Yellowjacket nest disturbed...my dismount

[Don87]

Yes Bald-Faced Hornets are also bad asses but tend to nest in trees so easier to see/avoid than Yellow Jackets that hide in the ground.

The one that got me in the eye, came from a nest under the eave of the house............that one hurt.

 

[dex3361]

Yellow jackets I hate yellow jackets. When I find them I use the scorched earth approach. I mark the spot and wait till dark. It is a personal thing with me I rank yellow jackets right up there with copper head snakes.

 

[Marveltone]

I've lucked out as far as the yellow jackets are concerned... so far. The bald faced hornets, however are my big nemesis. Those buggers seem to love building their nests on every building they can find. I got stung on the head a couple years ago. Man that smarts! Found the grapefruit sized nest hanging on the outhouse. Soaked it with wasp killer at night and got them all. I now always wear my truck tarp hat whenever going outside. I've heard all sorts of biting and stinging bugs bounce of the canvas instead of drilling into my bald, tender head. :thumbsup:

Joe

 

[edlegault]

...never mind... i saw it.

 

[varmint]

We got plagued with giant European wasps last summer- they loved to chew on the lilacs that surround the front porch, which caused that part of the lilac branch/limb to die, and the light really attracted them. I spent many happy minutes swatting them whenever they landed where I could get to them. They are big suckers, and needless to say, I didn't want them stinging me. I made the mistake of going out one hot night, barefoot, and whacking some. Unfortunately, I stepped on one that wasn't dead. Let me tell you, it coulda been wasp justice- really hurt for a long time, swelled up, all the usual effects, and nothing I did seemed to help. Never again will I go out barefoot on my own porch whenever they are around.

 

[RaydaKub]

We had a nest of some sort in the push beams of the loader one time. The tractor had been sitting a few days and they picked that spot to move in. It was a home-made loader and the beams were box beam and wide open on the end. We needed the tractor and had to get them out fast. We got a can of WD-40 with the straw and a cigarette lighter and had a blow torch out of it. Took the wings off 'em as they came out.

Yeah, I know [ safety police!! ]. I'd never do it without the straw on the can and never squirt more than about a second at a time, but dang, that's effective. :laughing:

 

[EE_Bota]

My dad found a ground nest once while brush chopping. Of course when we do something stupid around here (just like on TBN) we have to share it. So he tells me that he found the nest and decided to back the brush chopper up and set it down over top the hole in the ground. He knew better but had the idea that the chopper would chop them up :laughing:

Needless to say we didn't have any cameras around to catch his escape when he realized the faults with his plan :laughing::laughing::laughing:

He was in an open field so he just threw it in high gear and floored it out of there while swatting at them. Don't recall if he got stung or not but only remember his story about trying to chop the bees

Don't try this at home, but I used to routinely get yellow jacket nests in the ground in my front yard. Lot's of times, I was too busy to get rid of them just then, but wanted the entire yard mowed.

I had a front deck mower....I used to drive up to the opening really slow with the deck down but at high rpm, and go right over the nest opening, and back away the way I came.

I never got stung, and I don't think that approach killed a single bee..at least I never found a dead one. All it did was get the area at the mouth of the nest mowed just as well as the rest of the yard.

One year...I had 10 hornet nests on my little one acre, and the yellow jackets too, so it was time to do battle. I took a hand sprayer, filled it with some sort of insecticide, and pumped it up as tight as a tick. Then I got inside my little VW pickup, and stuck the wand out the drivers window, but packed the opening with denim. Slowly, I drove all over the property and took out all the hornet and yellow jackets and even what we call "Japanese Hornets" too.

Japanese hornets I believe are just a form of yellow jacket, but the suckers are more than an inch long, scares the heck out of me just to hear them hover. I have seen cows frightened by them too, particularly in the morning milking, since these are the ones drawn by light. I hate them...they will cruise patios and decks on warm days and terrorize folks just sitting and relaxing. On my property, since I have a rock home, they liked to walk up the mortar joints and get under that board and into the attic. Sometimes, I'd even find one INSIDE the house...that'll get get you out of your recliner!

 

[Triguy1]

Yes Bald-Faced Hornets are also bad asses but tend to nest in trees so easier to see/avoid than Yellow Jackets that hide in the ground.

So far my vote is for the Bald faced hornets. We got our property last July and the single women who owned it was not keeping up will the overgrowth. So, the first couple of weeks I'm out there cutting everything back. There was a big wild section near the house that my wife wanted me to tackle. It was about 90deg, late in the day and I was quite tired, but ya know, the wife gets what she wants...

I dive right in with the Sthil trimmer set up with a three point Blade and go to work. Next thing I know, it feels like using a air nailer on my head. If we had video, I'm sure we would have one something, due to the fact that I dropped the trimmer, still running, and ran myself over to put my head in the pond. 13 big welts on my bald head. After a few minutes I go back after the trimmer, still running, they come after me again. Three more welts. All the while my wife and kids watching and laughing...

I had to wait until evening to get the trimmer. Then with a flashlight, I actually found the nest hanging from the Buckeye tree, I must have bumped it with my head, size of a beach ball. Nasty little guys.

 

[RobertBrown]

igpoobah, that flailing flourish before your dismount gets a perfect 5. :thumbsup:

And 5 bonus points for stopping the tractor before the dismount :laughing:.
My luck: it would have stayed in gear and stopped after it went through the wall of the house.

 

[Dustier]

One of my jobs at Ft. Carson, Colorado was to cut down the high grasses and scrub brush on the post. One hot Summer day a buddy and I were on either side of a meadow probably 5 acres or so in size. He was using a big Ford tractor, I had my John Deere and we both had standard 4' deck mowers.

I glanced over and saw him creating his own dust devil by lifting his mower, pivoting, dropping it for a few feet and doing the same in the opposite direction. He had dust, shredded brush, yucca, dirt and dust flying everywhere. About the 4th or 5th time he lifted the deck I saw a long object twirl away and fly about 20 feet. Sure enough, he had run into a diamond back.

I spent the rest of the day cutting that field thinking how much better off he was with that high, center-of-gravity-challenged Ford.