Bees are acknowledged as a key, beneficial element in agriculture because of the pollination service they provide. Thus, great conservation efforts are carried out to protect them. On the other hand, insect pests cause important economic loses by, among other things, forcing producers to finance strategies aimed to reduce their populations. What if bees started causing some sort of damage? Should we treat them like we do with insect pests? We found that foragers of a stingless, Trigona corvina Cockerell, removed the glue from medfly monitoring traps, impairing the ability of the Mexican Federal Program “Moscamed” to make prompt and evidence-based decisions. Instead of using insecticides, we decided to test four repellents: Trimedlure, N, N-diethyl-meta-toluamide (DEET), mint oil and propylene glycol. Basically we mixed each substance with Stick-em glue and applied it onto the traps; next, traps were deployed and we started monitoring any loss in glue. We found that DEET was the most efficient substance to repel the bees. We further tested if DEET was repellent to fruit flies as well, but no evidence of repellence was observed. Now we are planning in using DEET in those areas where glue depletion is reported, knowing that such intervention will not affect native bee populations.

蜜蜂由于其提供的授粉服务而被公认为是农业中的关键，有益元素。因此，进行了大量的保护工作以保护它们。另一方面，虫害尤其通过迫使生产者资助旨在减少其人口的战略而造成重大的经济损失。如果蜜蜂开始造成某种伤害怎么办？我们应该像对待害虫一样对待它们吗？我们发现无刺的Trigona corvina的觅食者Cockerell从medfly监测阱中清除了胶水，削弱了“ Moscamed”墨西哥联邦计划做出迅速和循证决策的能力。我们决定不使用杀虫剂，而是测试四种驱虫剂：三甲med，N，N-二乙基-间甲酰胺（DEET），薄荷油和丙二醇。基本上，我们将每种物质与Stick-em胶混合，然后将其应用到陷阱中。接下来，部署了陷阱，我们开始监控胶水的损失。我们发现DEET是驱赶蜜蜂的最有效物质。我们进一步测试了DEET是否也对果蝇具有驱避性，但是没有观察到驱避性的证据。现在，我们计划在据报道胶耗已经耗尽的那些地区使用DEET，因为知道这种干预不会影响本地蜂群。