Hornets, Wasp, and Bees.

[fguffey]

I managed to get out to the A/C unit, I had help, my wife and one of my grandsons. I knew I was going to need something to sit on so I decided I would use one of my wife's 30-gallon planters, it was not close enough and the top was wet, in my effort to move the planter and pour the water off I disturbed the burrowing hornets. I did not count them, but I knew I could not outrun them. I told my grandson and wife to walk slowly beck into the house, she made it and then returned with a large pan of sugar water, hollering at her? in a low voice did not work. All I wanted to know was why the sugar water. She claimed she had seen me do that for years, she claimed I have feed honeybees in hot dry weather when there were no flowers to be found. (Bless her heart) She thought the hornets were honeybees. She placed the container of sugar water on top of another large planter and here they came. That container had one large hole in the upside-down bottom of the planter... I almost got ahead of that one by placing a screwdriver in the hole.

After that I went back to the first planter, it had 8 drain holes, I covered the holes with a bath towel, that took care of the ones that had not been disturbed yet. And then I sat down on the towel. My grandson wanted to know what all of the noise was about, the noise he heard was the sound of the hornets looking for a way out of the planter.

And by accident I got hit in the right lower eye lid, and that resulted in a black eye. Had I taken off in a dead run; forgive, I cannot run but had I swatted the hornets or flailed my arms I would still be counting the stings.

And my neighbors thought they had a problem with coyotes, I live in Lake Highlands.

F. Guffey

[Allen]

Usually, hornets (yellow jackets) and bumble bees will make a singe hole in the ground with their nest underground. The hole is usually about 1 or 2" across. What most folks do that I know is they go out at night when most of the hornets are sleeping/dormant. They take a 20oz disposable soft drink bottle with gasoline in it. With the cap off they cram the bottle upside down in the hole so that the gas will pour out but the hornets can't escape. The next morning the empty bottle is tossed in the trash.

Not what the environmentalist want to hear but it works well.

One of my former neighbors said his father was attacked by a swarm of hornets as such and died from the stings.

[lyman]

Usually, hornets (yellow jackets) and bumble bees will make a singe hole in the ground with their nest underground. The hole is usually about 1 or 2" across. What most folks do that I know is they go out at night when most of the hornets are sleeping/dormant. They take a 20oz disposable soft drink bottle with gasoline in it. With the cap off they cram the bottle upside down in the hole so that the gas will pour out but the hornets can't escape. The next morning the empty bottle is tossed in the trash.

Not what the environmentalist want to hear but it works well.

One of my former neighbors said his father was attacked by a swarm of hornets as such and died from the stings.

I've used gas, and then wait 5 minutes and toss over a match,
worked well


yellowjackets here are just plumb mean, standing still and they just sting you more,
nothing worse than hearing that 'whomp' sound when the mower sucks to top off a nest,


last 2 nests I found left me alone,
one was in the root ball of an oak that was blown over in a storm, the exhaust from the Stihl was blowing right on the nest entrance, so the smoke kept them off me, and I got away unstung,

the other I found one morning, after skunks had found it first, only a few dead yellow jackets left, the nest and comb was gone,

[Allen]

I wife was cutting grass with our riding mower. She ran over a nest and got hit 7 times before she realized what had happened and could get away. The same happened to her with bumble bees years ago.

In case anyone doesn't know, yellow jackets are small and hard to see. When they swarm you are more likely to see them because of their bright color.

When disturbed they always attack. They never just fly around.

[lyman]

I wife was cutting grass with our riding mower. She ran over a nest and got hit 7 times before she realized what had happened and could get away. The same happened to her with bumble bees years ago.

In case anyone doesn't know, yellow jackets are small and hard to see. When they swarm you are more likely to see them because of their bright color.

When disturbed they always attack. They never just fly around.

neighbor up the street was clearing brush a few years ago,

disturbed a nest and got hit,

he was supposedly not allergic,,


sadly, he died in his house in his wifes arms before the ambulance could get to him,

not a good day

[Former Cav]

I was painting my mothers garage and up around the eves the wasps always come after you.
I always carried a can of starter fluid (either) with me. You spray that and they drop out of the sky like a rock.

IN AZ, I opened the lid to my bench that contained pool equipment, chemicals, pool noodles etc. And there was the killer bee nest the size of a basket ball just getting started. I slowly closed the lid and walked away without getting zzzapped.
I called a bee keeper and they did not want the killer bees.
So I got ahold of another and he came over, put on his bee suit and duct taped where the gloves meet the sleeves, pants cuffs, where the 3 zippers came together etc. then he reached into a glass jar with a forceps and grabbed something that looked like a slice of chedder cheese and Jammed that into the nest. They all crocked. This was a 2 PM on a Sunday afternoon. I asked, well, they all won't be dead because they all were not home. He told me that without the queen they will all die!! He then sprayed some cherry looking stuff where the hive was so they never returned.

[Major Tom]

We have had wasps around the house forever, BUT this year seems to be a bumper crop of them! They are looking for a place to nest or already have started a nest. I've gone thru 6 cans of wasp/hornet spray so far!

[Allen]

We have had wasps around the house forever, BUT this year seems to be a bumper crop of them! They are looking for a place to nest or already have started a nest. I've gone thru 6 cans of wasp/hornet spray so far!

