Bees

[Don87]

Expect bees to be anywhere. Especially wasps.

Lifted the lid off my pond filter(never dreamed of a wasp nest being there), and got stung under my fingernail.

Thank goodness I'm not allergic to bee stings, but my ring figer on my left hand is swollen pretty good.

 

[troutsqueezer]

Well...wasps look a little like bees but you won't usually find Apis Mellifera hanging around a pond filter.

 

[Don87]

Well...wasps look a little like bees but you won't usually find Apis Mellifera hanging around a pond filter.

I wasn't referring to honeybees, I was referring to this. They had a nest under the lid of my filterfalls.

Here in hillbilly land we call 'em bees.

 

[HarryVanderpool]

Here are some suggestions for editing your original post:

Title: Stinging Insects

Message:
Expect stinging insects to be anywhere. Especially wasps.

Lifted the lid off my pond filter(never dreamed of a wasp nest being there), and got stung under my fingernail.

Thank goodness I'm not allergic to wasp stings, but my ring figer on my left hand is swollen pretty good.

 

[STROIL]

What's in that photo above looks like a wasp to me. Here's a tip that i found out by accident years ago. I found that the most effective "instant kill" bug spray is simple carburetor cleaner. I buy the cheapest private label kind I can at Auto Zone or O'Reilley's etc., and keep cans of it all over the place so it is ready when needed.

I don't know what it is in carb cleaner that is so lethal to bugs, but it is literally INSTANT death. If you can get it on them, they are DEAD RIGHT NOW. It will kill any living bug -- wasps, bees, hornets, spiders, roaches, ants, anything. After a little practice, you can get pretty good at spraying them right out of the air as they are flying, and they drop right dead. I've sprayed wasp nests of as many as 50 wasps or so, and not been stung once. If you get it on them, they die.

I used to be a house painter, and frequently encountered wasp nests under the eaves of houses. I've used all kinds of commercial wasp spray -- all of which was only mildly effective. These wasp sprays might as well be nothing but water compared to carb cleaner.

Only thing is (and this is just common sense) it is a powerful solvent that will attack and damage lots of finishes. You must be sure that whatever you hit with it (other than the bug you are trying to kill) is something you are OK with possibly being damaged, and plan your spray accordingly.

Ether (engine starting fluid) also works pretty good, but not as good as carb cleaner.

I don't know this for certain, but I think it kills them buy drastically lowering their body temperature very quickly, which literally freezes them to death. At least that's my hunch.

 

[9973720wb19]

found them nesting under my grill lid...the'r good smoked :licking:

 

[Sutol]

You're correct about carb cleaner, kills em stone dead instantly.
I've shot a few down with a quick zap from the can. I thought that the carb cleaner melted their brains or something. Any way it sure works quick I can vouch for that :thumbsup:

 

[acme97]

Wasp will create a nest just about anywhere. I found a nest under the tongue of my trailer as I was going to lower it on the hitch ball! Inside my horse trailer, buckets, etc! I always try to look before messing with something that's been sitting for awhile.

 

[uglyboywith11fingers]

around our place, we've got paper wasps, mud wasps(hornets?) bald-faced wasps, yellow jackets, blue jackets(these are really mean) and lately some big suckers, about the size of a bumble bee but with a longer body, mostly black with white. These big suckers are eating half-inch dia. holes right thru the P.T. wood of my gazebo.
Always got to think about putting fingers under anything that sits outside...

Pete

 

[joshuabardwell]

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.