sources suggest that morning is fine, too, and preferable because it will utilize the morning dew to capture the DE. But bees get active early in the warm summer months. They’ll be arriving, if not during spraying, then before the moisture has a chance to evaporate and leave the DE harmless to bees.
To his credit, Pauly has gone for a second opinion and its not encouraging. He spoke with David Burns of Long Lane Honey Bee Farms in Fairmount, IL who blogs at Honey Bees Online: “DE controls insects by cutting their exoskeleton and unfortunately bees fall in that category. Not good for honey bees. They will attempt to groom off the DE and thus it will do its job on honey bees too. Sorry.”
So we have somewhat conflicting accounts. There’s always something that needs to be weighed in the balance between harm and good, even in the world of organic gardening. I’ll go out on a limb here and say that I personally would rather not use diatomaceous earth if my use will harm bees, even in small numbers. Bees are in crisis now and we need to protect them all.
Still, I’d use DE on the ground to keep slugs away. And I’d consider spot usage say if a pepper plant suddenly harbors clots of aphids. See? I’ve already made exception to what sounded like an absolute decision. Used with care and consideration for bee activity, DE is still, in my book, the miracle cure. Let us know what shade of gray you are on this issue, here in comments (way) below, or on Facebook. (hasn’t that been an interesting place lately?). And be sure to tell us the extent and kind of the insect problems in which you’d employ diatomaceous earth. Anybody taking it as a supplement?
Eric Vinje founded Planet Natural with his father Wayne in 1991, originally running it as a grasshopper bait mail-order business out of a garage.
Eric is now retired, but is still a renowned gardener known for his expertise in composting, organic gardening and pest control, utilizing pesticide-free options, such as beneficial insects.
Eric believes when you do something good for the environment, the effects will benefit generations to come.
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42 Responses to “Diatomaceous Earth and Bees”
I take 2tbsp daily, also add to chicken feed as well. Love it!
I have been researching DE to help with snails. It sounds as tho it won’t help control them? Anyway, DE is recommended for a supplement for humans. Can anyone tell me if they have used DE fas a supplement and what they have experienced?…results? The research says it is close to a miracle!! Anyone? Arthritis, hair, nails, a detox for liver….It sounds safe for humans but I always check these supplements.
Dear sirs, our family uses DE daily, we use it in smoothies, yogurt, shakes, and even in our homemade cookies and cakes, my wife and I know it’s there but the kids don’t (lol). DE has no taste but does have a gritty texture to it. The purpose of it is to “purge” your intestines so once you get past the grittiness you will enjoy the results. Make sure you use the “FOOD GRADE” selection.
I take DE to combat the chemtrails. But beware, DE will pull heavy metals out of fat storage, into the blood stream, and that is a good thing to detox the body. BUT if you take to much at the start you will flood the blood stream with toxins resulting in vertigo, numbness, brain fog, basically all the symptoms of heavy metal poisoning. I know, I did it to myself. Start slow, 1/8th to 1/4 teaspoon a day for a week and build u increasing by 1/4 t. .Especially us old codgers, we have decades of toxins stored in our fat.
Can’t be beat for cleaning. I have a protocol I use 2t + 2T dawn in 16 oz sprayer. Kills spiders, ants, flies (in mid air), haven’t found a bug it hasn’t killed. I use the spray to clean all kinds of surfaces. When I dab a sponge into a little DE and use the Dawn spray it cleans EVERYTHING, Pots & Pans, sinks, Tubs, showers, faucets. I don’t use it on glass 2 drops of Dawn in a 16 oz sprayer will do the trick. Combine baking soda and vinegar for stubborn burned on food on my oven door and to keep my drains clear (I’m on a septic system).
I use it on fire ant beds – especially when they’ve decided that my raised gardens are there for them & I can’t get into them anymore. But I only put it on the ground / on their mounds. Death to the ant!!!
Cornmeal worked for a big patch of ants that lived under my newspaper mulch.
Thanks so much for this! I was looking for information about this and I appreciate your balanced approach. Slugs are infesting my strawberry patch. I am going to use DE very cautiously now and go to great lengths to avoid the blossoms near my strawberries.
I put DE around the base of my tomato and pepper plants. Also around the base of the pots for my potted plants. The ants always take over every pot that has soil in it. I just did it yesterday, so I don’t know if it’s working yet. I made sure to avoid any blossoms in case it was dangerous to bees. I then thought about the earthworms and worried about them. Then I decided to look it up. Thank you for the information.
