Lemongrass is used for many purposes, including as a bug repellent. I began exploring the idea that lemongrass essential oil may attract bees because many do it yourself (DIY) bug repellents list it as an ingredient.
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As a gardener, I have lemongrass growing in a couple of locations, but I have never really noticed bees flying around the actual plant. I also enjoy using lemongrass in the kitchen, it is delicious in a tea.
Lemongrass is part of the grass family Poaceae, there are multiple varieties, but if you are working with the essential oil it is likely Cymbopogon flexuosus. The grass grows in upright dense bunches that thrive in moist warm climates.
There have been some studies suggesting that it may help keep the mosquitoes away. Although the studies conducted are with commercial preparations. This makes it hard to determine if the actual grass works.
I think it is a great addition to a garden. I have plenty of pollinators including bees visit my yard and have never seen them near the lemongrass. During my research I saw claims of people seeing bees near theirs though. Lemongrass is a grass though and doesn’t have a flower that would attract a bee.
Does it Attract Bees?
This got me wondering about the claim that lemongrass essential oil will attract bees. After hours scouring through books, blog posts and research articles to find out why this vague rumor may have gotten started. Here is what I have come up with:
- When beekeepers are trying to attract a swarm, they use a “swarm trap” that mimics the Queen bee’s pheromones.
- The pheromones that attract a swarm are believed to be like citral and geranial. (I couldn’t find anything conclusive, but these two chemicals are mentioned often). These two chemicals are high in lemongrass essential oil.
- In an internet search of “lemongrass oil to attract bees” you will get over 76 thousand hits so there might be some truth to lemongrass attracting bees.
- Most blogs by beekeepers mention trying lemongrass oil but later followed up with a statement that it didn’t work.
- Essential oils including lemongrass have been useful in helping beekeepers with pest issues including varroa mites.
DIY bug spray
Every time someone on social media mentions using lemongrass essential oil in a DIY bug spray it is always followed by two comments.
- Use lemongrass with caution.
- Lemongrass attracts bees.
To quickly address the first one. Yes, you need to use lemongrass with caution, it has been shown to be a skin sensitizer. You can read more about this in my article about lemongrass.
One of the sources I trust is Robert Tisserand’s institute. This is his advice for repelling mosquitoes which does include a version with lemongrass essential oil: http://tisserandinstitute.org/learn-more/mosquito-repellents/
So, my conclusion is that lemongrass does contain the chemical citral, so it may attract bees. I believe that there is a combination of reasons it may work as a swarm trap, including that it is generally combined with beeswax. There are several essential oils that contain citral and geranial. The likelihood that you will be swarmed by bees due to using lemongrass or any essential oil is low.
If you need to keep any of the biting bugs away learn more in this article about Fleas, Ticks and Mosquitoes. If you are looking to attract bees to a garden you can explore more options in my Vibrant Garden article. Have other questions please comment below.
*2019 I have had several readers comment that they have noticed an increase in bees when lemongrass is used. There are several products on the market for repelling mosquitoes like incense sticks that you can try. I enjoy hearing your experiences as we continue to learn.
References:
The Backyard Beekeeper 3rd Edition – by Kim Flottum
https://sciencing.com/make-honey-bee-pheromones-7555977.html
Thank you for this info. I will be more aware now about Lemongrass. Living in the East (Canada), I do not think Lemongrass grows wildly. I may be mistaken. I would like to plant to prevent certain bugs! I love bees, so not to hurt them either. Ticks and Moskeetos and Blackfly they all bite and hurt!
You are welcome. I know lemongrass is a tropical plant so it may be a challenge to grow in Canada. Maybe you can plant it in a pot that you can bring indoors in cold weather.
I was using lemon grass with some soap and oil and water to kill mites I did not know it would attract bees and yesterday I was trapped in the house I had three bees at my kitchen window and at the front door screen I had more than four B’s I never saw any warning or caution about using lemon grass thank you I found your articles very helpful
PS I thought it was because the bees saw me self-pollinating my watermelon LOL
I’m glad you found it useful. Hopefully it helped with your other issue.
