Charles, Thanks for "weighing in" on the soap discussion of how it kills bees. The fact that soap is a surfactant and the bees would suffocate by water penetrating their breathing apparatus makes very good sense. It's a whole lot better than suggesting that they "dehydrate". Garth suggested that the things I described would happen "secondarily" to make sure the job is complete, but you may be right that the surfactant effect is the main mode of action when spraying bees or hornets with soapy water. In the case of the beekeeper who washed his frames with soapy water and let them dry, leaving a soap residue that subsequently killed his bees (although more slowly), do you think the surfactant effect was still the cause of death, or rather that in this case it might have been caused by the toxicity of the soap. Safer soaps have been developed with the express purpose of killing insects. If the surfactant were all that was needed, then why bother using insecticidal soaps? Just some things I've been thinking about. Layne Westover College Station, Texas