I used it for Mosquitos. It worked great! I live in the woods and we have had a lot of rain. The population was horrendous. We dusted the air twice, in early am then pm. It was amazing.. I did try not to spray Flowers for bees and water edges for dragon flies, but I would recommend it.
I water off my DE because I found a bee struggling with half body dried out, felt so bad! I did not apply on flowers, just trunks of lilies and mixed green veggies because we have red lily beetle and a slug infestation.
They die in 2 days but the little scorpions are not affected, still alive and biting me!
So you found this worked on lily beetles? I use DE on my veggies and just got lily beetles for the first time.
I live in Minnesota so I bring in my tropicals inside during cold season. One of my limes had an “infestation” of ants because it had scales, much as I hated killing the ants, I couldn’t bring them indoors. I first sprayed it with a soap (not to the point of soapy) and water solution. I then sprayed it all over with diatomaceous earth. I got rid of the ants and seems to have killed the scale also. I made sure there were no blooms open to protect the bees just in case. I just removed any that were.
I have a terrible problem with ants going into my hives. I am curious of the effectiveness and whether or not it will harm my bees, if we sprinkle some around the base of the stand on the ground.
Lori –
I think Diatomaceous Earth would work well here and probably not impact your bees if applied on the ground. You may also want to consider TangleTrap Pest Barrier to keep ants from climbing the stand. Here’s a link.
https://www.planetnatural.com/product/tree-tanglefoot-insect-barrier/
Hope it helps!
As a beekeeper seeking non-pesticide methods to fight varroa mites and small hive beetles, I wondered if anyone has tried DE in the bee yard right around the bases of hives? It seems like a perfect application since bees fly into their hives. Any one have experience with this???
I am curious to know as well.
I have just dusted around all my hives, heavily, for Small Hive Beetle larvae, which mature in the soil under the hive and then fly back in as adult beetles. We’ll see…
Nats how did sprinkling diatomaceous earth on the ground effect the black beetles ? I saw 10 beetles on top of my brooder frames when I removed the top lid, I made and use a vinyl plastic window on top of my brooder super, allowing me to see the bees without disturbing them.
I will be leaving on a 3 week camping trip early Monday morning Sept 18, hope to hear from you b 4 then. I’m a hobby bee keeper. I wonder if I mixed some with water and sprayed the ground around the base of the supers , have you tried that? I just sprinkled the powder on and around the ground up to about one foot from the supers edges and under the stand, and also put some on the tray under my screen bottom board yesterday, the bees aren’t able to access the tray so I thought that wouldn’t hurt the bees. . Leonard
DE is the only thing that has helped me with my ant problem. Harsh chemicals didn’t even work this well. I apply it in a huge circle around my entire house and on my wire holes, bricks, etc. When it rains, it seeps down into the crannys the ants travel, and boom, no more ants. It’s a miracle worker. Helps with fleas and ticks in my dog runs as well. Careful not to disturb the bees… we have a lot of blooms here.
I want to get bees in the spring. Have all the gear ready, been going to local beekeepers meetings to learn as much as possible before I take the plunge. They discussed varroa mites during the last meeting. Chemical treatments were the only thing they all agreed on. They justified it by saying they take the honey supers of during treatment. I really do not trust this, these chemicals have to permeate the wood in the hive. If anyone has used DE to destroy Varroa mites without harming their bees, PLEASE let everyone know. I cannot bear the though of using chemicals on them.
Hi Caroll; Did anyone respond some thing positive about controlling mites on our bees? I’d like to find something that helps control mites, I think a strong colony is essential. I once had a colony that was loaded with mites and it produced 90 pounds of honey anyway? Leonard in california
Cinnamon around the base of hives keeps ants away.
I purchased this product as a harmless treatment for the small hive beetle which has destroyed one of my hives. I read this was a good treatment to apply on the ground. After reading some of these reviews I am now cautious to apply on the ground around hives. Has anyone used this safely around bees????
Thank you for this article! I got some DE, but am concerned about harming beneficial garden dwellers.
Along with bees, I am concerned about harming all the friendly & helpful spiders in my garden. Does anyone have advice on how to apply DE to get rid of cucumber beetles without disrupting the good guys?
Thanks “Bee” (above poster) for bringing this up, as no one else seems to have thought of it. As natural and organic gardeners, we are supposed to be thinking of the health of the soil as a whole system. There are thousands of species of invertebrates living in yard and garden soil. Now I don’t have any data on this (I guess there isn’t any) but it seems pretty intuitive to me that if you are dumping DE on your soil, especially in “huge” amounts as poster “stacy” mentions above, it is not just going to affect the things you know about (ie ants) but also many, many things you do not know about, a lot of which may be a critical part of the food web of your garden soil. (And even those that are not so critical, we at Planet Natural should be concerned about, as we are almost undoubtedly reducing biodiversity.)
