+*%#@^&# Yellow Jackets

[Dozernut]

We have the Bald Face Hornets around here also. I have been stung by them while brush mowing and I think they hurt a lot worse than the Yellow Jackets, but they both still hurt and I am still swollen. I wouldn't have got stung in the ear if I had not pulled off the Work Tunes when they attacked me. My wife is now thinking that maybe a cab tractor would not be such a bad idea, so maybe the attack was kind of a good thing.

 

[Rmart30]

I dug one up last year with a open cab dozer ......It was the largest swarm of them I have ever seen. it was a moving mass covering a solid 20 ft circle. I got lucky with only 2 stings that day.
I got into one the year before on a back hoe which wasnt nearly as big but those followed me for 75 yards till i jumped in one of the guys trucks there watching me and some stayed flying around the truck for 20 minutes before leaving.

 

[jenkinsph]

I dug one up last year with a open cab dozer ......It was the largest swarm of them I have ever seen. it was a moving mass covering a solid 20 ft circle. I got lucky with only 2 stings that day.
I got into one the year before on a back hoe which wasnt nearly as big but those followed me for 75 yards till i jumped in one of the guys trucks there watching me and some stayed flying around the truck for 20 minutes before leaving.

I remember well operating open dozers and pushing on piles. Not bad work until you roll over a stump with a large yellow jacket nest attached. One of the reasons I have cabbed tractors now. As a kid I got stung often enough that I became very fearful of all wasps and bees, still bothers me a bit today.

 

[GManBart]

I hate yellow jackets! I got lucky, and found a nest by accident just the other day....before they got me. It's an area I brush hog, and was getting ready to go over this week. I foamed them at night, then dug up the nest the next night.....hah, take that!

 

[Guesseral]

I think we all hate ground bees! I found two different nests 3 years ago while plowing. It was on the same round, they were at least 300 feet apart on each one of them I shaved the nest in two the bottom was in the bottom of the feral and the top was in the ground that was folded over. Well need less to say my day of plowing was over for the day, and I didn't get stung so I wasn't going to push my luck! I went down at dusk and just watched for a while, then after dark when it seemed safe I went over and dumped about two gallons of gas in each one, with a 25 foot tail away from the nest placed the can way away from the tail and dropped a match whoosh both nests burnt for like a 1/2 an hour. I like it when the nests are away from burnable things that I want to save, it just seems so much more satisfying watching them burn than just dousing them with spray! Wow I just realized I just might be a little sick!:confused3:

 

[Beltman60]

My dads friend over 30 years ago died from a bee sting
He was bush hogging around his bean fields and got some worked up
he made it back to the house and wasn't feeling good
about 10 min later his mom said he just slumped over and was dead
they said he only got stung 3 times but one was at the base of his scull
thats the one that did him in
now I always wear a hat of some sort to protect my head

the other night I was going to check how much propane I had and low and behold there was a wasp nest under the lid
ran like crazy back to the house
only got 2 stings on the arm but it was days later before the heat went out of my arm
had to wait 20 min before I went back out to retrieve my cell phone

 

[GManBart]

My wife is now thinking that maybe a cab tractor would not be such a bad idea, so maybe the attack was kind of a good thing.

SCORE! :cool2:

 

[hawkeye08]

Posted before but with all the stories here, I went out last night and foamed the ground nest again and several of the nests on outbuildings. I was amazed how many were in those nests. I am glad I did it, thought I had gotten them all previously..

 

[Dr_Zinj]

I feel for you. I got into a nest of wasp while I was bush hogging about 30 years ago. They were the kind you see on the river with nests the size of dinner plates. I got 23 stings, but my exit from the tractor hurt my back so bad I {almost} forgot the wasp stings.

But yellow jackets are must worse. Once while I was deer hunting I happened across a nest that had been dug up by a bear. They were all over the ground, and gave chase. My buddy was behind me on the trail, so I ran his way. When I passed him, the yellow jackets left me and went for him. Isn't that what friends are for?

