The Mighty B7500, hornets & bush hogging

KubotaSteve · Dec 15, 2004

Make sure you shread that nest good. I was cleaning out my fence line in early fall and came across one of those. It was pretty cool that morning so dad pull it apart and there was another nest built inside of it that had hornets in it. Luckily it was too cold for them to get moving and we removed them from existence. I had started to clean that area out this summer, now I'm glad I waited.

GregJ · Dec 15, 2004

I ran into one of those when I was pruning a hedge last summer. I wasn't quite as lucky.... /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif I got nailed about 10 times. The solution was a lot simpler than I thought. I went out at night with a flashlight and a can of wasp/hornet spray and sprayed right into the hole in the nest. End of story.... the sleepy little critters never did wake up /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif.... A few years before, I helped my neighbor with one and we knocked it down with a garden hose. We absolutely destroyed that hive.... The next day, they had rebuilt it in exactly the same spot. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif He ended up calling an exterminator to get rid of that one.

So, I think this is a case where using chemicals (at night) makes good sense....

Greg

Dargo · Dec 15, 2004

Yet another reason I like my cab tractor... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

have_blue · Dec 15, 2004

During the summer, I was about to enter the a brush area , and I noticed a wasp nest as big as a grapefruit. It was covered with wasps... must have been 100 of them. My FEL bucket was mere inches from it, but I slammed my tractor in reverse in the nick time. I gave that area to the wasps. They can have it until next spring. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

fig · Dec 15, 2004

Try figuring out that there is a nest in the ground while "weed-eating"! Got popped twice before I figured out it was not brush coming off the end of the "weed-eater". Gregj's got the solution. Wait till night time when they are inactive; got the flashlight and a dishwasher detergent bottle with diseal fuel and walked right up to the hole and poured it in. Next day was nothing but dead yellow jackets.

theboman · Dec 15, 2004

The nest is now non existent.
I drove up in my truck one night and from 15' soaked it again with hornet/wasp spray with my hand out a crack in the window to make sure nothing was stirring and sure enough not a critter to be seen.
A week later I made the mad 20 yard dash to capture my much needed empty gas can and no critters were encountered.
Two days after that I put the tractor in high range dropped the bush hog so the wheel nearly touched the ground and hit it wide open.... Let's say it's was an explosion of dust!

I'm still proud of the the little Bota's ump in tacking that brush in those pics. Briars over 1" in diameter and I took down saplings, well much bigger than the recommendation. I'd push them over with the FEL (I think partly how my radiator got the kiss of death by the fan blades) the back then run over them with the cutter.