Yellow Jacket Nests While Bush hogging, whats your plan?

[4570Man]

Yellowjacket nests look like a paper basketball, ground bees go down a hole or multiple holes.

Yellow Jackets can build a paper nest like hornets make but they more commonly build in holes in the ground.

 

[TrueAmericanVeteran]

Saw this online. I guess wasps built a nest around an old mask in an attic. Just thought I'd throw it in.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

Saw this online. I guess wasps built a nest around an old mask in an attic. Just thought I'd throw it in.

We would call that a yellow jacket or hornet's nest, I have never seen wasp build a nest like that.

 

[Loaderman22]

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.

CRC Braklean available at any auto parts store. The red can, gives them instant cancer and they drop. Works better than most bee sprays. I had European hornets.... Had... Dropped them mid air.

 

[AndyMA]

I once ran a hedge trimmer into a hornets nest in some shrubs. You can imagine how annoyed they were. About 20 stings. Each one felt like a sledge hammer blow

 

[squireg]

My approach with YJs has always been to stay on the tractor or riding mower and get as far away as possible before stopping. Still get stung but not many. You would think they would just go for the machine but no, they go for the human. For maybe 10 or more years I would get stung once or twice every summer or so. No big deal right? But one year I got stung twice while mowing the yard. Stopped, ran into the house, put baking soda on the stings, and then went back out to find the nest hole and got stung two or three more times. Went back into the house, started taking a cold shower, and noticed I had broken out in hives all over my stomach and back. Plus my gums started swelling and lips were getting numb. When my wife saw me she ran for the Epipen she had always kept since she is allergic to bee stings and deer flies. Jabbed it into my thigh, gave me two benadryls, and drove me to the ER which had about 30 people in the waiting room. The triage nurse took one look at me and immediately ushered me to a doctor. They gave me some prednisone and kept me for a few hours and the we drove home. So now I carry an EpiPen with me all the time. Not a fun way to avoid a long ER wait. Haven't seen many YJs in the last 3 or 4 years, but we have had more skunks. So maybe they are doing a good job keeping them away.

 

[rodneyn]

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.

Ground hornets are sensitive to colors and noise. Was told not to wear dark brown around hornets perceived as threat to them. Been stung as child and adult now forced to carry an epinephrine pen when mowing in the field. Doctor told me it’s not uncommon for farmers to get stung enough and not survive die on tractor seat. I also know that don’t like orange tractors either they amassed on the hood once i agitated the nest. Without epinephrine pen I could not survive another wave of being stung. Over past 40 years took over 400 stings. Stay safe hornets can be aggressive if agitated.

 

[IndyIan]

I have been pretty lucky, I've never stung on the tractor, but I have driven close to a couple small paper wasp nests and seen them go after the tractor for a few moments as I had drove away. I did recently brush hog a trail right by a ground wasp nest, but I knew it was there and I just went full speed in mid range until I was 50 yards past. A few gave a half hearted chase but gave up pretty quickly.

 

[Chas Kerr]

Back in Alabama in 1978 my wife was mowing the honeysucle patch by holding the handle down while the mower was tilted up. Then she would drop it slowly to chop it up. Well, this time it dropped right on the nest. She had the little 1year old in a red ryder wagon padded with a sheet blanket. The 3 year old boy was doing his thing while watching his Momma. I got the following description from neighbor Soula who watched it all. The wife hollered out run boy run!, the wife picked up the 1 year old girl by the arm and ran with her right behind the boy. Soula said she could see the little girl flying over the short new growth pine trees will in her Momma’s hand. She got bit several times but the kids were spared! Soula wet the tobacco from a cigarette and dabbed it on the wife’s bites to sooth them. When I got home from work boy howdy did I get an ear full!!

 

[Rod in Forfar]

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