Bees

[joshuabardwell]

These big suckers are eating half-inch dia. holes right thru the P.T. wood of my gazebo.

The "big suckers" are almost certainly carpenter bees. They're mostly harmless, but if you want to get rid of them, you can build traps. A Google search will provide plenty of examples.

 

[joshuabardwell]

One other thing to contribute to the thread real quick. A common way of getting rid of ground wasps (yellowjackets, etc...) is to put gasoline down the hole. As you might imagine, this is not terribly safe from a fire safety perspective, and it's not very environmentally friendly. I have gotten rid of wasp nests by tossing moth balls down the entrance of the hole, which, IMO, is a better option. Maybe if you tossed some moth balls in your filter lid, they would clear out?

 

[MistyBlue]

Carb cleaner, brake cleaner, PB blaster, etc...all will kill insects on contact. It eats through them.
But if there's a nest starting...I prefer the foaming stuff: spray and run...weaving and waving arms. After dark.
One spring I had a bunch of yellow jackets make a ton of nests all over the new holland tractor. If you walked within 10' of it, they'd come out and chase you away. And it worked too...I certainly ran!
I ended up sitting outside for about 2 hours one day...on my deck far away...watching through the zoom lens of a camera to see where they had built nests on it. 11 nests! Waited until after dark and hit every nest with the foaming stuff. 3 cans worth. My poor tractor looked like a marshmellow. It worked though. And thankfully I didn't ruin the tractor with all that stuff. (probably wasn't a good idea)
Also learned I can outrun those on a tractor or mower. :ashamed:

For carpenter bees, a badminton racket works well.

 

[ETpilot]

I found a hidden nest moving a pipe behind my shop. I got stung on the back of the hand. It about doubled in size. I try to be more careful now.

 

[NHmitch]

I hate wasps. I was hauling large stones out of my woods on a carry all on the back of my tractor. I hit a bump, and the front end went in the air. I ran off of the trail, and right over an underground hive. My wife thought I had flies buzzing around me, there were so many, and the stupid things chased me out of the woods on foot, and stung me multiple times, about 200 feet away. I learned that they can smell the venom of other wasps when they sting, and it starts a frenzy. I am allergic, and I got lucky. I had an arm, and my right arm double in size for a few days. I looked like chunk from the goonies movie. I used a lot of fuel letting the tractor run, while I went to the store to get wasp spray. I will have to remember the carb cleaner!

 

[NorTracNY]

I hate wasps. I was hauling large stones out of my woods on a carry all on the back of my tractor. I hit a bump, and the front end went in the air. I ran off of the trail, and right over an underground hive. My wife thought I had flies buzzing around me, there were so many, and the stupid things chased me out of the woods on foot, and stung me multiple times, about 200 feet away. I learned that they can smell the venom of other wasps when they sting, and it starts a frenzy. I am allergic, and I got lucky. I had an arm, and my right arm double in size for a few days. I looked like chunk from the goonies movie. I used a lot of fuel letting the tractor run, while I went to the store to get wasp spray. I will have to remember the carb cleaner!

Thanks for the reference to Chunk and the goonies movie. That movie was in a forgotten part of my mind. Brought back a good laugh.

 

[mattbatson]

When I moved into my house, the previous owner had left a bee hive behind, until he could get back to move it. Long story short, the hive lived on my property for two years until the bees died one winter. I never got very much into beekeeping, but I thought about it, and occasionally I would open up the hive and check on them. I gained great fondness for bees even though I don't keep them.

One thing I learned is that the common tendency to call any stinging yellow insect a "bee" does a great disservice to the noble honeybee. Bees are not very aggressive at all to humans. If you're careful, you can open the hive right up and poke around without protective gear or a smoker. As long as you don't crush any of the bees, they'll pretty much stay perfectly placid.

Chances are excellent that if you have been stung by a "bee," it was probably a wasp. Unlike bees, which collect pollen, wasps are hunters, and defend their nests aggressively. They can sting multiple times without dying, and do so freely.

If you are interested, here is a post my girlfriend made on her blog about how to differentiate between the two.

The Difference Between Bees and Wasps | LoveLiveGrow

Even if you could give a darn about the semantics, the difference is important. As she points out, how to avoid being stung is exactly the opposite with bees vs. wasps. With bees, the number one thing you want to do is avoid agitating them or injuring any of them (which agitates them). So don't flail your arms around, don't run away. Just stay calm and move away from the hive and you will probably be fine. With wasps, they are coming to get you, so you're better off clearing out as fast as possible.

ummm, what about africanized honeybees? These are visibily identical to western honey bee's, but can kill. They are much more defensive, tend to swarm quickly, and will chase your little but for up to a 1/4 mile from the hive. 2 to 3 people die in the U.S. each year from those little bastards.
You dont have to be waving your arms or running for them to attack...

personally I'd rather get stung once from a wasp then 30 times from a swarm of africanized honeybees :laughing:

noble or not, they can kill and that is a fact

 

[ericher69]

If you even have the slightest allergy to bees/wasps (any nasty stinging insect) carry some Diphenhydramine Hydrochloride (Benadryl) with you at all times.

Not as effective (should not be used as a replacement for an Epi Pen) but will buy you time and reduce any swelling.

Also if any stingers are embedded use something flat and hard (credit card) to scrape off the stinger in the correct direction so that it comes out

Not a doctor but worked 8 yrs as a Paramedic and encountered many allergic reactions from mild to life threatening.

Also have been the victim of a few stings in my life

 

[forgeblast]

Man I got stung last night. Apparently a bear reached over my fence and tried to pull my hive over. My bees were not happy. I had to restack my hive, with the bees going nuts. I could hardly see through my bee suite. I got two under my jacket and got stung on the somach and under the arm pit, not to mention the hand and knee. Ouch. My electrice fence needs work, and the bear found the right time to test it. I am going to move my hives to my orchard away from my garden and redo my electrical fence there.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I can never remember which is which but there is difference in treatment for bee sting vs wasp. One venom is alkyloid and the other is acid. One you can use ammonia to neutralize and the other needs vinegar.

Edit: Well per Google search wasps are alkyloid and must be treated with an acid. Googled site recommended Coca-cola or other soft drink that contains carbonic acid or vinegar works well if you have it handy.
For bee stings which are acidic, you need an alkyloid base like ammonia or I have heard of folks urinating on the sting. I guess that depends on where you are and where the sting is as to how easy or practical that might be.