This sounds like a criticism but it is really more of a question. It seems to me that putting stuff in the soil that destroys the exoskeletons of insects and similar creatures is a *terrible* idea, since I want my garden soil — and any soil — to be teeming with healthy biodiversity. Am I missing something here? If so, please enlighten me!!
From Reference.com: Sand is primarily composed of finely granulated silica and, depending on its location, can include various rock, coral, shell or lava fragments. It is lightweight and easily transported by wind and water. Its composition directly affects its color, resulting in black, white, pink and green coloring.
The sand in the soil gets ground down to silt over time. So, it’s a natural component of soil. That’s not a definitive statement that it won’t harm other beneficial organisms in the soil. Just something to consider.
I’ve been using diatomaceous earth on my dog and cat as we have been having a problem with mites. It works but seems to also have a negative drying out affect on their skin. Need to find a nourishing bath product and perhaps a food supplement to help with fur and skin.
A good oatmeal based shampoo would help your dog. You can also get Mane n Tail shampoo and conditioner at Walmart cheap and it is good for all animals. If really necessary, a homemade mayonnaise mask after washing on the dog, rubbed and massaged in to the fur and skin would do wonders for the fur and dry skin after a DE treatment, then rinse after letting sit for a few minutes.
Take care NOT to put DE directly ON dogs and cats, because it can dry out their skin severely. I found this out the hard way with my little Westie. Caused itching and scabs! Rather, I am told, sprinkle it judiciously in and around their beds, kennels, etc, to kill the fleas, and (I hope) ticks, mites, etc.
Since my senior age Westie has allergy to grass and coughing/ throat cartilage problems common to small dogs, I rub into underside of bedding carefully and then slap bedding outside, so when he gets in there’s no “cloud” of silt created that might aggravate his breathing and cover his bed with a sheet or blanket.
I actually have been taking DE (USDA FOOD GRADE) for high blood pressure. When I am consistent (I’m not too great about consistency…sigh) my BP drops to 120/80 or less. My Dr was shocked.
Don’t know how it works, but it seems to. Some recommend gradually increasing from a tsp to 1 TBSP per cup of water or juice. I mix 1 TBSP per cup of water, stir briskly, let it settle for a few seconds and drink it. I discovered this when I googled for an alternative to chemical BP meds like Lisinipril which were causing memory problems and just made me feel…not good.
Take care about your source, though, I’d recommend.
I have been using food grade diatomaceous earth since 2013 in my top bar hives with great results against small hive beetles and varroa mites. It is important that the bees do not roll around in the dust. But I am using screened bottoms on the hive that have a solid IPM (integrated pest management) board underneath them that is “bee-tight”. On this solid board, I layer the DE. As the bee groom, the varroa mites and small hive beetles and larvae from the wax moth and small hive beetle all fall through the screen and into the DE where they are desiccated. No need for chemical interventions to control the varroa, which the varroa are building up a tolerance to. I live in the humid south, so the DE needs to be changed out frequently. Be sure to scrape it in the trash so any critters don’t get down into the soil to pupate.
This is bad advice.If you think the small hive beetle, their larva, and or the wax moth, is on the bee itself, avaliable to be groomed off, you are miss-informed.
Secondly, the varroa mites that the bee can dislodge while grooming are most likely dead or dying, While their offspring are busy growing inside with the sealed drone larva. You have to treat for mites. Or the hive will be dead in 2-3 years. science.
There are non-chemical/organic mite treatments that work. NOT coconut oil either.
Good luck with what you are doing Ruth, but do not give out bad advice.
I have been considering using DE for ticks, especially this year, as we seem to have a large problem. But there is very conflicting info on whether it harms bees and other beneficial insects, if it is effective if it gets wet,etc.. When you read on the internet, I always try to keep in mind who is providing the information also since the companies who sell the product have a large stake. I see lots of questions about bees here and only two anwsers that seem to from actual beekeepers; which is again conflicting. Any other bee keepers want to chime in?
I am a garden novice, and I am hoping that DE might be the solution I’m looking for against the biting ants that currently inhabit my little plot of dirt. I’m glad to hear that it is safe for earthworms, and I hope that keeping at ground level will not endanger bees.
Cornmeal might be an option–worked for me.
For those that have tick problems, some may consider free ranging a few chickens, or if noise won’t be a problem, guineas. They are great predators of ticks and other pests. Trimming my the flight feathers on one wing will keep them in your fenced yard. Chickens are also marvelous cheap entertainment, and will furnish part of your breakfast! ?