The problem with wasp is they build nest everywhere. If you have a car that doesn't get used on a daily basis they enter the seams and build nest (hives) between the doors and fenders, trunk, hood or where ever. We have farm equipment that sits idle. They find all openings and start house keeping including tongues on trailers, bushes and hedges too. You can't touch anything w/o inspecting it first.

[jjrothWA]

Do it at night, when they critters are inside.

Use the Fogging yard spray insecticide, may have to cover three side and leave the one open and fog the heck, forcing them to fly through the fog.

[fguffey]

Thank everyone for their advice and response.

They find all openings and start housekeeping including tongues on trailers, bushes and hedges too. You can't touch anything w/o inspecting it first.

I purchased 1,400 fired 30/06 military cases with a dirt dobber in each one. No one wanted to clean the cases even though they were cheap. The seller wanted $14.00 for all of them. I placed the cases on a shelf in the garage and almost forgot them. My wife opened the garage door and then claimed a black cloud left. And now I have North Carolina dirt dobbers in the neighborhood. I am told they place a black widow spider in each case before filling the neck with mud.

The day after; A young lady that claimed to be a Pest Control person came to the door wanting to do a pest inspection, I told her she did not want to do any kind of inspection, she insisted she was a trained inspector. I have no ideal why she would trust me, I informed her how difficult I was to deal with and I informed her it was impossible for me to stand at the door while someone was trying to sell me something. It was then she said I could sit on the edge of the edge porch and then she said she would help me up.

I wanted her to leave, I wanted to tell her why I was not interested in an inspection, I told her about the hornets, she reached for the door because she thought she wanted to see the hornets. I am wearing ugly pajama bottoms and a shirt that would not go with anything, I have to consider she was one of those rare types that could see a little good in everyone.

I have not returned to the planters, the hornets did not have a duplex, the swarms came from two different nest about 10 feet apart. There is a chance I have the only back yard that attracts hornets, I was not thinking when the police department called seeking permission to search my back yard. They had a shooting about 2 blocks away involving a shooter and a policeman. They did not find the pistol in the back yard and they did not say anything about my wasp security system.

We donated an auto to a good cause, they sent a wrecker to get the auto, When the wrecker driver moved the auto he found the pistol under the auto. And that began another saga, that would start with calling 911. If they were not interested in the SIG I told them I was.

F. Guffey

[Allen]

If the SIG was used in a crime then it will be documented and destroyed. If so you have no chance of owning it. I would be more concerned about clearing myself of the shooting since the gun was found on your property.

Dirt dobbers: They do pack mummified spiders with the larvae before sealing with mud. Don't know if they're black widow or not. I've seen many shapes and colors.

I've heard that some can sting though I've never had any occurrences. The biggest problem, as you well may know, is they pack every hole they can find with mud. Your air tools, hose ends, etc, can end up needing a cleaning every time you use them. I have to put tape or a plastic bag on small openings.

[Art]

Dirt dobbers, like all wasps, can sting. They just aren't aggressive when it comes to anything except the little critters they use to lay eggs on and then seal in those little clay cylinders. Periodically we knock them down with garden hoses. Paper wasps down here have to be controlled every spring. For years I had an in ground gas grill. Wasps loved it. Every Spring I'd light it up with the hood down to clean out the wasps, problem solved, that part anyway.

[barretcreek]

Appreciate the tip about starting fluid. Hate wasting it but hate getting stung.

[Allen]

Appreciate the tip about starting fluid. Hate wasting it but hate getting stung.

Any type of hydrocarbon will kill them instantly. I don't see why WD-40 wouldn't kill them too.

I remember as a child seeing my Dad taking a tin can half full of gasoline and slinging it straight up to kill wasp in their nest under the eaves of sheds, barns and houses. Down they came and being up so high it was easy to get away from any loose flyers.

There was no such thing back then as wasp and hornet insecticide spray that shoots a long stream.

[fguffey]

I called a beekeeper, and they did not want the killer bees.

We had a swarm, it was huge, when I got home, I had to get the neighborhood children out of harm's way. They were aggravating the bees by throwing anything at the bees they could pick-up. I had an aquatint with API that was a beekeeper, so I called him. He said it was not a honeybee swarm because it was the wrong time of the year. I told him if he did not want it, I wanted it, but I needed help. The swarm was hanging from a limp on one side of a fence while attached to a tree on the other side of the fence, and then he wanted to know how big the hive was. I told him at 2PM in the afternoon I could hardly see the sky. I then told him about the hive. The hive was about 3 feet long and 2 feet in diameter. It was then he said he wanted the hive because someone disturbed the hive by pushing over a tree or like that. He said if the hive managed to stay together long enough to start building a comb the hive was one hard working bunch of bees.

He arrived in an old station wagon, he came with a smoker and a pruning saw, no bee protection. He asked me how I felt about having a face full of bees, I assured him I had no interest in showing off. that is when he handed me the saw. There was not a lot of room to stand, beyond the fence was a concrete lined ditch, I managed. He held the limb like curling bar bells, I was hoping he was going to be able to handle the weight. Sure-enough he lowered the hive covered limb then shook the hive off into a large box and then closed the box. I was thinking we were finished, he assured me he was not finished for the day, he said he would be finished when the sun has set, he said he was not leaving one bee. He lightly tapped on the top of the box to calm the bees, he claimed.

My wife did not understand why I did not insist he bring help, I told her I trusted him.

F. Guffey