Bees!! what do yall do about them

[CWME]

If I have the option I run like hell. The allergic reaction could kill me. My buddy sprays the nests on my property for me.

Although considering the damage they do to me when I get stung... Burning the little bastards out sounds like sweet justice...

 

[lone wolf]

If I have the option I run like hell. The allergic reaction could kill me. My buddy sprays the nests on my property for me.

Although considering the damage they do to me when I get stung... Burning the little bastards out sounds like sweet justice...

Me too have you been stung much?

 

[gwiley]

carry an epi-pen

I have been attacked by yellow jackets on multiple occasions. The last big one my knee turned black where I got stung. Since then I got a prescription for a epi-pen and I carry that with me when I go into the woods.

My wife is an EMT and told me that folks will transition from non-allergic to fatally allergic (anaphylactic shock) in one or two events sometimes - you never know if your next sting will be the one that goes badly.

The nasty thing is that if you do have an allergic reaction you will almost certainly not be able to get yourself out of the woods and to medical care before your airways close up. The epi-pen can stop the reaction immediately (I think it is something like adrenaline) and it is cheap and easy to get. Just visit the doc and tell him that you are concerned about an allergic reaction to bees while you are in the woods and he will write the prescription - most insurance companies pay for it.

The epi-pen usually expires in a year or so, check the date before you leave the pharmacy with it to make sure it will last. Don't leave it in a hot car or it may not work as well when you need it.

 

[lone wolf]

I have been attacked by yellow jackets on multiple occasions. The last big one my knee turned black where I got stung. Since then I got a prescription for a epi-pen and I carry that with me when I go into the woods.

My wife is an EMT and told me that folks will transition from non-allergic to fatally allergic (anaphylactic shock) in one or two events sometimes - you never know if your next sting will be the one that goes badly.

The nasty thing is that if you do have an allergic reaction you will almost certainly not be able to get yourself out of the woods and to medical care before your airways close up. The epi-pen can stop the reaction immediately (I think it is something like adrenaline) and it is cheap and easy to get. Just visit the doc and tell him that you are concerned about an allergic reaction to bees while you are in the woods and he will write the prescription - most insurance companies pay for it.

The epi-pen usually expires in a year or so, check the date before you leave the pharmacy with it to make sure it will last. Don't leave it in a hot car or it may not work as well when you need it.

How bad were your reactions to one sting and have you used the epi pen yet?

 

[chuckwood]

European hornet here in the USA

Ever encounter one of these bad boys? I've seen quite a few here in TN, they arrived in the US over a century ago and are gradually making their way to the West Coast. They usually nest in hollow trees, and they grow to over an inch long, queens are 1 1/2 inches. They make a very impressive racket/buzz while flying. I've never been stung by one, but I've heard they hurt really bad.

 

[TonyK]

Ground hives when you are cutting the fields are the worst. Nothing you can do but hope for mercy. Around the house I wait until dusk and exact my retribution on the little buggers with spray.

 

[Tofurkey]

Several years ago I lived on a lake in northern Indiana. The house was completely surrounded by pines. I used some of the pines I cleared to line the driveway. Eventually the drive needed some new stone so I called a contractor for a load. While waiting for him, I rolled some of the half rotten logs out of the way to make spreading the stone easier. When he showed up, we stood there discussing the game plan and I was absently kicking at the soft ground where the logs had been. All of a sudden the guy says "Holy s#$t" and points to my feet. I looked down and there were about 100 yellow jackets circling my legs. I started getting nailed and ran but my poor dog ran to the spot where I was to see what the commotion was about. Instantly he was coverd with the little bast#rds. I called him and he came running but the yellowjackets were starting in on him. I started smacking him and trying to knock them off his face. We both ran for the water and dove in to get away. the contractor hightailed it for his truck but got stung once on the way. We went to town and bought several cans of spray. When we got back they had settled down some. He got a 25' float handle out of his truck and poked the ground with it while I sprayed. After we got them all killed, I dug up the nest. It was 3-4 feet long and about as big around as a loaf of bread. The dog got the worst of it and I suppose he got stung 10 or 15 times. I got 6. Those buggers are HOT!!!

 

[Dan_IN_MN]

My dog, Cinder, will go out of her way to kill bees. She'll snap at them, crunch them, and drop them. If they still move it's more crunching. I haven't see her get stung yet....

She's a good girl!

I personally will leave the bees alone unless I need to get where they are. Then the long range spray comes out.