You don't have to be able to outrun the bear, or the wasps, just the guy you're with. ;-)

 

[droy]

Remind me not to go hunting with you

Was thinking along the same line, however it COULD have been worse for his buddy though- suppose it was the bear chasing Larro instead of a few insects? lol

 

[Ivan49]

I brush hogged the weeds down along the front of our land Tue. It is a 1/4 mile wide. I then backed up to the culvert under the drive on each side and was done . Later my wife walked out to get the mail and they drove her back to the house. I found out that night that they had a nest in the culvert by one end. I let it go for a couple of days and went out to take care of it and it was in pieces. I guess a skunk had lunch

 

[ncridgerunner1]

Most of the yellow jacket ground nests in our area have only one entrance and a half pint of gas has always gotten rid of them. (I don't light the gas as the volatility kills them within a few minutes.) However a few of the nests have had two entrances and for some reason my family finds my dance moves amusing.
:cool2:

 

[farmgirl19]

Most of the yellow jacket ground nests in our area have only one entrance and a half pint of gas has always gotten rid of them. (I don't light the gas as the volatility kills them within a few minutes.) However a few of the nests have had two entrances and for some reason my family finds my dance moves amusing.
:cool2:

Let them know the next time you are going to play with one, and let them have a video camera handy. Then, we could all be amused, I'm sure. :applause:

 

[murphy1244]

When I did commercial air units we used to have a thing called the Bee Dance. If you seen a guy doing Funky moves on a roof that's what he's doing. One time on a 2 story roof I opened the covers and had a huge nest. They came at me in a swarm and I danced right off the roof and fell onto a car. Broken ankle and nose. I will douse any nest with gas and Gleefully fire it up as I Hate Bee's.

 

[ncridgerunner1]

When I did commercial air units we used to have a thing called the Bee Dance. If you seen a guy doing Funky moves on a roof that's what he's doing. One time on a 2 story roof I opened the covers and had a huge nest. They came at me in a swarm and I danced right off the roof and fell onto a car. Broken ankle and nose. I will douse any nest with gas and Gleefully fire it up as I Hate Bee's.

Geee whiz I've had some amusing bee dances but can't compare with yours. Don't believe I would go to the extreme of setting someone's air unit on fire though.

 

[JimWalch]

Last night went to MIL to do burgers on the grill. It is next to the glider with a metal tube frame. Sat on it and in short order I was surrounded by wasps. They came out the tube frame but didn't get me. Go find the can of wasp & hornet spray press the nozzle, spit spit....abolut 10 drops. Duck and run again no stings. Well now what burgers are cooking and no spray. :lightbulb: Oh wait - in the truck I have some carburetor cleaner. Think it works better than the wasp spray!

 

[rekees4300]

Go find the can of wasp & hornet spray press the nozzle, spit spit....

Why does that stuff never work when you need it!?

 

[LD1]

I gave up on buying wasp and hornet killer. Chlorinated brake klean works for me. And I always have a can or two and it always works. Not sure if the non-chlorinated works, cause I never buy it.

 

[RaydaKub]

Why does that stuff never work when you need it!?

And usually when the can feels like it is 3/4 full yet...

 

[Dozernut]

Wife went out on the back porch the other day and got stung by a Paper wasp. Her hand swelled up, we got some antihistamine in her and put an ice pack on it. She refused to go to the doctor so I kept an eye on her. She is fine now but it appears she is somewhat allergic to Paper wasp stings. I convinced her to go see the doc and see if she needs an EpiPen. Those farm girls are tough!

On a lighter note, the wife went for a walk and the neighbors dog, a friendly mixed Collie breed, followed her home. The dog did not see the wife's 20lb tom cat sitting under the truck. That is until the tom ambushed the dog. That dog lit out like she was on fire, yipping all the way home.

The cat was mad at my wife for bringing a strange dog into his domain and refused to have any thing to do with her. That is one big mean ole tom that even the coons around here respect. The kids brought him out here when he was a kitten, their dog did not get along with him, they named him Pita because of his color, I call him Phat Bhasterd (spelling incorrect) after the Austin Powers character. Nothing bothers that cat.