On another note, imported fire ants are a continuing problem at my place. Like one poster said, they’re in every flower pot, in the garden, under anything that lies on the ground for any length of time, and now in my raised beds! DE only seems to aggravate them temporarily!!?
I am considering DE for my Roma bush beans next year. Those Mexican bean beetles are a menace. I kill what I see but need a bit of help controlling them. I will treat at the base of the plant and on the leaves before i see any flowers. Your damned if you do and damned if you don’t. I also have neem oil concentrate and an insecticidal soap (which only works on soft exoskeleton creatures). I also grew 6 luffa plants. Now if anyone wants to venture they have amazing flowers and my luffas are SWAMPED with bee’s first thing in the morning. It’s a beautiful sight.
This year we had a major wasp problem and trying to be ecology minded I was trying to wait them out. When they started dive bombing the grandkids and actually stung the youngest, I said enough and called the exterminator. Also keeping the ecology in mind they used diatomaceous earth and peppermint (a couple of others also) around the house and that seems to have taken care of the problem.
Here’s a question, keeping the bees in mind and being ok with the critters being outside. Does it seem like just treating the outside of the house and not getting into the beds and blooms (yard etc). Does that seem like it would be ok? The exterminator was not spraying but using a “brush/duster” type thing to get up under the eaves so it wasn’t wafting out anywhere indiscriminately. My neighbors of course moved all their green stuff to the other side of their house for the same reasons.
I use DE to help with slugs, they seen to love my squash plants. I dust the ground all around my plants as well as under the leaves. There have been times were I had to use it on the tomato plants, when I applied the DE I used a Mosquitoe net draped over and around my plants to deter any bees or butterflies that might land on them.
I have a terrible thrips problem that is literally destroying my 3 year old privet hedge. We had a lawn and shrub company called Simply Safer that mistook thrips for anthracnose. It treated heavily for that for two years in a row. We finally got the leaves tested by the MA agricultural department of Umass where we found that it was thrips and not anthracnose! The scientists were upset that this company treated them so aggressively with chemicals leaving nothing but bare branches on these privets. They referred to the treatment as the scorched earth syndrome! We are hoping they come back this year as we no longer have the company to poisoning the shrubs. We put in 41 5-6 foot privets which was a huge investment. I ordered 50 lbs of diatomaceous earth. I am wondering if I put it around each plant before the new mulch goes down if it may kill the eggs and larvae before they emerge once May and June bring them back.
VERY important to consider not only the impact on honey bees, but on a very long list of other exceptionally strategic insects that help control the ‘less desirable ones’ . Praying mantis, walking sticks, green lace wing, lady bugs of all kinds at all stages of their life cycles are impacted by DE right along with any of the bugs you be trying to kill. In the planetary scheme of things DE is by far the lesser of the two evils, but know the tradeoff you may be making. Balance in all things, and know your tradeoffs. We use DE as a barrier around our bee-hives to keep mostly ants from getting in and bringing in all kinds of critters. And yes, some bees do wind up landing in the DE and often wind up fully coated. The odd twist however is that late summer early fall, the yellow jackets start hovering and trying to get into the hive. Honey bee hits the DE inadvertently and gets coated. Yellow jacket pounces and gets coated. Yellow jacket flies off sometimes with bee, sometimes without. And guess where it’s going? And guess what dies?
Beware. Please note that my bees bring any thing that they find that is new and that they can pick up and bring back to the hive. A few years ago, I dumped some dirt into a large hole that was behind my bee hive. The bees brought the dirt into the hive and added it to the wax. It was a mess. I covered the dirt with large wood chips and the bees could not get to the dirt. The dirt issue happened again two years ago when I dumped fresh dirt near a hive. Dirt in a hive is ugly. Next we were remodeling the house. We are cutting new redwood boards for our deck and the bees were playing in the redwood dust. Next we are cutting a stucco wall off the second story of the house. The honey bees went to the powder that was left over from cutting the stucco off the house. There was one hive below the stucco repair that had a fine powder from the stucco all over the outside of their hive. The hive died instantly and any honey bees that played in the stucco dust that was on the deck died in the stucco dust. I was lucky that those bees did not take the stucco dust back to their hives. My honey bees are always looking for new things. I watch them and they are interested in all sorts of things that are not flowers. My bees are curious about everything in my garden. Do you want your bees picking up the Diatomaceous Earth and bringing back to your hive? I would be cautious!
Hello, Thank you for useful information regarding Diatomaceous Earth, we found it so useful in human health as well.
Regards
Mazyar