 

[ct greenman]

I don't kill honey bees! we need them. Wasps Hornets Yellow jackets all fair game. Cans of hornet killer are easy and effective nighttime when they are all in the hive hit it hard in the morning they dont wake up.

 

[CWME]

Me too have you been stung much?

Once is too much. Reaction starts in 15-20 sec now, two pens, a lot of swelling and pain later. Yep one is too much.

 

[lone wolf]

Once is too much. Reaction starts in 15-20 sec now, two pens, a lot of swelling and pain later. Yep one is too much.

My reaction starts fast too and in 20 minutes itchy all over and lasts about 3 days I think the hornets are the worst what say you which insect is the strongest?

 

[leon]

my least favorite subject

My story begins in 2003 when we had a very bad drought her in the east.

In trimming 600 foot of 25 year old forsythia hedge I never had a problem until that summer. I mowed and did not see the nest and then I trimmed the top of the hedge and little did I know there was basketball sized white faced hornets nest there.

I had been mildly allergic until that time and had no epinephrin pens as it was not a medical concern.

swarmed and stung repeatedly got to the truck fortunately it was only a few feetr away and got in it, called my wife and left a message that I had been bitten and I was on my way home to get aid. I left my dads place and managed to turn the corner and was on the verge of passing out and pulled over on the side of the road shut the truck off and dialed 911 and went un concious: if it had not been for the wife of a friend I worked with as a temp in power plant 16 years before I would not be here. she called her husband as she recognized me as she thought that ther was something wrong with me as I looked like I was either asleeep or unconcious and when bruce tried to rouse me he heard the 911 dispatcher yelling on the phone and he talked to the dispatcher and then he called my brother to call my wife about me and my brother had to move my truck as she refuses to drive a stick.
I was transported to the the local hospital after they tried to rouse me and I apparently said bees and I had swelled to almost double my bidy mass and could not stand and I spent most of the night in the ER in trauma 1 where They kept counting puncture wounds and had to stop as their were so many.

They kept pushing the epi and trying to keep me awake since they felt i was dead anyway and two and a half days later I was out of the ER and home swelled up like a balloon for weeks and the allergist I was involved with said I could return to work-bad idea passing out while trying to do the meals on wheels thing- got fired by the weasel who was convicted of skimming payola from said hospitals food accounts-he only avoided jail because of his cancer diagnosis.

They would not let me use a shower before I went home as there were none in the ICU rooms then; They have showers now after they were remodeled but I have no plans on visiting again for sure.

I was on three weeks bed rest after that at home, then the fun started with 18 injections of anti-venom for one month to begin my immunotherapy and I have hit the 330 plus injection mark as of last month.
with three injections per month every month with medicare payin 1700 dollars for the 3 cc's of antivenom injections and 150 for the nurse and hypodermic needles.

OH and by the way, medicare only allows you 2 epinephrin pens per month prior to jumping through the donut hole
and they are 115 dollars a piece after that.

My being on a blood thinner did not help matters etc.- you can bet I stopped that quick I told my cardiologist that that is the reason I almost died as far as I was concerned-I was so bloody from the punture wounds they could not count all the wounds all over my head, neck, hands, legs, arms.

We had an exterminator who did work for me as well destroy the nest.


I always carry three epi pens from may to november at all times and lots of raid wasp and hornet spray in the truck or home- I killed a nest near the entry door a couple of days ago.

Always loved the Raid wasp and hornet commercials and I wish they would bring them back the way they were before as they were really funny and well done and I can tell you the dtuff works and I buy a lot of it when its on sale at samurai club for sure and the propellent does not lose pressure either like some cans.

 

[slowp]

What I did yesterday, when I heard the eruption beneath my feet, was jump, yell an expletive, and then I ran. I had sworn off jumping and running, too. I did not get stung but it makes me jumpy for a few days afterwards.

Bees is the generic term. It is easy to yell BEES and warn others nearby. Try yelling BALD FACED HORNETS while running. It is easier to paint the word BEES on a tree for a warning than YELLOW JACKETS.

I guess the bee season has begun.

