Opening up a yellow jacket nest

[Donman]

What do you suppose they do with all the dirt that came out of that hole? They are not like ants that leave a ring of soil around the hole so they must fly away and drop it somewhere. Once I tried to flush or drown them with a garden hose pushed as far as I could up the hole. Only made them mad. I hate to kill living things that might do some good in nature. What good DO these do?

 

[dmccarty]

sassafraspete,

GREAT set of pictures. Very interesting and scary.

I hit a nest a month or so ago mowing. After I first hit it I got suited up in some protection and went back for more. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif But I did not see any. Friday I mowed the same area and did not find a one.

After seeing your pictures I'm really wondering what happened to them. When I first hit the nest the area I was in did not allow me to exit with the tractor very fast so I figured the mower was right over the hole and the MX6 chopped the bees into wee little pieces. After seeing your nest I am surprised I blended them all up. Maybe the tractor closed up the hole/tunnel and they could not get out....

Thanks,
Dan

 

[TonyV]

Thanks for the great post Pete...as good as any National Geographic show, and closer to home too!

...Tony

 

[TonyV]

<font color="blue"> Dargo asked: "does anyone know what the large bright red velvety looking ants are?" </font>

Dargo, these are likely "red velvet ants" which are not ants at all, but wingless female wasps!!!!......hence the nasty bite!
Theres a lot of info on the net on these nasty critters...heres one link to start you off: Red Velvet Ants

...Tony

 

[HGM]

Pete,
I'm with you, this was great info. I ran the bush hog over one last year and they chased me about a 1/4 mile before I killed enough of them and they gave up stinging me. Now I know what I'm looking for, or should I say what to avoid /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif...
Thanks

You know, although this was really informative, somewhere there's and activist planning a protest outside your home... /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif.....

 

[Nasty135]

Pete, I'm with the others "Great post" All those bees and not one drop of honey /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif Nasty buggers....

I had an experience with them once in an underground nest while mowing grass, first pass must have stirred them up ,second pass they stirred me up /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif at least three times /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif.... Later on that evening I found there hole and simply filled it in with dirt and never saw them again. I piled it on and packed it pretty good...

Now I have found another batch of them in phase two of my pavilion planter box move(do you make house calls?? /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif)... I just can't fill in the hole this time because the project calls for the removal of the dirt /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
it gonna be a fun one for sure...

Mark

Thanks again for the quality post /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[sassafraspete]

I am glad you all have enjoyed the pictures. I wanted to take the time to document it , since many have never really seen this before. Because of my curious nature, I have dug some before... but even with this one...I am just now coming to grips with just how many jackets these nests can support. This one was well engineered to keep water away. I will say that this one has the longest passageway of any that I have dug. And it does make one wonder how long it takes to make that passage.... the queen certainly wouldn't do it would she? I wonder if the long passage is because of the really wet summer we have had here? One yr, I found 5 nests on one of my hillsides that I mow a couple times a yr. I dug one of those out and found 7 layers in it. These can also be a hazard if you are doing any Fall plowing. A few yrs back , I plowed an acre of my back field in the Fall, and in just that one acre I plowed out 3 nests. On each one, I had to stop and go back later. I think it took me nearly a week just to get thru that. (good time to have a cab).

If you are not mowing or plowing, I doubt that these will ever be much of a threat to you. It seems that a whirring lawn mower blade will work them into a frenzy faster than anything.

I have some bush hogging to do.... but trying to decide whether to do it now, our just wait until the first freeze. I think I am opting for the latter.

sassafraspete

 

[SPIKER]

Ive had one nest in the barn/lean too for about a month in an old roll of carpet, then today while mowing I ran into a 2nd nest 40 yards away normal one in ground next to the back barn/shed. I had mowed past it about 6" and later ~10 min or less I was back and was backing up tpo back down along side it, there they were swarming I barley got stopped before the mower went over them. I went back with some brake clean spray can and doused both nests right then. stops em dead faster than anything I ever saw. not sure of the nest killing abilities but the worker drown killing it is instant... I was plannning on a quart of gas down the hole but the prices now adays I figured I'd first knock em back. but wasnb't late enough and drone/workers were swarming trying to get back home so I couldn't get close enough yet. tomarrow I'll FEL the carpet out from under the barn after spraying em back again & dawning my carharts & gloves... not sure what to wear for face protection yet.? who knows the brake clean vapors may have gotten em?

MarkM /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

 

[Bluecheck546]

Well ... what do you know, Learn something new everyday. Nice pictures and description /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Cottonhawk]

Pete, Thanks for the very interesting pics. Last week I saw an entrance hole (about the same size as the one in your picture) next to my driveway with hundreds of yellow jackets flying around. Many of them were going in and out of the hole. I shot half can of wasp killer into the entrance hole. I went back the next day and I didn't see any of them aroud there. I plugged up the hole solid.
I was once told that a yellow jacket queen can produce 20,000 workers in her life time. It was suggested that one should trap the queens during the early Spring when they are looking for new nests.