Yellow Jacket Nests While Bush hogging, whats your plan?

[mikeb11000]

I have Kubota L3600 with cab and a zero turn. I learned to carry a can on both machine to spray and kill the wasps. Learned long time ago.

 

[flagpond01]

Anyone have a pic of what the nest looks like? might be able to avoid if we know what to look for.

It's just a small hole in the ground.

 

[joea99]

Brake cleaner, the kind with chlorines in it if you can get it. It messes them up bad enough, and fast enough, tha they come out of the air like you tied a brick on their little tails. the vapors are toxic enough to them, they just curl up.

Straight liquid bleach, clorox (or equivalent) works great, if you can find a spray bottle to withstand the stuff. Assuming you can keep your cool and grab the spray bottle.

Used to keep some nearby when I was younger and did work that would sometimes uncover the little buggers. They drop almost instantly.

Learned this from a well service guy that was pulling my well pump. Advantage for him was it was that it was the same stuff used to "disinfect" the stuff going back down the well.

 

[jacric2005]

i got a nest one time with my old JD870. i jumped off and ran after killing key. was stung multiple times. now days i just laugh at them...thru the cab glass.

Can you get a cab for an old JD870? That's the tractor I have.

 

[Gator6x4]

Anyone have a pic of what the nest looks like? might be able to avoid if we know what to look for.

Most yellow jacket nest we are likely to encounter while Bush Hogging are the underground type. A small hole in the ground is all one will see.

Always be careful when Bush Hogging reclaimed areas where tree were cut down and dozer work done. Yellow Jacket will find an old rotten stump area and build nests. Some of the underground nests have reportedly been the size of a queen size mattress.

If you have skunks in your area they will find and destroy yellow jacket nest to get to the larvae and adults. So if you see a skunk or skunks digging in the ground there is more than the smell reason for not getting to close.

"Skunks also dig up yellow jacket and ground wasp nests to eat both larvae and adults. They have even been known to agitate a nest and swat down adults as they emerge and eat them!"

Did you catch the "Knock down and eat adults as they emerge"???????

I try to focus on my travel path and if I see a lot of flying insect action in an area I am approaching I stop until I determine exactly what the flying insect's are.

One last thing. Drug Stores sell "After Bite". It is a tube stick device that you dab on stings and insect bites. It stops the itching and sting. I carry one in my pocket when outside working.

 

[alpacalips]

Does it seem to anyone else that the yellow jacket spray cans used to work better? 15-20 years ago that stuff would drop them immediately. Now I spray a nest and half of them shake it off and start flying around.

 

[tmeric7]

Wow, some of you have some crazy stories! Mine is more funny than scary. There was a ground nest we knew about in our lawn by the chicken coup. They weren't yellow jackets, but some kind of aggressive bee. Never saw a lot at a time, 1 or 2 usually. One day I was hand mowing there and got one upset at me. It flew up my shorts and stung me a few times as a ran to the garage taking off my cloths. Seconds after I made it to the garage, wearing nothing at all now, the garage door opens and my wife pulls in coming home from work... "Hi honey..."

 

[sallyb]

What is your plan of attack? Shut tractor down and run? Downshift and pop the clutch?

I got my first experience of running over a yellow jackets nest while bush hogging. I was in a super low gear so I shut the tractor down and ran. Probably got nailed 8 or 9 times. I was able to wait for 1`0 minutes and was able to get on and drive away without another sting. I am just wondering what everyone else does in these situations. It is not fun, that is for sure.

I have been lucky so far, I have open cab. But I carry insecticide and this year I started carrying bee hat when mowing.

 

[Eagle1]

Anyone have a pic of what the nest looks like? might be able to avoid if we know what to look for.

 

[tmeric7]

Does it seem to anyone else that the yellow jacket spray cans used to work better? 15-20 years ago that stuff would drop them immediately. Now I spray a nest and half of them shake it off and start flying around.

This stuff has worked very well for me:

https://www.amazon.com/Spectracide-65865-HG-65865-Aerosol-Multicolor/dp/B0050D0XZ4/ref=asc_df_B0050D0XZ4/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=459520380844&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=4506819577641991165&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9006756&hvtargid=pla-960371614946&psc=1