Worried about wasps and bees

Fawken · Apr 10, 2016

jdzaya said:
Thanks Eddie, now I'm going to have nightmares for a week! I lived in Texas for a while down Lufkin way. I remember seeing those red wasps but never got stung, they look absolutely terrifying!

If he is talking about the BIG red wasps, yes they are one to avoid. One got me on the back of my head while driving to my next repair back when I worked for Bell Telephone. Heat of summer we always had those "wing windows" open on our service vans. Big red wasp collided with the wing window and funneled him into my face. Ma Bell never gave us AC. So, I can't see where a cab is much defense unless you run the AC all the time. The worst though is what we call here a bumble bee, but its really a kind of wasp and some people refer to them as wood wasps because they nest in wood and bore into wood to hunt termites. Stung square in the back by one of those (also working at the phone co) and it is the worst insect sting that you can encounter. I have not seen the true big red wasps in any other state but Texas. They truly do love the heat.

AllenArmory · Apr 14, 2016

You guys are making me think I should never go outdoors again. :shocked:

Again, THANKS for helping me decide on a cab. I was literally days away from buying an open air tractor. :thumbsup: The hardest part was convincing the DW.

Pilot · Apr 25, 2016

Clothes don't help much. Saw s guy getting stung repeatedly thru his jeans by yellowjackets. There was a group of us in the woods checking out a timber sale & he disturbed a nest and got hit. They leave a scent on the victim that says "get this guy" and they sure did get him. No one else in the group got hit.

For outdoor work try to do it when the temp is about 45 or less as they are very sluggish then. I have disturbed nests on cool days & never got hit, even tho they were flying all around me. Partly luck, partly the temp.

Alien · Apr 25, 2016

We do not have bee and wasp problems like you guys. The worst we have around here is the Paper Wasp. It is very small and the first you know is one hits you like a hot poker as a warning. If you don't heed the warning several others will get you. I have had to go to hospital a couple of times after a day or two to get a needle for the reaction.
They are easy to deal with as once you can see their small nests they are easy to hit with Aerogard or similar. They are too busy dealing with the Aerogard to bother about you then.

oosik · Apr 26, 2016

There are occasionally hornets around here. We call them bald faced hornets or white faced hornets. One hit me so hard on the forehead that I thought I'd been hit by somebody throwing a rock. Fortunately, he hit hard and bounced off before he could sting. There are no ground based stinging bees or wasps in this part of the country.

TractorGuy · Apr 26, 2016

BigRol said:
Diesel fuel,they disappear and don't come back.

Many years ago I lived in a mobile home and had yellow jackets build a nest up in the insulation. Like most older mobile homes it wasn't sealed tight around the pipes and such. First one nailed me in the back of the leg while sitting on the toilet. I sprayed that nest down with diesel and it just pissed them off and I think they multiplied. Had a local guy that collected ground nests for pharmaceutical companies to make anti-venom from but he wouldn't touch a house nest. Neighbor got into a ground nest putting a fence up so I got the guy to come out for that and get the nest out from under my house while he was there. He said he would note I had sprayed them in case it mattered. He crawled under the home in a bee suit and just raked the nest into grocery sacks.

To collect ground nests he found both holes and put a cage over one then blocked the other and beat on the ground. He would pour gasoline in the hole after he collected the bees from the ground nests. Not recommended procedures this day in time.

flusher · Apr 26, 2016

Long pants, long sleeve shirt, beekeeper helmet with netting. And don't forget to carry your epinephrine pen if you are concerned about anaphylaxis problems if you're stung.

Good luck

Deere Dude · Jul 27, 2016

My wife was doing something in the camper refrigerator and she heard some buzzing from the control panel near the top, like an electrical sizzle. I opened the panel on the outside of the camper and I saw a few bees come out from the top of the refrigerator. Just as I was spraying some bee and wasp killer all over, one bee flew out and down my wife's summery low cut shirt. She knew it was a bee so she jumping around and started shaking the shirt and it flew straight up and plinked her right on the end of the nose. Of course naturally it was my fault.

Yesterday morning I sawed down 3 trees in my neighbors fence-line. I wanted to pull the 50' tree with no limbs to an open area so I could cut it up. I hooked it to the FEL and started backing up across a marsh pulling the tree. I took a shortcut over weedy ground with small trees I haven't traveled before, then all of a sudden little buzz saws are flying at me from all over. I slammed the throttle up and rocketed into a clearing. My earmuffs went flying and my cap came off and I was beating them off with the cap as I was running across the field. I got stung about seven or eight times but they weren't terribly painful..
When I felt they stopped I gingerly walked back and shut off the tractor.

I waited to see if I was going to die or not but after 10 minutes I figured I was good to go. I went back to the tractor and I saw the nest about 5 feet off the ground on a bush. It was one of those football sized paper nests. I started the tractor and backed the tree farther into the clearing.

Then I had to go back past them to get my brand new saw and the other tree. When I saw them starting to swarm a little I shut off the tractor and just waited for them to settle down again. When that happened I picked up my saw and scooped the tree up with the forks. The end of the tree was about 25' away from the tractor both ways and when I was driving out on a different path the end of the tree just nicked the top of the tree with the nest in, they stirred but they left me alone. But I could see the nest was all ragged looking from me backing over it with the first tree.

All those bees would have just plugged up my AC if I had a cab.