Bee allergy help --lawn clover atracts bees

[aiccerb]

We have a fair amount of clover in our yard that we haven’t minded at all till now. I love that it brings bees into the garden, requires less watering, stays green etc.

However, apparently my step son inherited his Dad’s anaphylactic bee allergy. He was stung yesterday and it was incredibly scary

Our lawn is COVERED with bees at any given time, they love the clover, and I just cant safely let him go out and play in the yard/ on the swing set.

Any natural ideas for ways to get rid of clover? Or moving the bees on? Ideally, we really don’t want to be using a toxic pesticide.

[Owen'nZoe]

How scary! I'll be watching your thread myself. We have clover in the lawn, too, and while I love it and we have no allergies, it drives my husband up a wall. From what I've read and from my experience, it is hard to get rid of organically (most of the organic lawn care articles I've read say you should learn to love clover if you want an organic lawn ). I hope someone here has a better answer!

[webjefita]

Can you mow frequently enough to keep the flowers off? When we mow, it doesn't leave any flowers. We have a ton of clover, too.

[aiccerb]

So had Dh lower the level on the mower ALL THE WAY down and we still have the flower heads showing. I think it may be in part because our lawn is not perfectly level

Any other ideas for us to try mamas? Im still holding out hope I wont have to use a pesticide.

[JamieCatheryn]

Hmm, it would be a huge job, but what about removing the current lawn (rent a sod cutter, or cover it all with black plastic for a few days to kill it, or actually do both, kill then cut and remove), and reseeding or placing new grass sod stuff. If you were to go the chemical route you'd buy herbicide that gets rid of clover. I'd hate to bring in toxic stuff to your space but it's better than risking anaphilaxis (sp?) for your dss or dh.

[jocelyndale]

Do people still roll lawns in the spring? I remember my dad doing that so that he could get an even surface after mowing or something. We still had clover, though all the blossoms would be cut off by the mower each time.

I remember my babysitter having her lawn treated. They ordered the service after their youngest developed a bee sting allergy. It was treated once a month, maybe? We weren't allowed on the grass for about a week after the treatment and even then, our shoes would get stained with the stuff.

I think you're going to have to kill your lawn and reseed. You can solarize with black plastic for a season, then reseed for the next year.

[aniT]

We have bee allergies here and our front yard is clover. We aren't even diligent about mowing it. We have never had a problem though. When we do mow it.. it cuts off all the flowers.

I would just make sure he always wears shoes so he doesn't step on anything and mow it once or twice a week depending on how fast it grows. The few flowers the mower misses you could always cut with clippers.

[Toolip]

I'm a little confused. Are you thinking of trying to get rid of the clover or the bees? Putting pesticide on your lawn will not get rid of the bees. If you are sure they are honey bees, a local beekeeper will probably come and track down the hive for you. If they are wasps or yellow jackets, you will have to call an exterminator.
You are much better off just getting rid of the clover or more bees will keep coming back.

How big of a lawn are you talking about? My lawn is 2 acres and I can't imagine hand-picking the clovers that the mower missed on it!! Maybe try watering your lawn to get it to grow a little taller then the mower will get the clover

[aiccerb]

We have about 1/3 acre of the property is grass....the rest is gardens/other etc.

Dh turned over/dug up the side yard (where the kids mostly play) to get rid of the clover and raked it all out flat. We will plant seed or sod it in the fall, I dont think it will take in the summer. The yard looks TERRIBLE for right now though. The kids have been having a great time with the hose in the dirt though LOL!

Eventually, we will still need to deal with the rest of the lawn though. I cant banish DSS to the side yard indefinitely. For the time being, I think we are going to try and fill in the low spots, divots ect with some soil and try and grow the grass a bit longer there and see if we can choke the clover out. Im not that optimistic though.

I went to the local organic market/nursery and they were not all that encouraging about avoiding using chemicals. They said, a healthy lawn will usually prevent clover from setting in, but once its established there usually isn’t a natural/organic way of removing large areas of it.

We're still gonna try though

Thx for all the help and suggestions. If you have any other ideas, please let me know