Yellow Jacket Nests While Bush hogging, whats your plan?

[Torvy]

Frankly my dear ... call them whatever you like. Most of us know what they are. Most of us know which ones are vicious and aggressive and chase you after inadvertent stirring with a bush hog. 168 post s ago I think that was the topic...

Post 126 is where you jumped in and incorrectly referred to ground bees as yellow jackets. Even when given information that proved you wrong, from multiple people and multiple sources, you continue down this path. Try this out for size...

"Hey guys, thanks for the information. I learned something new today."

It is very bad if people kill bees with the misunderstanding that ground bees = yellow jackets.

 

[John0829]

This thread needs to go AWAY... I have not run into any ground nests for several years and since this thread started I have found two, luckily no stings

 

[SouthernSky]

I’ve hit more than a few. I’ve jumped from a tractor after turning off the key while still in gear. I’ve hit the high gear and hauled ass on a tractor because I’m getting too old to run. And I’ve been stung by no less than five each time I’ve hit a nest, once through my thick army jacket.

There is a pattern (for me) for the dozen I’ve found. Every time the nest was at the base of a tree and the edge of a ditch that frequently carries water runoff.

Like someone else here I’ve snuck up to them in my truck, opened the window 3” and sprayed Spectracide Yellow Jacket spray on the nest.

If I have to work in an area near a nest, I grab a bucket load of dirt and dump it on the nest entrance. Then I leave the pile there until Winter…

I’ve battled them with diesel after dark which usually works. I used that S7even powder until it attracted my dogs to it. I’ve also made a pail of cement and poured it in the hole to prevent reinfestation.

There may be some good ground bees but I’ve never seen them, just the mean bastards.

 

[riptides]

I just ran into a Bald Face hornets nest at eye level in my Cab while bush hogging. I did not stick around to find out what they were up to, after reading this thread a while back.

 

[riptides]

.....

Like someone else here I’ve snuck up to them in my truck, opened the window 3” and sprayed Spectracide Yellow Jacket spray on the nest.

....

Spectracide??? Maybe it was the species or something in the DNA of the "hornet"/"wasp" nest that I was spraying.....

But that **** don't work. Seriously.....And it was multiple attempts with new store bought bottles.

 

[JWR]

I’ve hit more than a few. I’ve jumped from a tractor after turning off the key while still in gear. I’ve hit the high gear and hauled ass on a tractor because I’m getting too old to run. And I’ve been stung by no less than five each time I’ve hit a nest, once through my thick army jacket.

There is a pattern (for me) for the dozen I’ve found. Every time the nest was at the base of a tree and the edge of a ditch that frequently carries water runoff.

Like someone else here I’ve snuck up to them in my truck, opened the window 3” and sprayed Spectracide Yellow Jacket spray on the nest.

If I have to work in an area near a nest, I grab a bucket load of dirt and dump it on the nest entrance. Then I leave the pile there until Winter…

I’ve battled them with diesel after dark which usually works. I used that S7even powder until it attracted my dogs to it. I’ve also made a pail of cement and poured it in the hole to prevent reinfestation.

There may be some good ground bees but I’ve never seen them, just the mean bastards.

Amen Southern Sky. This is the core topic of the thread and MANY of us have been through exactly what you describe. I too have found a lot of the nests at/near the base of trees, landscape timbers, etc. now that you mention it. You said "There may be some good ground bees but I’ve never seen them, just the mean bastards." I love it. So well said. You and I (and a few hundred thou other people) discuss these aggressive pests as a menace. And discuss them at a the level of "if it flies and stings I'm gonna call it a bee." The species and genus studies are left to the biology majors for homework. I had not tried pouring cement in the hole which sounds like too much work. After the stings and shock die down I usually sneak to the hole, pour in a cup or so of gasoline and light it off. As I mentioned many posts back, instead of exploding, the flame burns there for a good half hour and the offending flying sting merchants die in the flames as they try to exit.

 

[Raul-02]

Cab

 

[Raul-02]

Spectracide??? Maybe it was the species or something in the DNA of the "hornet"/"wasp" nest that I was spraying.....

I sneak up on them during a moonless dark night, and shove a tube on the end of a pole into the nest said tube's other end is in a reservoir of Gasoline in a soda bottle. Once the tube is in, I squeeze the bottle a few times, then drop everything, walk away, and in the morning, they are all dead.
Once in the early winter, I retrieved a 2 Foot diameter Black Hornet nest that was a mere 10 or 15 feet from my winter wood stacks that I'd been stacking and in a courtyard where I'd been mowing and never once knew the nest was there. They built it all through that spring, summer, and fall, and my activity never once bothered them. But when I saw the nest, it chilled me right through. I let them complete their life cycle and harvested the mostly abandoned nest. there were still guards (dead) stationed at the entrance guarding the nest.

One Fall some years ago I bedded a Queen Yellow Jacket. They are not very good lovers. She penetrated me, making me her *****, till howling, I leaped from the bed and proceeded to pound the covers around where my feet were. I got her. She was huge. And so my foot and ankle became huge too. It took me a few years to feel safe in bed again.
I think she got in the house, found the mattress under the covers, and decided it would be a good place to winter over and start a new brood.

 

[Duds13]

I just ran into a Bald Face hornets nest at eye level in my Cab while bush hogging. I did not stick around to find out what they were up to, after reading this thread a while back.

I was mowing an area of my property with my walk-behind mower a few weeks ago, paying attention to my line and not the low hanging tree branch from the huge yellow birch tree ahead. I mowed right under the branch and after about 10 more feet, I made a turnaround, looked up and saw a very big bald face hornet nest hanging from the branch. I swear my hat must have brushed the bottom of it. I can't for the life of me figure out how I wasn't attacked, but I am VERY thankful!

 

[JWR]

Post 126 is where you jumped in and incorrectly referred to ground bees as yellow jackets. Even when given information that proved you wrong, from multiple people and multiple sources, you continue down this path. Try this out for size...

"Hey guys, thanks for the information. I learned something new today."

It is very bad if people kill bees with the misunderstanding that ground bees = yellow jackets.

"Hey guys, thanks for the information. I learned something new today."

• per gardnerspath.com they [yellowjackets, also called ground bees by many less educated victims] are responsible for MOST of the stinging deaths in the US.
• same source -- there are two genera of yellowjackets Vespula and Dolichovespula ... and within those there are multiple species ...which means there is a very large number of species of these pests.
• The southern yellow jacket (Vespula squamosa) usually builds nests in the ground. I believe that is the culprit in most of the "mowing over the hole stirs aggressive attacks" cases. From pictures it fits ALL my cases in multiples states in the East. Main one among many species.
• Most of the species like meat oddly enough. In the West they are often called "meat bees."
• Ground Bee Removal Services | Bee Control Pittsburgh says “Ground bee is the common name for several species of insects that make their nests in the ground. More often than not, ground bee is the common name used locally to describe a species of yellowjackets.
• Of course Google searching turns up endless reading opportunities. As usual Wiki provides good tutorials.