&@$*@$ Bees

[upsnake]

I hate bees, (well bees are ok if they leave me alone), I hate wasps and hornets.


Let me start by saying as I have gotten older I have become far more allergic to them.
The last time I was stung half of my back was swollen and red for a week.

Anyway to the point. I have a full trailer of split red oak, that is just sitting in the driveway b/c the dumb ground yellow jackets are patrolling my wood pile.
I sprayed the ground around their opening with wasp killer yesterday, but they are still there so I sprayed again.
So I get to sit on arborist site instead of stack wood.
Hmm maybe I like bees after all. Hahah

 

[Circle B MN]

I started moving some block wood out to the boiler in preparation for winter. Tossed a few chunks on the existing pile and the hornets living in the pile came put for a visit.......eeeeks. I'll wait till it gets a little cooler and try again....:msp_thumbup:

 

[stihly dan]

Just drop the trailer off over here, wood too. No bees, and more AS. WIN WIN

 

[upsnake]

Could be there in about 30 days, the tractor pulling the trailer only goes about 5 mph.

 

[ShaneLogs]

Run for the hills before the bees carry you away!:hmm3grin2orange:

 

[haveawoody]

I took a tree down a couple weeks ago that had a big wasp colony in the trunk.
Man they were pissed off when the tree dropped down.

Left that drop tree and came back the next morning and they were gone all but for a couple hovering around.

My thought is go away and come back to fight another day
Or wait for mr freeze.

 

[ShaneLogs]

I took a tree down a couple weeks ago that had a big wasp colony in the trunk.
Man they were pissed off when the tree dropped down.

Left that drop tree and came back the next morning and they were gone all but for a couple hovering around.

My thought is go away and come back to fight another day
Or wait for mr freeze.

Get them when the snow flies! :hmm3grin2orange:

 

[Stihlofadeal64]

If you have yellow jackets they may have made a hole near your wood pile. I found a very large one near mine a few weeks ago. A friend of mine who is a landscaper came by after dark and put some gas down the hole. It seems some of the stragglers moved or their cousins relocated over near another part of my fence. While weedeating over there I found their cousins -- and they found me. After several zaps I made some fast tracks outta there. Very painful! :msp_mad:

 

[rwoods]

Yellow Jackets are at their best - I mean worse - in late summer to early fall. They are most aggressive at this time. IME, you can practically mow over their nest for months and then one day you can't get within ten feet of them with anything gas powered. Ron

 

[Mac88]

Due to the drought, the ground here is too hard for Yellow Jackets. My neighbor, on the other hand,
has a basketball-sized hornet's nest in one of his maples. I hope they don't decide to move my way.

 

[DTB]

It seems like every year I have a ground bees nest around the house. Why my property? This past weekend I was weed wacking along the driveway and noticed I hit a nest and started running. The grass was high and I must of stunned them. One almost got me. This was the first time I was not stung. My wife laughs every time it happens, because I run into the house screaming with my hat and glasses flying off.

 

[Mac88]

This one doesn't sting

Found in the woodpile a while back. This one doesn't sting, but it sure is bizarre looking. Elephant Stag Beetle.
That sucker was about 2" long.

 

[rwoods]

Found in the woodpile a while back. This one doesn't sting, but it sure is bizarre looking. Elephant Stag Beetle.
That sucker was about 2" long.

I believe that is what originated the idea of a loader with a log gapple. Ron

 

[Mac88]

I believe that is what originated the idea of a loader with a log gapple. Ron

You may well be right. It looks well designed. ;o)

 

[Fred Wright]

Yup, it's that time of year again when wasps and bees get ornery. I despise those things.

We bought this place about 10 years ago, closed in early October. It hadn't been lived in for a few years, the yard was like an overgrown hayfield. I was walking around the house, stepped in a depression in the ground. Figured it was an old rabbit hole and thought no more of it.

Them yellowjackets swarmed outta that hole, chased me around the house. I slipped and fell, almost lost my glasses. Jumped up and hauled tail to where the van was parked.

They stung me up pretty bad, too. I'm not allergic but it was not an amusing experience. We came back later that night with lanterns and cans of spray. Annihilated them little muggers.

They never came back. 10 years of living here and we've yet to see another yellowjacket.

 

[Mac88]

They stung me up pretty bad, too. I'm not allergic but it was not an amusing experience. We came back later that night with lanterns and cans of spray. Annihilated them little muggers.

They never came back. 10 years of living here and we've yet to see another yellowjacket.

Glad you didn't suffer any ill effects. They're pretty persistent. You're lucky they haven't returned.

 

[Chris-PA]

They're always around here, and they do get nasty this time of year. I like cutting with my scythe and it has the advantage of being quiet - so you have at least a chance of hearing the ones you don't see. Found a big nest in a hole in the mortar of the stone wall of our house.

I have a little squeeze bottle filled with Seven powder - I go out at night and blow a little in the nest opening. The nest is dead by morning, and any stragglers that come back get it too.

 

[upsnake]

This year has been a really good year for not having hornets and wasps nest around the house. But new this year is the ground nest.

 

[giXXer]

I have been fortunate that my allergy to wasps has gotten less severe as I get older. When I was younger I had it where my air way started swelling shut and I couldn't breathe...very helpless feeling that invokes panic.

A few weeks ago I was driving down the road with the windows open, towing my trailer, mirrors flipped up to the tow position when I here a "whack." (When you fold a Dodge's mirrors out it creates a nice curve channeling anything that hits it right at your face.) I immediately felt it in my neck, but didn't know what it was until I saw the wasp on my lap, trying to sting me again. Since it was in my neck and starting to swell I just drove to the walk-in clinic instead of work. I figured it was time for an EpiPen anyway and just in case of a reaction I didn't want to be at work by myself. To be honest, the sting of $240.00 for two EpiPens was worse than my throbbing, fire engine red, swollen neck! I guess it will be money well spent if it saves my life someday.

My happy-go-not-so-lucky chocolate lab usually finds the ground nests long before I do!

 

[ponyexpress976]

2 weeks ago I found some bald faced hornets nests...the hard way. First "discovery" resulted in 8 stings and the second "discovery", I got away with only 2 zaps. Both nests between chest and eye ball in height. I was lucky to have been wearing sunglasses both times. It really is quite a spooky image to see a hornet try and sting you in the eyeball through your glasses.