 

[deerlakejens]

It's pretty obvious, bees have hair while wasps and hornets don't. Bees can only sting once as their stingers are barbed and tear out with the venom sac attached. Always cut the venom sac off, don't grab as you will just squeeze more venom into whatever the stinger is in. Use any sharp edge or your fingernail if nothing else is available. Wasps and hornets, on the other hand, do not have barbed stingers and can sting repeatedly until they deplete their venom supply. Yellow jackets are easily caught with a shop vac as was posted earlier. A bone with meat on it suspended over a pail of water with a little soap or oil in it is slower but also effective for yellow jackets. They are scavengers and typically cut off a chunk heavier than they can carry and will fall into the pail. Bald faced hornets are best tackled at night or very early in the morning with a commercial spray. I prefer Johnson Wax (Raid) products but most all have the same ingredients. Just remember, bees, wasps and hornets are overwhelmingly beneficial as pollinators, predators, and scavengers. Unless they are really an unavoidable danger, its better to leave them alone.

 

[Junkfxr]

Ever encounter one of these bad boys? I've seen quite a few here in TN, they arrived in the US over a century ago and are gradually making their way to the West Coast. They usually nest in hollow trees, and they grow to over an inch long, queens are 1 1/2 inches. They make a very impressive racket/buzz while flying. I've never been stung by one, but I've heard they hurt really bad.

Looks like what we call Bell Hornets around here. If you get hit with one of these bad boys, feels like you've been shot with a .22. Had a nest of them last summer in the shop wall in a real unaccessable place, just had to avoid that area until late fall. I've been called out many times to get dozers restarted that people have ran over Yellow Jacket and Hornet nests with and had to bail and run leaving the engine running overnight untill it ran out of fuel. I always carried carry carb cleaner and it works wonders on killing a nest. Around the house though, I dump about a quart of gas in ground nests after dark. For tree nests, well, that's a different ball game usually better left until winter.

 

[derwoodii]

Bees I care for they are the good guys 1st try to avoid removing any tree that may have bees. This is seldom achievable but i do try. Or try to relocate with an apiarist they can sometimes remove the hive intact but again not often in tree hollow scenarios as they can not get the queen. When I have to I will use Carbyl dust or a professional pest chap if needed.
When it comes to wasps well this is what I do.
http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=131678

 

[Marc]

What I did yesterday, when I heard the eruption beneath my feet, was jump, yell an expletive, and then I ran. I had sworn off jumping and running, too. I did not get stung but it makes me jumpy for a few days afterwards.

Bees is the generic term. It is easy to yell BEES and warn others nearby. Try yelling BALD FACED HORNETS while running. It is easier to paint the word BEES on a tree for a warning than YELLOW JACKETS.

I guess the bee season has begun.

"Wasps" has only one syllable

If someone yells "bees" at me, I'd look at that person sideways and wonder what the big deal was. Wasps, different story.

 

[taylor6400]

Man, i hate hornets especially in the ground. Nasty suckers...the last ones that got me was in a skid loader. I was pushing some old rotten trees along my driveway over the bank and all of a sudden the cab was filled with them. Got nailed 4 times. Did manage to turn the key off though. SOB they hurt. I think im partially allergic too because i swell up like a balloon when i get stung by anything in the area that gets hit. I was a little nervous what that many stings would do to me but it never progressed to my airway or anything...maybe i should check on the epi pen just in case.

 

[Marc]

Then again, our stinging insects are pretty sissy compared to what they got across the Pacific:

Asian giant hornet.

Saw a colony of those buggers when I was auditing a valve manufacturer in Yuhuan, China a couple years ago.

 

[wvlogger]

Several years ago I lived on a lake in northern Indiana. The house was completely surrounded by pines. I used some of the pines I cleared to line the driveway. Eventually the drive needed some new stone so I called a contractor for a load. While waiting for him, I rolled some of the half rotten logs out of the way to make spreading the stone easier. When he showed up, we stood there discussing the game plan and I was absently kicking at the soft ground where the logs had been. All of a sudden the guy says "Holy s#$t" and points to my feet. I looked down and there were about 100 yellow jackets circling my legs. I started getting nailed and ran but my poor dog ran to the spot where I was to see what the commotion was about. Instantly he was coverd with the little bast#rds. I called him and he came running but the yellowjackets were starting in on him. I started smacking him and trying to knock them off his face. We both ran for the water and dove in to get away. the contractor hightailed it for his truck but got stung once on the way. We went to town and bought several cans of spray. When we got back they had settled down some. He got a 25' float handle out of his truck and poked the ground with it while I sprayed. After we got them all killed, I dug up the nest. It was 3-4 feet long and about as big around as a loaf of bread. The dog got the worst of it and I suppose he got stung 10 or 15 times. I got 6. Those buggers are HOT!!!

wow thats hard there. I still remeber the time i rolled a quad ontop of a yellow jackets nest. I was under the quad. damn it hurt. I know my dog reacts with bad swelling to stings, Does yours?