Very informative!
put the lemon grass on your oven with doors open at 170 Fahrenheit…. the bees will swarm your window… my dad did that to make a chai tea experiment and well we were surprised the window got filled with bees… and there are no bees living in our yard.
That is interesting. I may have to try it.
I am an amateur beekeeper and lemon grass sure seems to bring the bees in. Normally I mix a couple drops with sugar water, this year while setting my swarm boxes I just dumped some of the oil in and they were on me like ticks on a hound!
That is interesting Bill, I wasn’t able to find any information like that in my research.
I know this is an old post, but we mix several drops of lemongrass oil in water to spritz on new wood hives when setting nucs or packages into new hives. It seems to settle and calm them.
However, today while cooking Madras Lentils, I noticed how similar fresh grated ginger was to lemongrass. Do you smell any similarity?
Hi Cynthia, That is interesting. I began exploring this because people were worried about using lemongrass in bug sprays. I am going to start beekeeping soon so will have to do some of my own experiments. I could see lemongrass and ginger both having a more earthy smell, but do find them different.
Hello Anne,
I have a lemongrass natural mosquito repellent incense stick where the active ingredient is lemon grass. I am the manufacturer for these.I notice in my backyard there are more bees than I have ever had plus my customers are noticing them as well. I am thrilled that my mosquito incense is bringing the good bugs and helping the garden grow.
Thank you
Hi Vee,
It seems that some people are seeing an increased bee activity with the use of lemongrass essential oil. It is interesting how the insects are attracted to the aroma of the oil, but from my experience not the actual plant. I do agree having bees is a good thing.
In am a bee keeper, the actual plant does not attract bees but if you crush it finely the oils in it will be released and that is definitely a bee attraction, same as the lemongrass essential oil. For beekeeper who don’t have access to lemongrass essential oil to attract bees simply crush lemon grass and rub it all over the inside of a nuc box, place about 6feet high and wait, a swarm will enter that box.
Thank you for the information. It is interesting that there is a chemical within the oil that does seem to attract bees :).
Hello thank you for writing this article! I am 100% sure that Lemongrass essence oil attracts bees because I have been using lemongrass essence oil in my car for a couple of months. I have had bees flying into my car and refused to leave. I’ve had to watch closely everyday when driving that bees don’t sneak into my car because they can always easily find my car and try to get in when I park in front of the traffic lights! Anyway I have been confused because lemongrass is supposed to keep bugs away!? That’s how I found this article for clarification. Now I have the answer. Thank you!
Thank you for sharing this information. I always enjoy hearing from people that are having real experiences with botanicals. Sorry the bees are enjoying your car though. Stay safe.
Hi – I’m beginning to think that it’s a combination of the heat and the lemon grass. Abraham above talks about heating the lemongrass in his oven. Well, I live in Tucson and it’s 111 degrees today. As the temps have climbed over the last weeks, my lemongrass is seeing more and more bee activity. Today I though I needed a bee suit just to go and water in the garden. It was crazy. That’s how I found your article – I came in straight away and googled bees and lemongrass. I am not sure what they like about it but I am thinking I will have to move the lemon grass out of my garden….
That is interesting. Thank you for sharing that information.
I was using lemongrass essential oil today cleaning my kitchen. I usually just use le.on but was out. When I tried to go outside my screen door had about half a dozen bees on it and more flying around. This has never happened before. It was quite a surprise.
That is so interesting. I haven’t heard that before. Thank you for sharing.
I find lemongrass EO mixed with a carrier, a good repellent for mosquitoes so I applied it today to be able to work in my garden. There are bee hives down a road across from my property. I got out my tools, went outside and within a minute had at least a dozen bees flying around me. I went back inside and hours later they are still crawling over and flying around anything that I had touched. I went out back of the house where there were no bees and had quite a few show up in short order. My conclusion would be that lemon grass EO does indeed attract bees!
That is so interesting. Thank you for sharing your experience.