PEOPLE’S PHARMACY: Bounce bees with bags of water?

Q: I was at a child’s birthday party, and wasps and bees were flying all over while the food was out. Someone said to get self-sealing plastic bags (sandwich-size is fine), fill them with water and put them on the table. The wasps disappeared. If I hadn’t seen this with my own eyes, I never would have believed it.

I went to another party, and the host had put plastic bags of water all along her deck and anywhere people were sitting. There were no bees or wasps, and she lives out in the country.

Apparently, the light reflecting on the bags of water hurts the insects’ eyes. This is a cheap way to keep the stinging bugs away without the use of chemicals.

A: Thanks so much for this fascinating tip. We could find no scientific studies to support this approach, but that doesn’t mean it won’t work.

Some folks say that the same trick (with partially filled gallon-size zippered plastic bags) may work to keep flies away, while others maintain it is an urban legend.

Since it is really cheap and risk-free, we see no problem in giving this approach a try.

Joe Graedon is a pharmacologist and Teresa Graedon is an expert in medical anthropology and nutrition. They can be reached at peoplespharmacy@gmail.com.